Purbeck

The forecast was rain, rain, rain.  All night and all the next day, which is more or less what happened.   I slept well, lulled to sleep by gentle rain on the tent, and awoke to the same.   It's difficult packing up in the rain, but I took my time, and managed to pack everything but the flysheet in the dry.  We will see how successful I was when I get everything out again, because putting wet things into a waterproof pannier tends to make everything wet.

Lulworth cove panorama

I had to go ten miles to Lulworth to get breakfast, in cold gentle rain.  Then I climbed up through the gorse-covered Lulworth army firing ranges to reach the Isle of Purbeck.   Steeple, Kimmeridge, and then I paused to reflect at the foot of Pete's Stairway To Hell,  an steep boulder-strewn track up to Swyre Head, which was on one of our Easter Tour rides in 2024.   I was one of the group who revolted then, and I didn't do it today either.

 

Short cut to Purbeck

Purbeck in the mist

On to Corfe Castle for an early lunch.  The Castle is looking its age and could really do with a bit of renovation.   Still raining.

 

Corfe Castle 

A few miles later I came to tiny Worth Matravers, and just had to stop at the famous Square and Compass pub, with an extensive selection of beers and a minimal selection of food.  And a museum, because why not?  It was packed inside, with damp pilgrims like me. 

The Square & Compass

 

The museum - incredible!

Still raining...  Next stop was Swanage, but thwarting their obtuse one way system, I bounced straight back out again, up a very steep hill, to Durlston Head with its interesting visitor centre in a castle.  Not sure I saw the Head itself as I didn't want a long walk in the rain. 

Visitor centre in a castle

Toilet is upstairs

Swanage

I was a bit disappointed because I know Purbeck is very beautiful, but it had just looked grey today. To cheer myself up, I found a fantastic cake shop, I Love Cake, in Swanage, and had a lovely, and massive, piece of lemon curd & blueberry cake. 

Cake therapy

Random cottage

After that, everything seemed better . The sun came out too. I hadn't ridden far but there are no more campsites for quite a way, so I stopped in a nice camp site just outside Swanage. The sun soon dried the tent, everything else stayed dry, and all's well with the world.

Portland & Weymouth

In the late eighties, Liz & I cycled round this way, on a trip from Salisbury to South Devon.  We must have done many of the same hills but I don't remember most of it.  I remember visiting Abbotsbury Swannery, and I remember the hill out of Lyme Regis!  The Swannery was closed this morning, as it didn't open till 10am, and I was well on my way by then.   A mix of quiet lanes full of the sound of skylarks and goldfinches, with views over to Chesil Beach, and a bit more of the Jurassic Tourist Route, which was rather too busy this morning.

My legs were still feeling yesterday's hill-fest, but eventually I arrived at the causeway to Portland, stopping at a delightful cafe overlooking the end of Chesil Beach and The Fleet, the enclosed lake.

It looked OK on the map!

View of Chesil Beach from the cafe

Portland stone circle

From the top of the hill at Portland

Portland is basically a huge lump of the famous Portland stone, quite a big island with a high plateau in the middle.  There seems to be only one way to the south, over the top, on a steep and busy trunk road.  I don't know where everyone was going, but they all waited patiently behind me as I climbed up.  The plateau is cratered all over by quarries new and old, and the various communities named Weston, Easton and Southwell, are around the edge.   Excellent views from the top both back over Lyme Bay, all the way to Brixham,  and ahead to Studland Bay.

Old Admiralty College, now flats, hotel
And a school

Nice address ... flat, 007 anyone?

The settlements weren't that exciting, but Portland Bill is a wild, special place, in the same way that the Lizard or Cape Wrath are.  A couple of lighthouses, a cafe or two, and the tide rushing past the low rocky cliffs.  It really feels like the end of the land.  There's also an impressive Napoleonic Fort in the middle, which I half visited (the other half was up another big hill,  so I'm saving that bit till I'm older).

Portland Bill

 

Studland Bay

Quarry

 

Portland, D-Day centre

Multi-storey boat bark!

Back over the causeway/bridge was Weymouth, with some very nice coastal properties leading into town.   The main "old harbour" is a bustling, sunny place on either side of the river.  The train used to run along the quayside, and you can still see the platform.

Old harbour

Panorama from the pier
(which is not a pier)

After the harbour, there's a lovely long, wide, empty promenade with amazing views to the east, but I can't recommend it, or even gives you any pictures,  as cycling is banned for its whole length.  I could show you pictures of the sea wall, and the busy main road behind it,  but I won't. 

Tonight I struggled a bit for campsites, but found a nice one a few miles after Weymouth, at Osmington Mills.  It's due to rain tonight and tomorrow,  so I'm not looking forward to that.  But there was a nice pub down by the beach.  It was so posh that the beach has been upgraded to "the secret cove".

The Smugglers Inn, Osmington Mills

Beer-Abbotsbury

Nearly packed up

I've never had a whole night in beer, sorry Beer, before, but it was very pleasant.  After a full YHA breakfast, I did a bit of a tour of Beer's one way system and discovered some new hills.  Then I climbed over to Seaton with its long esplanade leading to the mouth of the river Axe.  Strangely, Axmouth is half a mile upstream.

Seaton

Out of the Axe valley, and I was on the high ground between here and Lyme Regis for a while, before dodging inland to avoid the busy A3025 coast road, up and down through Uplyme (which strangely was down in a valley, not up), to Lyme Regis.  Somewhere I crossed into Dorset.

I'd gone just 14 miles but 500 metres of climbing.  After a walk on the Cobb, I had a late elevenses at Lyme Regis Bowls Club, reasonable value at £1 with free entertainment watching a comedic bowls match.

 

Lyme Regis; the Cobb

Lyme Regis seafront

There are several words to describe the hill out of Lyme Regis, but it's a long'un, at a constant steepish gradient.  Nest, Charmouth had a nice little town but a pleasingly un-developed seafront, with just a beach cafe plus a big car park.

The A3052 had now merged with the even busier A35, calling for extra ingenuity to avoid it.  I found a nice National Trust track across the top of the hill, and then a rather sketchy byway, lurching down into the valley at Seatown, where I enjoyed a seaside lunch at one of my Dad's favourite pubs, overlooking the cliff known as The Golden Cap.

Off road

Oops

  

View of the Golden Cap

After I left Seatown (via another nicer bridleway), there was no avoiding the A35, which was even worse than expected.   Steady traffic in both directions, no room to overtake me, and I was riding up a hill, only about 1/2 a mile but travelling at 5mph, it felt like forever.

The drivers were very patient, and I survived. Once I turned off, I was in a heavenly lane winding round the hills to the lovely village of Eype, and its minimal but beautiful beach..  After Eype, the landscape seemed to change for the flatter, and I headed into Bridport, a large town with a busy main street but redeemed by several great cycle lanes.

 

Eype

Eype beach

Bridport

Also Bridport

One of these, an old railway line, led to West Bay, rather dominated by a holiday park but with beautiful yellow cliffs, shining in the afternoon sun, a sandy beach and a nice harbour.

 

West Bay harbour

West Bay, avoiding the tacky bits

West Bay was used in training for the
wartime Dieppe Raid

I stopped for tea and considered my options.   I'd had enough hills for one day, but I fancied it might be flatter for a ride to Abbotsbury, so I carried on.

It was flatter, but not flat.  I was on the Jurassic Coast Tourist Route from Bridport to Weymouth, which ran along some undulating hills with nice views down to the coast.  Trouble was, my route kept diverting to the actual coast, at sea level, which in the main wasn't that interesting,  and involved a hill to return.  One hill in particular was up a steep rocky track, about half a mile which I would not like to repeat.   But there were some lovely villages on the tourist route.  Burton Bradstock is particularly picturesque.  Swyre was nice, and Abbotsbury is very pretty, but by then I'd had enough, and also it was 6.30.

 

Awful

 

Chesil Beach and Portland in the distance

Abbotsbury 

I phoned a nearby campsite allegedly on a farm.  Rather expensive, but they had a play park, so fair enough.  And they booked me in.  The local pub was also pricey, but it had food, and a ukelele band playing, so also fair enough.