The whale nicknamed Gilbert who was seen in Poole Bay last week has been washed up on the beach near near Alum Chine.
The blood stained body, now partly covered, is this morning lying on the sand.
A diversion maybe for delegates at the nearby Liberal Democrat conference.
Good to see Nick Clegg and his wife standing on the Bournemouth Coast Path today. He was enjoying the view from the West Cliff often used as a backdrop by television reporters.
This weekend and next week you will see lots of familiar faces on the slope between the Highcliff Hotel and the Pier as the Liberal Democrat Conference is at the Bournemouth International Centre.
If you are not able to enjoy this wonderful weather on the path and spot the whale there should be some good pictures on television.
See pages 30-31.
Bournemouth cliffs is  a good place to be just now with news of a whale swimming around Poole Bay.
BBC South Today had a live report last night from Branksome Chine.
It seems that the whale is about 30 foot long which is only half the length  of the one washed up at Boscombe in 1897.  That attracted huge crowds.
But with experts suggesting that this new whale may be unwell it could be that we shall have a dead whale washed up again.
See page 44.
Fiona Duncan in the Sunday Telegraph thought that the Chewton Glen was too expensive and so opted for Westover Hall.
At £206 per night is too much for me. Walking should not be expensive. Cheaper at Ha’penny House nearby.
See pages 70, Â 74 and 87.
August Bank Holiday weekend comes at the very end of the month this year and on Sunday (30 August) Hordle Old Churchyard has its annual service.
The church was pulled down in 1829 and moved inland due to the crumbling cliff. However, the site survives with the churchyard and its ancient graves containing shipwrecked sailors in tact.
The congregation from the ‘new’ All Saints inland and visitors are invited to arrive by 5.30pm. Take  a picnic. The service is at 6.30pm.
The churchyard is next to Hordle House and Hordle Manor Farm.
Church office: 01425 626565
See page 73.
The clifftop and seafront at Bournemouth are likely to be crowded this weekend and certainly noisy.
The air show starts today and crowds are expected to build up during the next four days when the displays are over the bay.
A good place to watch might be from around Old Harry Rocks between Swanage and Studland.
This event is a preview of the 2010 air show which will be part of Bournemouth’s bi-centenary celebrations. A century ago the centenary events included an air display at Southbourne during which Charles Rolls died.
Bournemouth Air Festival runs from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 August.
See page 57.
A surprise in the ‘Discovering Poole’ art exhibition in Poole Museum is a painting Branksome Dene which I have never seen before.
It is by James Duffield Harding and is dated 1858. A handy map beside the painting confirms that the the artist chose to sit on the eastern side of the chine. His view is across Branksome Dene Chine with the bay curving towards Sandbanks on the left and Branksome Towers high up to the right.
I would suggest that this vantage point is the top of today’s path up from the chine and is on the old county boundary, now just the Poole-Bournemouth boundary. Here the path, part of today’s coast path, is being used by a shooting party.
There are other delights in the exhibition such as Roger Fry’s painting Studland Beach 1911. Several artists seemed to have been drawn to the view of Poole Harbour from above Studland.
I went guessing that there would be work by my godfather Leslie Ward. I still have the Bournemouth OS map he gave me. I think he preferred Poole to Bournemouth for painting although he was responsible for the much reproduced picture of Robert Louis Stevenson’s house in Bournemouth before it was bombed.
I was pleased to find work by Eustace Nash whose Bathing at Studland is on the poster.
‘Discovering Poole: an artist’s haven 1850-1950’ continues at Poole Museum until 28 February 2010; admission free.
See pages 26-27.
Good news for the Southbourne-Mudeford winter route.
Tutton’s Well at Stanpit is to be further restored by Christchurch Council which is recognising its importance. The quay wall is to be rebuilt using the original Portland stones and an information board is being prepared.
The well’s water, which has filtered down through the New Forest gravel beds, was once thought to be so pure that it had healing powers. The nearby crossroads is known as Purewell.
The well was given to Christchurch by Nelson’s friend Sir George Rose who lived at Mudeford.
See page 60-61.
Natural England‘s Coastal Access report published at the end of last month did not get much press coverage so I have only just been catching up with it.
The document is an audit of coastal paths and to me it’s rather too gloomy.
First it suggests that the path along Poole Bay, better known as Bournemouth cliffs, has “no satisfactory legally secure path”. It may not be a public footpath on the OS map but the route is mainly on pavements and in council owned parks.
Chewton Bunny to Milford-on-Sea has the same designation which is not quite so surprising as this includes Naish Farm caravan park, Barton and Hordle which have crumbling cliffs. The ‘farm’ does not have a public footpath.
Although the report recognises that in places there can be “de facto or permissive access” it does not deal with any stretches in detail.
Indeed it does not say how the provisions of the Marine & Coastal Access Bill will be delivered over the coming decade -a timescale mentioned by Natural England chief executive Helen Phillips.
The 65 page large print publication is not a lot of help.
The Grand Centenary Exhibition staged by Milford-on-Sea Historical Record Society opens today in the church hall.
Sadly it only runs until next Saturday 8 August which is far too short for such an interesting exhibition.
The displays look back more than a hundred years to the arrival of Admiral Cornwallis-West who lived at Newlands Manor. Colonel William Cornwallis-West’s children married well and brought the famous to the village.
Fortunately, there was not enough money to develop the seaside village into a resort so it remains delightful.
Open 10am to 7pm except the last day Saturday when the exhibition closes at 4pm.
See page 76.