Introduction
The February winter break in the UK is always a difficult time to work out where to go. Do you escape the weather and go somewhere hot or do you embrace it. We decided to embrace the weather and after the usual verbal wrestling in the house around whether we go skiing or do something else active. The anti-snow brigade picked something active which was not skiing. With it being 6 months since my walk across the Thames I picked a Dorset beauty spot to traverse.
We did a 3 day break in Dorset in and around Weymouth. Our first day was spent nursing a car break down and then driving to West Bay as life was breathed back into our engine. West bay is slightly further away from London than Weymouth. The London to Weymouth drive was a pretty mundane journey down the M3 towards Southampton and the New Forest and then out towards the Dorset (Jurassic) Coast.
We arrived in West bay mid-afternoon not really knowing what to expect. The town seems like a small fishing community primarily driven around the summer tourist season. We parked up in the town and walked to the beach primarily with a view to just a short leisurely walk. The beach is a beautiful long beach where you have the ocean on one side and large cliff faces on the other.
Despite the miserable weather on our drive down the weather in Dorset was amazing with clear blue skies all round. While the ambient temperature was cold it was manageable the winter sun made it positively balmy at times.
West Bay houses some of the more interesting cliff faces in the area and whilst we did not look for fossils on our first day we kind of just relaxed and walked off the London pace of life.
Whilst not he intention we stayed until sunset and you can see that we were not disappointed. There is a rough beauty to the United Kingdom that cant be explained. Of course everywhere in world has its beauty spots but there is something rugged, tough and aggressive about the UK which yields the spectacular.
As the day ended we drove back to Weymouth where we were staying.
The star attraction of our short trip was the 12 mile walk from Lulworth Cove to Weymouth. The idea was to take a taxi from Weymouth to Lulworth Cove (GBP 40) and then take the South Coast Path all the way back crossing all the varying terrain on our way. This section of the coastal path was selected for the beautiful spots on the way.
The walk start from the beautifully calm waters of Lulworth Cove and then climbs up over the cliffs to Durdle Door (the arch in the sea). This is the most beautiful part of the walk and its right at the start. So if you come to the area and dont have much time, do this segment of the walk its a couple of hours round trip. Both locations have car parks so you can drive (google is your friend for directions). The first 7 kilometres of the walk to Weymouth are tough with a number of steep climbs and descents. You do need to be reasonably fit or take your time.
After Durdle Door you are pretty much walking alone along the South Coast path. Its reasonably well marked and you just follow it. The varying terrain is less taxing after Ringstead. Given the time of the year the path was muddy which meant it was not straight forward walk but more like crossing no mans land in World War I.
Motivation in all of us ebbed as we hit Osmington Mills where we eventually stopped. The sun went down on our journey and it was time for cake and coffee at the pub.
The highest point is just before Ringstead where you climb up 130 metres up to 174m. The views across the sea are obviously fantastic. While we encountered a number people along the way, bailout points should you be tired, were not obvious. The staff at the pub we stopped at were kind enough to call us a taxi back to Weymouth. Keep some taxi numbers handy if you're planning on taking this approach.
Final day was a drive to Portland Bill light house. If you were born long enough ago this was a children's television program shown in the UK in the 1980's. Portland Bill has three lighthouses and is an interesting island to walk around. The views from the middle(hill) of the island looking back at Chesil beach is spectacular.
On the drive to Portland do stop off at Chesil Beach it's a really cool beach to stop off at with spectacular view out to sea. Its must be a phenomenal place to go during the summer season.
Portland will resonate with builders who will be familiar with Portland cement. The cement was named after the material found in Portland stone were show to be an effective bonding material.
The final afternoon of a light day to potentially nurse sore legs. We spent a useful afternoon at Charmouth near Lyme Regis, fossil hunting.
The initial excitement of fossil hunting is quickly replaced by the monotony of breaking stones apart in the hope of finding something. With that said we did find some fossils. See our pictures below
If you plan to go fossil hunting take along a hammer and if you are into health and safety protective eye wear too !
Hope you get the chance to replicate our journey with favourable weather, remember it does not need to be sunny and hot, just clear blue sky and there is no better place.
The February winter break in the UK is always a difficult time to work out where to go. Do you escape the weather and go somewhere hot or do you embrace it. We decided to embrace the weather and after the usual verbal wrestling in the house around whether we go skiing or do something else active. The anti-snow brigade picked something active which was not skiing. With it being 6 months since my walk across the Thames I picked a Dorset beauty spot to traverse.
We did a 3 day break in Dorset in and around Weymouth. Our first day was spent nursing a car break down and then driving to West Bay as life was breathed back into our engine. West bay is slightly further away from London than Weymouth. The London to Weymouth drive was a pretty mundane journey down the M3 towards Southampton and the New Forest and then out towards the Dorset (Jurassic) Coast.
West Bay
We arrived in West bay mid-afternoon not really knowing what to expect. The town seems like a small fishing community primarily driven around the summer tourist season. We parked up in the town and walked to the beach primarily with a view to just a short leisurely walk. The beach is a beautiful long beach where you have the ocean on one side and large cliff faces on the other.
Despite the miserable weather on our drive down the weather in Dorset was amazing with clear blue skies all round. While the ambient temperature was cold it was manageable the winter sun made it positively balmy at times.
West Bay houses some of the more interesting cliff faces in the area and whilst we did not look for fossils on our first day we kind of just relaxed and walked off the London pace of life.
Whilst not he intention we stayed until sunset and you can see that we were not disappointed. There is a rough beauty to the United Kingdom that cant be explained. Of course everywhere in world has its beauty spots but there is something rugged, tough and aggressive about the UK which yields the spectacular.
As the day ended we drove back to Weymouth where we were staying.
Lulworth Cove to Weymouth
The star attraction of our short trip was the 12 mile walk from Lulworth Cove to Weymouth. The idea was to take a taxi from Weymouth to Lulworth Cove (GBP 40) and then take the South Coast Path all the way back crossing all the varying terrain on our way. This section of the coastal path was selected for the beautiful spots on the way.
The walk start from the beautifully calm waters of Lulworth Cove and then climbs up over the cliffs to Durdle Door (the arch in the sea). This is the most beautiful part of the walk and its right at the start. So if you come to the area and dont have much time, do this segment of the walk its a couple of hours round trip. Both locations have car parks so you can drive (google is your friend for directions). The first 7 kilometres of the walk to Weymouth are tough with a number of steep climbs and descents. You do need to be reasonably fit or take your time.
After Durdle Door you are pretty much walking alone along the South Coast path. Its reasonably well marked and you just follow it. The varying terrain is less taxing after Ringstead. Given the time of the year the path was muddy which meant it was not straight forward walk but more like crossing no mans land in World War I.
Motivation in all of us ebbed as we hit Osmington Mills where we eventually stopped. The sun went down on our journey and it was time for cake and coffee at the pub.
The highest point is just before Ringstead where you climb up 130 metres up to 174m. The views across the sea are obviously fantastic. While we encountered a number people along the way, bailout points should you be tired, were not obvious. The staff at the pub we stopped at were kind enough to call us a taxi back to Weymouth. Keep some taxi numbers handy if you're planning on taking this approach.
Portland Bill and Chesil Beach
Final day was a drive to Portland Bill light house. If you were born long enough ago this was a children's television program shown in the UK in the 1980's. Portland Bill has three lighthouses and is an interesting island to walk around. The views from the middle(hill) of the island looking back at Chesil beach is spectacular.
On the drive to Portland do stop off at Chesil Beach it's a really cool beach to stop off at with spectacular view out to sea. Its must be a phenomenal place to go during the summer season.
Portland will resonate with builders who will be familiar with Portland cement. The cement was named after the material found in Portland stone were show to be an effective bonding material.
Charmouth
The final afternoon of a light day to potentially nurse sore legs. We spent a useful afternoon at Charmouth near Lyme Regis, fossil hunting.
The initial excitement of fossil hunting is quickly replaced by the monotony of breaking stones apart in the hope of finding something. With that said we did find some fossils. See our pictures below
If you plan to go fossil hunting take along a hammer and if you are into health and safety protective eye wear too !
Hope you get the chance to replicate our journey with favourable weather, remember it does not need to be sunny and hot, just clear blue sky and there is no better place.
