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These old stone quarries right on the cliff edge are typical of the places where stone has been dug out of the Purbeck Hills for centuries.

Tilly Whim caves themselves haven’t been quarried since the 1810s - the stone would have been hacked out of the cliffs and loaded directly onto boats with the 'Whim' - a special type of wooden crane.Ìý John Mowlem was thought to have worked in this particular quarry.

George Burt opened them as another tourist attraction.Ìý They were closed in the 1970s as they were thought to be too dangerous.Ìý

The caves and quarries were also an ideal spot for smugglers to hide their contraband in the network of tunnels which could extend deep inland.

Workers at a Durlston quarry had a very large block of stone which was unused for years.Ìý When the Revenue officers questioned them, quarrymen insisted it was of too poor a quality to sell - actually it was hollowed out and full of smuggled goods!

Workers in the quarries could also help out by taking the contraband inland hidden in their lunch baskets!

It was hard work down the underground quarries where men had to quarry the stone from tunnels (called 'lanes') which could be as little as three feet high.Ìý Although the relatively dust-free nature of Purbeck Stone underground meant there was very little long term damage to their lungs and many quarrymen lived to a ripe old age.

The Black Swan pub on Swanage High Street has a rail round the outside.Ìý Quarrymen would pay for their beer with blocks of stone left here - that's quite a bar tab!

Cut back along ‘diagonal path’ towards the car park and visitors’ centre where you can learn a lot more about the history, marine, bird and plant life of Durlston.Ìý Then head out of the park back towards town on Lighthouse and Taunton Road and onto Cluny Crescent.