New research has revealed that the number of Brits taking two-week holidays has decreased by 18 per cent over the past five years with half of Brits not planning to take a fortnight’s holiday this year.

Our study reveals a new trend for Brits taking multiple single day holidays throughout the year, as opposed to the traditional two-week break.

Another month has flown by! and that means it's time for another Jurassic Coast Walk. This time we had chosen Lulworth Cove and (as usual) up until this morning, the weather forecast wasn't looking too good!

Still, no worries as the sun was shining as we met in the carpark down by Lulworth Cove - a total of 11 humans and 2 dogs!

As I'm sure you are aware, today is Shrove Tuesday - a.k.a. Pancake Day. Following the success of the event last year, the 2nd National Trust Pancake Race at the Hive Beach, Burton Bradstock was once again set for a thrilling event!

The weather has been glorious over the last few days and I took the opportunity of taking the coast road to take in the amazing views along the Jurassic Coast before arriving at Burton.

Another first for me today - I was joined by my very own volunteer! Local graduate, Grace found me via the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site Team and following a couple of meetings (just to be able to volunteer - nothing like 'red-tape' eh?!) I was deemed 'safe'.

So, in honour of my new volunteer, I've asked Grace to write a bit for the blog today:

Ahh, the power of Twitter! Yesterday I answered a request from a local BBC Journalist looking for someone to do a short live interview today on BBC Radio Solent's Big Dorset Brunch show.

At the time it seemed like a good idea... then I found out I had to be in the BBC studios by 8.00a.m. Still, worth giving it go, I thought! I must admit that when the alarm went off at 6.00a.m. this morning, I was having second thoughts and Phil was looking distinctly confused!

Another new location for me today - Goulds Garden Centre in Weymouth. Down in Devon & Cornwall our Offsite-recruiters regularly setup in Garden Centre carparks so I thought I'd give it a go in Dorset!

Anthony Gould was more than accomodating when I approached him a few weeks ago so today was the first of 3 arranged visits to see how a Garden Centre would fare for me.

Beautiful sunshine was the order to the day today - although rather chilly... The Jurassic Coast Roadshows, hosted by the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site (WHS) Team have been working their way along the coast and today we were in West Bay.

Caroline & I arrived a few minutes early so we took the opportunity to have an ice-cream and wander along the Pier to fully savour the amazing Jurassic Coastline that stretches either side of the small harbour (made famous by the BBC TV series 'Harbour Lights' starring Nick Berry)

OK, confession time.... it's been a long week and I'm tired! For the most fleeting of moments this morning I was hoping it was going to rain today and I could have spent the whole day in bed doing nothing.

It wasn't to be (infact it was lovely sunshine at about 7:45 this morning - typical!) so off I set, on my way to Charmouth, near Lyme Regis, and how glad I was I didn't stay in bed!. Over the last week (1/2 Term in Dorset) I've been to the Tank Museum in Bovington 3 times, a Jurassic Coast Roadshow, Portland Museum & Rallye Sunseeker but not actually anywhere on the Jurassic Coast.

It's been a busy 1/2 term so far and there was no let-up today! Having viturally resurrected the entire dinosuar population in paper-plate Stegosaurus's over the last few days it was a nice change to be out at a very different event, Rallye Sunseeker - the opening round of the MSA National Rally Championships.

Held in the grounds of Somerely House near Ringwood, the Speed Festival not only gave access to spectating areas but also had a variety of exhibitors to keep the crowds entertained between the many stages.

Recently I had the pleasure of showing round Leni from the National Trust Outdoor Nation project (see the blog post here). Since her visit she's been travelling the country far & wide in her branded VW campervan at such a frenzied pace she's barely had time to edit the hours (yes, I do mean hours) of footage she took.

I'm delighted to say that the first of a few videos about her visit went live on the Outdoor Nation website today and it was the piece of VT about the Play Trail at Langdon Wood on the Golden Cap Estate, where she interviewed our Careership Ranger - Hayley Dorrington.

With half-term in full swing in Dorset, today I spent the day at Portland Museum as part of their Dinosuar Day activities. It may only be a small museum but the staff and volunteers have big ideas and are always putting on exciting events and activities, particularly aimed at families.

Following the call for volunteers made on this website a few weeks ago, I was delighted to be joined by one of my newest volunteers - Grace, who is a Portlander(?) herself, to help me out for the day. Having done her degree in Geography and specialised in teaching, Grace was the perfect person for the job today!

The first day of 1/2 Term in Dorset today and I was back at The Tank Museum with Caroline ready and eager for a busy day.

Caroline had been telling me about an activity she has run before with youngsters - making a Stegosaurus out of a paper plate. Intrigued? I was...

No dodgy 'Roses are Red' poems, no tacky card and no cuddly teddy bear...

Just this lovely picture taken by Cathy of a heart-shaped stone on the beach at Osmington near Weymouth:

Jurassic Walk number 3 and time for our luck to change with the weather! Following the most wonderfully sunny days on Golden Cap in November and at Kimmeridge in January, today was wet & windy!

The Jurassic Walks are a monthly free walk, taking place somewhere along the Jurassic Coast. Open to all, and free, the route always takes in a pub / cafe half way round and tries to take a slightly more unusual route than people may be used to.

So, it's Valentines weekend, all the annoying adverts on the TV about how you must show your Love for your partner by buying them a tacky card or going out for an over-priced meal!

Here at the National Trust in West Dorset we like to do things slightly differently so in celebration of Valentine's weekend, we went to Cerne Abbas - the chalk figure infamous as a fertility symbol, where we had a 'Love your Valentine, Love the NT' day!

Following the excellent day I had yesterday on with the National Trust Working Holiday that was happening on the Golden Cap Estate, it was another early start to get back to Golden Cap for day 2.

Another day, another hedge - a new one this time (well, actually, old - that was why were were going to tackle it!) So, in light drizzle, I met the Rangers and working holiday group in a field on the estate. Much of the estate is grazed by sheep at this time of year and they were incredibly nosey (or maybe they thought we had brought food?) and as we drove into the field they all charged over to meet us - pied-piper style!

A few weeks ago I spent a great day out at Hod Hill with one of our Rangers - Michael, and a group of volunteers doing some scrub bashing. I was enthusiastically chatting to our Countryside Manager shortly afterwards about how much I'd enjoyed it and he suggested I might like to attend a hedge-laying course that was coming up on the Golden Cap Estate.

The Golden Cap Estate hosts around 6 National Trust Working Holidays each year, where people come away for a week and learn a skill. They stay at our basecamp for the duration of the holiday and work on the Estate - great for both parties!

Following the day of glorious sunshine last Sunday at Cerne Abbas, I guess I was due a 'wet one' and today it came! I'd been excitedly looking forward to today since a brilliant meeting I'd attended at the Tank Museum with their Corporate & Events Team about partnership working (yes, occasionally, even I - the 'hater of meetings' go to meetings - but only if it's really worth it!)

Growing up in Dorset I'd been to the Tank Museum as a child but not since they had made their multi-million pound refurbishment & extension and the museum's looking fantastic now. The Museum has been kind enough to allow me to take the Jurassic Coastin' campervan to some of their events and also to be outside promoting the Trust throughout the year and today was my 'tester day'.

Late last year I had the privilege of visiting Castle Drogo, set above the Teign Gorge in the beautiful Devon countryside.

Drogo was the 'last castle to be build in England' and it's a fascinating building in an amazing area. The visit to the castle was a bit of a whistle-stop-tour (as seems to be usual for me!) but I did get a sense of the amazing history of the property.

Having just about thawed out after a seriously cold day in Hope Square, outside Brewers Quay yesterday, I was delighted to be driving into bright sunshine as I set off this morning to collect the van.

A new destination for me today - slightly inland for a change - Cerne Abbas. Home to the famous Cerne Abbas Giant - a 180ft (55m) high chalk figure of a naked man. (More details from Wikipedia)

The last time I spent some time in Weymouth it was bitterly cold and, back again today, it was the same! My saviour was the fact I was attending a Jurassic Coast Roadshow - organised by the World Heritage Site (WHS) Team and it was indoors!

As part of the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the designation of the World Heritage Site status (December 2001), the WHS Team are travelling the 95 miles putting on free roadshows to allow the public to hear what's been happening and what's planned for the future.

Whilst visiting The Outdoors Show last week, I had the pleasure of meeting the National Trust Outdoor Nation Roaming Reporter - Leni Hatcher. Her brief is to travel the UK, interviewing people about their views of The Outdoors - see full details of the project on her blog.

Leni has been awaiting delivery of her branded VW campervan, in which she is supposed to be travelling the UK, but for various reasons it hasn't arrived yet. When she saw my blog & pictures I think there was a bit of campervan-envy so I decided to invite her for a day out on the Jurassic Coast to see what we have to offer and what life is like travelling the countryside in a campervan.

.... THIS is a van!

OK - apologies to Mick 'Crocodile' Dundee for the appalling mis-quote but it seemed reasonable! The Jurassic Coastin' campervan has been at Marquis Motorhomes for the last few days having some minor repairs (not caused by bad driving, I hasten to add!) and a couple of upgrades.

Having spent a day at the Outdoors Show on Friday, and chatting to a few people at Brewers Quay yesterday about the work of the Trust, I was looking forward to joining one of our Rangers, Michael at a Hill Fort in our property portfolio - Hod Hill.

He was meeting a group of volunteers from Bournemouth University and volunteers from Bournemouth National Trust Volunteers to do some coppicing and scrub-bashing and I wanted to find out more and lend a hand.

Following my trip to London yesterday to the Outdoors Show, I was back in the outdoors today, in Weymouth. Hope Square to be precise - outside Brewers Quay.

The heavy rain from yesterday was nowhere to be seen today and although it was overcast it remained dry for the day, for which I was very grateful!

The Outdoors Show is taking place at London's ExCeL from January 13th - 16th and the National Trust is exhibiting. As 4 days away from the coast would clearly be too much for me, I decided to go up for the day and take a look around!

One of the reasons I was keen to attend was to meet one of the Trusts newest recruits - Leni Hatcher. She's our Roaming Reporter as part of the current Outdoor Nationcampaign and has a branded VW Campervan to take her around the UK. Obviously, I was keen to catch-up on campervan-chat (yes, sad, I know!)

The 2nd of our Jurassic Walks took place at Kimmeridge Bay today. Happening on the 2nd Sunday in every month, the walks are gentle 3 - 5 mile circular walks with a pub / cafe stop approximately half way.

As with the Golden Cap walk in November, the weather couldn't have been better with barely a cloud in the fabulously blue skies. 14 walkers, including 2 from Reading and 2 from Surrey, and 3 dogs met in a slightly muddy carpark at Kimmeridge for the start of the walk.

Following the terrible weather yesterday, I wasn't holding out a lot of hope for going to Portland today but the BBC Weather radar said it was going to be dry, so I trusted them!

How right they were! slight drizzle on the windscreen as I left home this morning, but by the time I go to the van there were glimpses of blue sky. It was however, very windy and as I drove along Chesil the spray was blowing over the top of the beach creating a 'sea misty' effect.

So, it's January - the weather's turned wet & horrible and the location calendar's looking pretty empty! That doesn't mean the Jurassic Coastin' project has slowed down - quite the reverse in fact!

Behind the scenes we're busy making sure that 2011 is going to be bigger & better than the last 6 months.

Today saw the launch of a new organisation in Lyme Regis. Maritime Lyme 2011 celebrates the town’s maritime life, culture and heritage with 12 months of events.

The launch event was a family treasure hunt, from the harbour slipway, along Marine Parade to Lyme Regis Museum.

Firstly - Happy New Year! & welcome to the redesigned blog site for the Jurassic Coastin' project - I hope you like the new layout.

Many people will have been out doing all sorts of things to excess last night, celebrating the start of a New Year and a great way to welcome in 2011 is with a lovely walk. With this in mind, I decided I would take the van to Ringstead Hill, overlooking Portland Harbour - the Olympic 2012 Sailing venue.

What a year (well, 6 months!) it's been. I vividly remember arriving at the National Trust Offices in West Dorset on Tuesday 8th June and meeting 2 lovely people who informed me my job interview would be taking place in the back of a campervan. From that moment I know that everything linked to this project was going to be ever-so-slightly unconventional!

First we had the (what turned out to be) hugely-complicated task of 'wrapping' the van in the stunning graphics that now adorn it so fabulously - and huge thanks to LamArt for putting up with us whilst we constantly pestered them about a finish date!