Wareham, Dorset - The Blue Pool 1970s Cotman postcard

Postcard

 

• Picture / Image:  The Blue Pool, Wareham, Dorset
• Publisher:  Cotman-Color series / Jarrold
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes & Key words: 

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Postage & Packing:

UK (incl. IOM, CI & BFPO): 99p

Europe: £1.60

Rest of world (inc. USA etc): £2.75

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information:

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Blue Pool is a flooded, disused clay pit where Purbeck Ball Clay ^[1] was once extracted. It is now a lake within the Furzebrook Estate, a 25-acre (10 ha) park of heath woodland and gorse near Furzebrook on the Isle of Purbeck, in the county of Dorset, south England^[2].

Furzebrook Estate is about 2 km south of Wareham and 5 km east of Corfe Castle.

The pool started life early in the 17th century as a chalk pit. Purbeck Ball Clay was dug from the pit from the mid 17th century to the early 20th century. The Ball Clay was used to make fine ceramic products, such as smoking pipes, plates, cups and tea pots. The pit became disused before the first world war, but Purbeck Ball Clay is still extracted from other pits in the area. The title 'Blue' arose, because there are minute particles of clay in suspension within the water. These suspensions variously diffract the reflected light, yielding colours from 'cloudy' grey, through green, to the more typical turquoise. The superb metallic blue sometimes found in photographs is more likely to be a reflection of the sky, as the attraction's own website makes no such claim for the water, and their leaflets call it “a turquoise jewel set in the heart of Purbeck”.

In 1935 a café was opened at the site. There is also a museum and gift shop.^[2] In 1985 the estate was declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest^[3]. Now law protects the habitat of a variety of rare plants and animals. The site includes nature reserves managed by the Herpetological Conservation Trust and a private nature reserve.

Blue Pool is now a popular tourist attraction, especially because it is a place of peace and tranquillity. The pool is surrounded by twenty five acres of heath land. The nationally rare Dorset Heath and Marsh Gentian are common to the area. The estate is crossed by a network of sandy paths. There are steps down to the edge of the Pool and there are also steps on some paths around the Pool, but there is also a completely flat route around the Pool, which is suitable for wheelchairs.

The lush vegetation around the pool is inhabited by grey squirrels, rabbits and badgers. The Estate supports numerous rare birds, amphibians and reptiles^[3]. Visitors may therefore be lucky enough to spot the Dartford warbler (Sylvia undata) or the nightjar (Caprimulgus euuropaeus). Both of Britain's endangered and protected reptiles, the green Sand Lizard (Laerta agilis) and the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) live here in considerable numbers. There are also many dragonflies and the rare Sika deer.