Ferry Bridge to Preston

Walked by Sally and Richard, Thursday 23rd May 2013.

About 5 miles progress on South West Coast Path (about 2 hours of walking) plus 1.5 miles in going from the path to Jordan House and then to the Bridge Inn and back.

Click here for all our photos from this walk.

We had a slow journey from home - 5 hours in the car to my sister's house, then we missed a train from Brockenhurst to Weymouth because the man in the ticket office got in a mess trying to redeem the voucher we used in part-payment for our train fare. Ah well, at least we got the journey for both of us for 45p, using just one of the four vouchers we had received because our train home from London after the last leg was so much delayed. We found the bus stop at the King's Statue in Weymouth without any difficulty (The King in question is George III, whose liking for Weymouth turned the town into a popular tourist destination) and we didn't have to wait too long for a number 1 bus back to Ferry Bridge. However, our bus journey coincided with school finishing time, and the route passes a number of schools, so we had a busy bus and a slow journey. It was 3.35pm when we reached Ferry Bridge. However, from that point on, the day went very well.

We came through heavy showers on the journey. The showers continued when we were walking and on one occasion we put on our waterproofs just in time for the rain to stop. Apart from that, and ignoring light rain later, we managed to be inside each time the heavens opened, which was pretty lucky, or clever, or something! It wasn't exactly warm, but the showers were complemented by pleasant sunshine.

The path from Ferry Bridge is initially along the Rodwell Trail, a disused railway. Others have complained that this is boring, with no views, but I don't know what the fuss is about - you're only on the railway line for a short time, and in a cutting for an even shorter time. Most of the time there were lovely views back to the Isle of Portland and ahead to the chalk cliffs where we will be walking tomorrow.

We turned off the Rodwell Trail and walked along a road to a little garden above the ruins of Sandsfoot Castle. We stopped to look at the castle, which (like Portland Castle opposite) was built for Henry VIII. There were excellent views from here and the sun came out just as we were leaving, so we felt duty bound to re-take all our photos!

The route turned right onto a leafy residential road, with some distinctly desirable houses and this eventually brought us to a grassy area immediately above the outer defences of Portland Harbour. From here we were soon on the Nothe, which is delightful, with attractive gardens. The path cuts across the Nothe, but we walked to Nothe Fort, which was built in the 1860s but fell into disrepair when the fort ceased to be used for military purposes in 1957. It is now restored and open to the public, though we didn't visit.

There were good views to the north of The Nothe, down to the River Wey and Weymouth town centre. We had been puzzled by the observation tower, which seemed to appear different each time you looked at it, but we realised that this is because passengers are carried to the top on the observation platform itself. The tower opened less than a year ago, for the 2012 Olympics [and in 2019 it was announced that it would be closed, sold to another operator, and moved].

We descended to the river and were not too disappointed when there was no sign of the ferry across it - we were happy to walk around the bustling harbour to cross the river at Town Bridge. To the north of the river there are railway tracks in the road, a reminder that the boat train to Weymouth Quay Station ran through the streets of the town until 1987, with railway staff walking in front of it to make sure the route was clear of people and parked cars!

The weather turned threatening as we reached Weymouth's sandy beach, so we decided to look for somewhere to stop for a cup of tea. Unfortunately it was 5pm and most places were closing, but the M&S Cafe came to our rescue! (It closed shortly afterwards.) We left M&S and walked along the Esplanade, back past Kings Tower and the (Victorian) Jubilee Clock Tower. It was raining slightly, but we soon left both the rain and Weymouth's Georgian centre behind us, and walked alongside the pebble bank to Preston and Overcombe 'beach'. Across the road we passed the Lodmoor Nature Reserve.

At Overcombe, with Jordan Hill in front of us, we left the South West Coast Path and took the more inland road (variously labelled the A353 or the B3155) towards Preston. We came to Jordan House on the left, and were welcomed by Margaret Hannaford and her husband. We had a fair-sized room and, as is often the case when there is no en suite, a lovely big private bathroom. Jordan House is a beautiful house - it's for sale so if you have £500,000 to spare and want to live near Weymouth, take a look!