Rocky takes you on a tour through Christchurch, UK

Christchurch Priory

Hello my fellow travelers! It’s been a while since I have written a post. My paws are a bit sore from traveling everywhere so I had little time to recover my paws to type here.

I want to take you on a little journey through the beautiful county of Dorset. My adventures in Dorset have taken me through the New Forest and now bring me to Christchurch which is right next to the seaside town of Bournemouth. Christchurch also has its own beach though.

Christchurch is famous for its castles and that was indeed at the top of our list!

Our first stop was the Highcliffe Castle. It was built in the 1700s and is now mostly used for weddings. On our particular visit it was quite quiet with no weddings and little other tourists. The weather was slightly chilly as well.

Unfortunately, the castle is in the middle of some heavy renovation so the inside was closed, but that didn’t slow us down.

On this little adventure we were joined by our Dorset expert Paula, who also accompanied us to Cambridge a while back.

Doing my dance in front of the doors of Highcliffe Castle
Look at these windows!
Me and Paula enjoying the lovely garden in front of the castle
Posing in front of the castle
There’s tons of weddings here so I decided to go down on a knee and propose to Paula. She said yes! Look at that smile!
Feeling like king of the castle
The Highcliffe Hedge maze, a fun little place to get lost in

 

 

Practicing my yoga
A better look at the castle. Don’t mind us

The Highcliffe castle is quite close to the beach so our next step was to walk down from the top of the cliff to the beach.

Down there it was quite windy so we just went for a small jog along the sea and over the pebbles. Then when I got too cold it was time to leave and see the next castle.

Catching my breath after running over the pebbles

When I first set paws in Christchurch I had thought the Highcliffe Castle was actually the Christchurch Castle, but I was mistaken. There was another castle called the Christchurch Castle and it was in ruins.

The castle has history dating back to since the 1100s, which is older than even my human!

When I arrived I was happy to know that dogs were welcome here so I took my human down to explore Christchurch Castle.

Let’s go see the ruins!
The castle is said to have three storeys so this must’ve been the window at the top storey! I could see myself looking out of there in the 1100s and barking at cats.
A little bird caught our eye at the top of the castle
Hello! Just a little bull terrier here sniffing some castles
My walk around the castle was filled with spectacular views. I was so excited that I rolled around on my back for what seemed like hours!
Taking a break from my dancing
Back inside the castle ruins
Me and Danny still looking at the bird
Now these are some cool windows!
A closer look at some of the architecture. I’m not sleeping, just taking it all in
The interior
Posing with my best friend Danny
On the steps of the entrance of the castle

Outside of the castle there was a moat and the water here had a few good-looking ducks hanging about. I couldn’t help but admire their beauty.

Once we finished exploring those castle ruins it was time to see yet another tourist site, the Christchurch Priory.

There is so much history in the town of Christchurch and I was delighted to find out that we were about to walk into the longest parish church in the country. It has history dating to the 11th century which certainly beats out both castles. To this day the church still offers worship services.

The church is smack-dab in the center of the town which makes it quite the popular tourist spot
Our friend Paula
Having a bit of a breather after all the exploring
The church is quite spacious and people regularly bring their dogs here

 

After our trip through Christchurch we were quite knackered and made it to a local pub for some dinner.

Pizza!
Paula taking photos of her food

After dinner we played some Connect Four. Guess who won?

Thanks for joining me on my little Christchurch adventure and I hope you get to visit this wonderful little gem of a town!

See you soon in more Dorset adventures!

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