For some people, winter is the period between autumn and spring that has to be endured and can't pass too quickly. But others love the season. They love the snow that brings back memories of childhood days playing snowballs and sledging (when of course the snow was deeper and more frequent!). They also love the bright frosty mornings, as the hoar frost clings to every twig and ice patterns form on windows and on standing water.
Of course there are times when the weather is foul, but to sit in front of a roaring log fire while the rain patters on the window, or to crowd into a Christmas-decorated church are experiences to be treasured.
The weather generally smiles benignly on Dorset in winter, although it can be harsh, especially in the north of the county. Even the Poole Harbour shoreline has been known to freeze over on rare occasions. The county can be spectacularly beautiful under a mantle of snow, or when the early morning rays of the sun catch a meadow coated in frost, a church tower standing above the gently lapping mists, or a towering wave crashing onto Dorset's Jurassic shore.
Then later on when winter starts to lose its icy grip and the days lengthen, the harbingers of spring in Dorset are all the more beautiful.
In this journey through winter in Dorset, celebrated photographer Roger Holman persuades us through more than 140 crisp and evocative images that winter is a season to be celebrated and savoured. Wrap up well and enjoy it!
