I was an avid reader of Enid Blyton as a child. I devoured the Famous Five series (although inexplicably couldn’t bear the Secret Seven) before moving on to The Faraway Tree and various books set in a range of fictitious boarding schools. My favourite of these was Malory Towers, a typically jolly hockey sticks series recounting the trials and tribulations of plucky heroine Darrell and her fellow pupils at a cliff-top Cornish school. While the characters and plot lines have faded from memory over the intervening years, I still remember (loosely anyway) the description of the school’s swimming pool, set amid the rocks and filled with seawater by the tide:

“One of the things that Darrell liked best of all was the big swimming pool down by the sea. This had been hollowed out of a stretch of rocks, so that it had a nice rocky uneven bottom. Seaweed grew at the sides, and sometimes the rocky bed of the pool felt slimy. But the sea swept into the big natural pool each day, filled it, and made lovely waves all across it. It was a sheer delight to bathe there.”

Therefore when I first saw the tide-filled swimming pool blasted out of the rock at Dancing Ledge, it immediately took me back to my Enid Blyton-reading days. I didn’t know at that point that Dorset, and the Isle of Purbeck in particular, had been the source of much of Enid Blyton’s inspiration, and the real-life story of the pool having been created for local prep school pupils must have been irresistible for a children’s writer.

There is surely something magical about Dancing Ledge. Whenever we walk this stretch of the coast path, it’s hard to resist stopping off for a quick swim. However, it comes at just the beginning of what is one of the best bangs-for-bucks walks you can do on a sunny day in Dorset, which takes in spectacular scenery, scrambling, a beer stop with a view, seafood and cocktails, steam trains … and dolphins if you’re very, very lucky.

There are various routes to Dancing Ledge but the most direct is from the village of Langton Matravers. To make the most of this walk and the associated delights mentioned above, N and I usually base ourselves at one of the excellent campsites near the village so that we can return late and crawl into our tent after a sherry or two. There are two main paths from Langton to the coast path (see OS map OL15), both of which converge on Dancing Ledge. We take the route that runs alongside Tom’s Field campsite and leads over the fields, past lots of bleating sheep sheltering in the shade of the dry stone wall, until it arrives at the Priest’s Way, a rough stone track between the fields which links Swanage and Worth Matravers. Cross the track in a slight dog-leg and then continue across the next field as the sea comes into view ahead of you. At the waymarker stone, bear left towards Dancing Ledge. You’ll follow a rough track down and then emerge at the top of a steep grassy slope which takes you down to the top of the old quarry above Dancing Ledge. Hop over the stile and take the stone steps down and into the quarry itself. It can be surprisingly busy here with rock climbers and coasteering parties, so much so that the National Trust has imposed restrictions on the number of commercial visitors that can use the area at any one time. Nonetheless, it’s a glorious stretch of coast with great views in either direction.

To reach the ledge and swimming pool, you’ll need to scramble down the last section of vertical rock face for about 10 feet or so. It’s not for the faint-hearted but I recommend you spend a little while watching others as there is a definite route and technique! In fact, you’ll often see local families pass small children and dogs down to each other, suggesting that once you’ve worked out how to do it, it’s not so hard after all. That said, if you’re unsure please don’t attempt it. It’s one thing getting down … but you need to know you can get up again! I speak from experience.

If you do manage the scramble, you’ll discover that the ledge has an odd texture, full of little hollows  and vaguely reminiscent of Ryvita(!).  It’s a lovely place to bask in the sun; you won’t have it to yourself on a sunny weekend but there’s enough space to go round. The same can’t be said of the pool, which, although rather charming, is somewhat smaller than the one Enid Blyton describes in the Malory Towers books, and in high season it can be full of children bobbing around in inflatables, rather surprisingly given the difficult access. (For a contrasting perspective, read this beautifully descriptive blog by an outdoor swimmer who enjoyed the pool to himself.)

On busy days, we avoid the pool altogether and take a dip in the sea instead. You should only do this if you’re confident in open water and the sea is calm; it’s known for having a tricky current and people have got into difficulties here. At first glance, the water doesn’t look very appealing. For one thing, there is a lot of seaweed, the long bootlace-like stuff that is slimy to the touch, and the sea is a very inky shade of blue.

Don’t be put off: the experience is utterly delectable. The water is gin-clear and the seaweed, it turns out, is far friendlier than it looks, its gentle fronds offering the softest caress as you kick out from the ledge. You will emerge from the water refreshed and invigorated and ready to clamber up the cliff and continue eastwards towards Swanage.

Need to know

OS Map: OL15 Explorer map of Purbeck and South Dorset
Parking: Spyway car park, Durnford Drove, Langton Matravers
Public transport: The no. 40 Purbeck Breezer, which runs between Swanage and Poole, stops at Langton Matravers.
Accommodation: It’s lovely to stay in Langton if you want to make a full day of this wonderful circular walk. We usually camp at either Tom’s Field or Primrose Hill, although there are several other good campsites nearby. B&Bs and self-catering in the village can be found through the usual websites.