Step back in time to the 1960’s on the weekend of 29th-30th November as Swanage Railway celebrates the decade that marked the changeover from steam to diesel.

Frequent services will run all weekend with mixed traction on the Saturday and mainly diesel on the Sunday.  The Swanage Railway Grand Draw takes place at Swanage station on Sunday 30th.

Swanage Railway: 29th-30th November 2008

Swanage Railway’s Grand Steam Gala and Vintage Transport Rally takes place from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 September.

Passenger steam trains will be running every 40 minutes between Norden and Swanage, with a booze cruise running on Saturday night.

Bournemouth and Poole Preservation Club is holding a vintage transport rally, including a beer tent and live music at Harmans Cross on Saturday and Sunday.

Rover tickets for unlimited day and evening travel and entry to the vintage transport rally are £18.

Swanage Railway: Fri 12-Sun 14 September

This year’s Great Dorset Steam Fair runs from Wednesday 27 to Sunday 31 August.

The show, at Tarrant Hinton near Blandford, attracts over 250,000 visitors a year and is one of the biggest of its kind in the World.

Take a nostalgic trip back to the heyday of Steam and enjoy demonstrations of over 200 working steam engines and fairground organs on the 600-acre showground.

It’s the show’s 40th Anniversary and to celebrate reaching this milestone there will be special displays and attractions including a re-creation of the very first event.

As part of the 40th birthday celebrations, concert tickets are available for the original Bad Manners and the following tribute bands - Bootleg Beatles (Wed 27), Counterfeit Stones (Thur 28), Bad Manners & Ultimate Madness (Fri 29) and Too Rex & Bon Giovi (Sat 30).

Great Dorset Steam Fair:  Adults £12.50, Children (6-15) £6, under 6 FREE

Tankfest returns for an explosive weekend of the best of British military hardware on 28 and 29 June.

The Tank Museum will this year be observing the British contribution to armoured warfare and commemorating the bravery and sacrifice of Royal Armoured Corps servicemen both past and present.

There will be a unique selection of historic British armour on display including those vehicles that are less commonly seen in action, such as the Crusader, Matilda 2 and Challenger 1.

Phone 01929 462359 for advance tickets that are 10% cheaper than if you purchase them on the day.

Tankfest: 28-29 June, Adult £15, Child £10 on door  

Enjoy the Ford classics of yesteryear at this Ford car rally at Lulworth Castle on Sunday 8 June.

Normal castle admission applies.

Lulworth Castle: Sunday 8 June

Get out of a rut and visit the Tank Museum over the May Half Term holiday.

There will be a variety of family activities including:

• Tank Action Display. (Weekdays only, starting at 1pm). A variety of historic armoured vehicles put through their paces in a thirty minute demonstration of tank mobility.
• Tracked Vehicle Rides. (Monday 26th - Friday 30th from 11 am - 4pm) Feel the thrill of riding in a tracked vehicle for yourself in our specially converted M548, converted to hold 16 people at a time. (Small extra charge applies).

Tank Museum: 26-30 May

Swanage Railway is holding a Beer Festival & Diesel Gala weekend from 9th to 11th May.

As well as a number of visiting locomotives running on the tracks, up to 50 beers and ciders will be available to sample at the beer tent at Harman’s Cross, with live music on Friday and Saturday evening.

Beer tent open 11am-11pm Friday and Saturday, 11am-3pm Sunday.

Swanage Railway: Fri 9- Sun 11 May

Get the chance to see behind the scenes of a busy working railway on the 5-6 April.

Swanage Railway opens its doors to allow access to restricted areas such as signal boxes, engine and goods sheds.

There will also be a number of displays along the route, including a platform display at Swanage, a mining display at Morden as well as the Railway Musuem at Corfe. 

Swanage Railway: 5-6 April

To mark The Tank Museum’s 60 years as a public Museum, Tank Museum Historian David Fletcher will recall the history of this internationally important museum; from its birth as a teaching collection after World War One, to its present position as a leading tourist attraction.

Local heritage meets international history in an entertaining talk by one of the world’s leading military vehicle experts.

The Tank Museum: Thur 27 March 7.30pm: £9 01929 462359 

A Three counties classic vintage car show is taking place ar Dylan’s Cafe Courtyard in Lytchett Minster on Easter Monday.

The cars will be on display from 11am to 1.30pm and agin from 3pm to 5pm.

Dylan’s Cafe/Restaurant: Mon 24 March

Step back in time to the 1960’s this weekend as Swanage Railway celebrates the decade that not only saw the Beatles and Stones, but also marked the changeover from steam to diesel.

Among the steam and diesel locomotives running this weekend will be an historic diesel locomotive that ran more than a million miles with British Rail – and starred in the 1995 hit James Bond film Goldeneye.

As well as the retro railway weekend, the festive season will also get underway with Father Christmas arriving in Swanage by steam train, the Xmas lights will be switched on and there will be lots of goodies to buy at the Victorian market. 
 

Dorset County Council has announced that major road and resurfacing works are to take place on the A351 Sandford Road, between Pottery Roundabout (B3075) and the Blackhill Road roundabout, Holton Heath. 

The works will necessitate substantial lane closures and for part of the time a possible complete closure of the A351 between Woodlands Drive roundabout and Organford Road traffic lights.

The works are scheduled to commence on 8th October 2007 and will last for 6 to 8 weeks.

This route is the primary road access into Purbeck and will cause severe traffic congestion. The only alternative routes will be via Bere Regis (15 mile detour and this route will be very congested) or the chain ferry from Sandbanks, although severe delays (over one hour) are likely to build up here as a result of the road works.