Vogue On The Road: Cruising Past Castles In Dorset In A Bentley Continental GT Azure

We made full use of the thunderous (not that you hear anything, nestled in the quilted seats) V8 engine as we sped west down the motorway from London, but as soon as we passed Bournemouth and entered the leafy avenues of Poole and Sandbanks, the Bentley seemed to sense it was in the right demographic postcode, let out an almost audible sigh and trickled happily along at 30mph, a little Norah Jones playing through the cool Naim speakers, while we gazed at Art-Deco houses, Arts-and-Crafts mansions and brand new pavilions, double-height glass and steel windows deflecting the sun’s and the public’s glare.

The joyous Sandbanks ferry provides a drive-on hop across the water, while you gaze at the yachts bobbing in their moorings and point at Brownsea Island^[1] with its bonkers castle at the water’s edge.

The drive on the other side of the ferry is one of the most stunning stretches of coastal landscape in the UK. The road meanders through the Isle of Purbeck peninsula, which comprises grasslands, streams, marshes, islands and a nature reserve populated with migrating birds. You have to find the Studland Road, the B3351, which links Studland to Corfe Castle, upstream. The views from this road are truly incredible, spanning forests, inlets and the islands protecting the coast. Corfe Castle itself is a chocolate-box village that sits, like a daisy chain, round the bottom of the dramatic ruins of the castle proper^[2] – well worth a visit.

We huffed up the steep hill to the National Trust ruins, then slithered back down, turned back and drove to the Glebeland Estate, where The Pig on the Beach^[3] sits, facing out to sea over the chalk cliffs of Studland Bay (don’t forget your swimming costume for a wild dip; the sea here is calm and warm most of the year).

A higgledy-piggledy, yellow-painted country house, this particular Pig showcases the best of the hotel chain: rustic charm, a home from home and that brilliant 25-mile menu, which sources all restaurant ingredients from either their own spotless kitchen garden or local suppliers within a 25-mile radius.

We drank cocktails^[4] and ate spiced Portland crab and pigeon, then read our books by the fire late into the evening. Outside, the moon lit up the Bentley’s ageless silhouette, and we really could have been sitting by the fire, staring out at the car, in 2023 or 1953: the aesthetics are utterly interchangeable. Which is surely sustainable luxury at its finest: the very best products, built to last a lifetime, and beyond.

References

1. ^{^} Brownsea Island (www.nationaltrust.org.uk)
2. ^{^} the castle proper (www.nationaltrust.org.uk)
3. ^{^} The Pig on the Beach (www.thepighotel.com)
4. ^{^} cocktails (www.vogue.co.uk)