An overcast dry day with occasional sunny spells. I parked at West Bay, just south of Bridport and caught the #53 bus to Weymouth. The bus was packed full of children travelling to school in Weymouth. I then needed to catch the #1 bus to get out to Ferrybridge on the outskirts of the town, this bus was also packed full of school kids, quite a busy morning!
I set off from the Ferrybridge Hotel and soon picked up the SWCP. My eye was continually drawn to Chesil Beach, the offshore bar running for some 18 miles from Portland to west of Abbotsbury; composed of pebbles, cobbles and shingle it forms a natural lagoon between the sea and the ‘mainland’. It is possible to walk the length of the Beach, but there are restrictions re: the firing range that also affects the main SWCP path and also access is not allowed during the bird nesting season. I don’t think I could have hacked walking 16+ miles over shingle and pebbles!
The walking was flat and I made quick progress rounding the Royal Engineers Bridging camp and later skirting the Littlesea Holiday camp. My first real obstacle of the day was the small firing range at Tidmoor Point, a red flag was flying and I had to make a small diversion around the Chickerell range before rejoining the SWCP, which was no real problem. I soon passed Fleet House, now renamed Moonfleet Hotel, the setting for John Meade Falkner’s swashbuckling novel “Moonfleet”. At Rodden Hive the SWCP turned inland all the way until Abbotsbury, probably due to no permitted access to the shoreline.
I passed the Swannery at Abbotsbury and climbed around Chapel Hill from where I had a wonderful view down to the sea. I picked up a rough track called Burton Road. The road continues on and past the small coastal hamlet of West Bexington, where I walked along the northern part of Chesil Beach, it was tough going so I rejoined the track.
I soon approached the small village of Burton Bradstock, I skirted the village and dropped down to the beach again at Burton Freshwater. Here I needed to divert inland slightly to cross a small stream. I re entered the beach again and could see a lot of heavy plant had been moving the gravel and shingle back up the beach, it resembled a large gravel quarry! As I neared the end of my walk I passed underneath the iconic East Cliff, made famous in the opening credits of the TV series Broadchurch. I got a great view of the Jurassic Cliffs with their distinctive orange gold limestone banded layers from the firm sandy beach. I soon arrived back at West Bay.
Distance today = 20 miles
Total distance = 316 miles
Walking the Coast of Great Britain 