REVIEW: The Blue Pool Nature Reserve & Tea Rooms

The Blue Pool Nature Reserve has re-opened after closing last year following the passing of the sole proprietor, Jennifer Barnard, who was 91. Jennifer had been running the beautiful tourist attraction for 65 years!

Now under new ownership, The Blue Pool is ready to welcome visitors to experience the exquisite beauty of this unique attraction on the Isle of Purbeck.

We visited at the beginning of the Easter holidays but the word had not yet spread that it was open again, and so luckily for us it was still fairly quiet.

The entry fee is extremely reasonable at only £5 per adult and £2.50 for children (from 5 – 18 years) and babies and toddlers are free.

Just a few hundred metres from the entrance gate are the public toilets and The Tea Rooms (open for takeaways until lockdown easing allows indoor drinking and dining) which currently serves hot and cold drinks and snacks including coffees, pasties, cakes and Purbeck Ice Cream.

We found a tranquil spot overlooking the breathtakingly beautiful Blue Pool to enjoy our pasties and coffees - bliss!

The pool is a natural flooded, disused clay pit where Purbeck ball clay was once extracted. This is now a lake where minerals change colour from green to blue, it really is quite something to see, especially on a sunny day. I would recommend if possible visiting on a nice cleat and sunny day to really experience the colours and beauty in all its glory.

The Pool is surrounded by 25 acres of heath, woodland and gorse interlaced with sandy paths. We took the easy red route with fun Magic Fairy Doors for my toddler to enjoy and we all had great fun spotting the model squirrels in the trees. There are other routes so we will visit again to have a deeper explore.

There are also a couple of a decent playground for the kids with plenty of the usual equipment to keep them busy including swings and slides.

I would highly recommend this attraction to both locals and tourists - it's fantastic escapism and an easy outdoor activity for any age to enjoy (we had our baby in the carrier but the route we took was buggy friendly).

Find out more about The Blue Pool HERE!