Blue Pool, Dorset

The ball clay was used to make fine ceramic products, such as smoking pipes, plates, cups and tea pots.

The metallic blue sometimes found in photographs is more likely to be a reflection of the sky, as the attraction's own website makes no such claim for the water, and their leaflets call it “a turquoise jewel set in the heart of Purbeck”.

Blue Pool is now a popular tourist attraction, especially because it is a place of peace and tranquillity.

The lush vegetation around the pool is inhabited by grey squirrels, rabbits and badgers.

Both of Britain's endangered and protected reptiles, the green sand lizard and the smooth snake, live here in considerable numbers.