Sunday 2 November 2014

Weymouth and Portland

A holiday in Weymouth allowed us to do a new part of the South West Coast Path.    This was different to other parts in that it was mainly flat.  The weather was good for 3 days of our holiday but after the second day visibility was not good so unfortunately we could not see far down the coast.

On our first evening we walked around Weymouth itself.  The central beach was lovely and sandy and I was pleased to see sand sculptures which Weymouth is famous for. There was plenty of activity in the harbour, with a ferry off loading cars.

The next day we walked from Weymouth to Portland. On the outward journey we took the inland route of the Rodwell Trail, which followed an old rail track.  This met the South West Coast Path by Sandsfoot Castle.  We walked across Ferrybridge into Portland and then along the coast until we had passed the sailing centre.  We then turned around  and walked all the way back on the south west coast path.



After a wet day when we visited Abbotsbury we did another part of the coast path the following day.  Initially we walked eastwards from the centre of Weymouth along the beach until we came to the Lodmoor RSPB reserve.  We walked around this and then turned back to Weymouth.

After a quick rest we caught the bus to Portland and got out at the end and walked down to the South West Coast Path.  It was unfortunate that the poor visibility meant we could not see down the coast.  We walked around the coast until we came to the lighthouse at Portland Bill.  After lunch we continued walking down the other side of Portland.  This was a different kind of walk as we picked our way along the stony path past quarries of portland stone.  Eventually we came back to Southwell to catch the bus back to Weymouth.



On our way home we stopped at Hive Beach and walked along the coast for while.  We then went on to Charmouth and Lyme Regis.
Hive Beach

Lyme Regis Cobb