In the footsteps of Famous Five on England's southern coast.

By REBECCA ROWE

Half of Britain seems to go to Dorset for their summer holidays. Even before I set foot in England, expats enthusiastically regaled me with stories of annual school holidays in this northern equivalent to Mt Maunganui.

In England everyone who heard I was heading to the southern county said the same thing: "It's a beautiful part of the country."

By gosh, even the Famous Five spent their summer hols there.

Dorset is a visual feast of rural, seaside England: rolling, green meadows bordered by stone walls, tiny villages full of quaint, thatched cottages, romantic castles, sandy beaches, Victorian-era townships.

Enid Blyton frequently stayed at a Dorset hotel in the 1950s, probably drawing inspiration from the surroundings for the locations in her Famous Five books.

Corfe Castle, a dramatic ruin, is just the sort of place one would expect to run into Julian, George, Dick, Anne and Timmy the dog having an adventure.

Corfe's leaning towers and large blocks of fallen stone give the impression that the castle is crumbling because of the ravages of time. In fact it was demolished in 1646, during the English Civil War.

As a Royalist stronghold, Corfe withstood sieges in 1643 and 1646, the last of which went on for nearly seven weeks, until undermining and gunpowder reduced the castle to its present state. The huge blocks of masonry still lie where they fell more than 300 years ago.

The castle buildings date back to the time of William the Conqueror, almost a millennium ago.

Three later kings (Henry I, John and Henry III) added to the structure, with John spending a small fortune adapting the castle for comfort and defence in the early 1200s.

The main entrance includes a machicolation slot in the ceiling, through which hot ashes, stones and other missiles could be dropped on unwelcome visitors trapped in the passageway below. Nearby is a grim reminder of medieval ethics: a small, windowless room, the oubliette, into which prisoners were dropped via a trapdoor - then forgotten.

The castle provides the perfect backdrop for a relaxing picnic lunch on the grassy slopes falling away from the ruins - just make sure you include ginger beer, chocolate cake and lashings of whipped cream.

For those wanting to combine medieval history with a blast from the more recent past, a steam train runs to Corfe from the nearby seaside town of Swanage.

Swanage is worth a visit, too. Renowned as one of Britain's cleanest beaches, its Victorian seaside pier and sandy shores play host to not only acres of lily-white English flesh in summer, but also one of the last Punch and Judy shows in the country. This amusing (but oh so politically incorrect) puppet show is an icon of the English summer holiday and still draws crowds of children and adults.

The spectacular coastline in either direction from Swanage includes huge white chalk cliffs and pinnacles, as well as secluded coves frequented by pirates in years gone by - this is smuggler country. The area around nearby Lulworth Cove is internationally renowned for its stunning scenery and geology, including some of the best examples of geological folding and geomorphology in Europe.

Weathering and erosion have produced fascinating arches and columns among the cliffs, with some pinnacles the result of cliffs largely collapsing into the sea. Henry VIII built a castle atop one of these towering white cliffs but it was claimed by the sea in 1770.

Not far from this site lies the bizarre Agglestone rock, in the tiny village of Studland. This huge, mushroom-shaped boulder provides a touch of mystery that even Enid Blyton would have been proud of. Measuring 6m high and 12m wide at its widest point, the Agglestone sits imperiously atop a small hill in the centre of "the heath" - low-lying scrub and heather on gently undulating land not far from Swanage.

According to legend, the Agglestone (derived from the old English hagolstan, holy-stone or hailstone) was a missile thrown by Old Nick from the Isle of Wight intending to hit Corfe Castle. Scientists, however, believe it is simply the result of stratified erosion.

Whatever its origins, the Agglestone typifies the intriguing beauty of the surrounding Dorset countryside.

It's easy to see why this county is such a popular destination for the British, who go back year after year, as well as for increasing numbers of foreign visitors - with history, mystery and luscious scenery, Dorset has all the essential ingredients for a truly smashing holiday adventure. Hurrah!