Return to Winspit Quarry

The path from the tiny village of Worth Matravers to Winspit Quarry was slightly more overgrown and slippery with mud than I remembered, but then it shouldn’t be too easy to reach an alien planet…

I wrote about my first visit to Skaro, the birthplace of Doctor Who’s greatest foes the Daleks, back in 2018 https://fromscenetoseen.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/finally-a-doctor-who-quarry/

Skaro aka Winspit Quarry is a disused industrial site right on the edge of the Dorset coast and a site of pilgrimage for many a Doctor Who fan. Used as an alien planet in the Doctor Who story ‘Destiny of the Daleks’, it also featured in an episode of Blake’s 7 and even long lost 1967 Doctor Who story ‘The Underwater Menace’. It’s on Hollywood’s location radar too as it was used in the 2012 film ‘John Carter’.

Why was I making a return trip? Well, I made a lockdown promise was to show my husband the quarry and to treat him to a pie and a pint in the most excellent Square and Compass pub in Worth Matravers. Also, earlier this year, the location was used as another alien planet, this time a Star Wars universe one. One of the many new Disney+ Star Wars shows ‘Andor’ was spotting filming there straight after they finished filming in Cleveleys, Lancashire (another blog post to follow on that). So not only has the quarry been used in two classic Doctor Who stories it’s now the setting for a Star Wars adventure – how many locations have such a geek pedigree?

Having spent a lot of lockdown watching YouTube travel videos – I was slightly worried Winspit would be busy – a combination of summer holidays and a lack of foreign travel might have turned it in to a hotspot – but as it turned out people seemed more interested in traditional places like Durdle Door than a disused quarry.  

We pretty much had it to ourselves for at least half an hour, which was great. More than enough time to pose for photos, play with toys and try and recreate scenes from Doctor Who.

We’d rewatched ‘Destiny of the Daleks’ featuring the 4^th Doctor and Romana prior to our trip. I hadn’t realised that quite a lot of the story was filmed on location in Winspit. Since the 1970s filming the walls of the quarry buildings had collapsed (or had been pulled down for safety). It looked a bit more ruinous than when it doubled for Skaro, but then it has been over 40 years. We played around with Doctor Who figures and tried to work out were shots were taken. We found Romana’s ‘grave’ and the entrance to the where Davros was hidden underground. There’s no better way to spend an afternoon! It was just fun to have free reign in such a fascinating place by the seaside.

There’s a great location report made during the summer 2021 Andor filming here: Star Wars: Andor: More Winspit Quarry images arrive – Fantha Tracks

The Andor filming is a bit of a mystery obviously, as there is no official footage yet. However, from set reports like the one above, it seems that all the filming happened in the quarried-out caverns. When I learned of this, I was a little worried, as my abiding memory of my last visit to the caverns was that they were dark, dirty and rather fragrant (use your imagination…). I’m pleased to report that Disney appear to have totally cleaned it up for filming – all walls were pressure washed, the floor is litter free and without odour. I’m not sure how it’s going to appear in ‘Andor’ but I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do in it.

We discovered a slightly less treacherous path back up to Worth Maltravers and indeed had that much-deserved pie and pint – I highly recommend Hattie Brown’s Osiris beer and the cheese  and potato pie. Just as we were about to enjoy some live music outside the heavens opened – a true British summers day!

WInspit Quarry is oddly magical – an industrial ruin that’s right on the edge of the coast. With the combination of a blue sky and a view for miles along the coast it’s a beautiful, unique place. I wouldn’t rule out a third visit one day.