Preston to Lulworth
Walked by Sally and Richard, Friday 24th May 2013.
About 10 miles, 9 miles on route of South West Coast path. About 7.5 hours, including stops and exploration of Lulworth Cove.
Click here for all our photos from this walk.
The weather was pretty much a re-run of yesterday - sunshine and showers and distinctly cold for the time of year - but as yesterday we managed not to get wet. It was a very varied walk and generally more challenging but also more enjoyable and, apart from around Durdle Door, less busy than I'd expected.
We had order a 'light breakfast' (£10 cheaper than the full English and absolutely fine) and Margaret Hanniford served this promptly at 8.15am (again as requested) so we were on our way before 9am! Jordan House had suited us well. We walked slightly further up the road to the delicatessen, where we bought lunch supplies of Dorset scotch eggs and Dorset pork pies with apricots (supplied by Bridport Gourmet Pies). Then we walked back down to Overcombe to rejoin the South West Coast Path.
The South West Coast Path leaves the shingle bank at Overcombe by way of a minor road up Jordan Hill, but it soon leaves the road and crosses open ground above Furzy Cliff, with excellent views back to Weymouth and the Isle of Portland. The view in front of us was less attractive, to Bowleaze's iconic 1930s Riviera Hotel, a caravan site and the Fantasy Island Fun Park.
The route of the South West Coast Path is distinctly not as shown on the map here; we crossed the River Jordan in the middle of the Fun Park (not particularly scenic!) then passed to the seaward side of the Riviera Hotel. After the hotel, we did go further inland, to avoid slumping cliff, and indeed slumping cliff was rather a theme for the next mile or so.
There were good views to the chalk figure of George III on his horse (the Osmington White Horse) on the downs above us. We passed to the seaward side of the PGL Osmington Bay, buzzing with groups of schoolchildren, with more children on the beach below, then we continued to meander above the landslips to Osmington Mills, a pretty little place. We passed The Smugglers Inn and continued towards Ringstead, passing some wooded areas and descending to the shingle beach on a couple of occasions.
From Ringstead we climbed up towards the ridge that ends at White Nothe. There had been landslips near Burning Cliff, so called because it ignited spontaneously in the 19th Century and became a tourist attraction. Whilst we are on the subject of names, 'Nothe' seems to mean 'nose' and/or to be associated with places that were the sites of beacons, as 'Node' on the Isle of Wight. Both seem reasonable. The 'White' reminds me to mention that you pass from Kimmeridge Clay to chalk here.
Just before Holworth House there is a particularly bizarre bit of South West Coast Path routing. We passed a signpost which clearly signed White Nothe to the right but the SWCP to the left. We dutifully followed the left-hand route, which climbed up a track, then turned right and descended slightly to meet the other path. We were rewarded by good views back towards Weymouth, but we'd missed a walk through a bluebell wood. Actually, we got the best of both worlds - Richard remembered that we had passed a bench made from a tree trunk back at St Catherine's Chapel (by the sign in question) - I had been so busy being puzzled by the sign that I had missed both the bench and the Chapel! So we walked back the 100 metres or so through the bluebell wood and had our lunch sitting on the bench. St Catherine's Chapel is a simple wooden structure but there are lovely views from the grassy graveyard behind it.
We continued up to the top of the ridge and along field edges to Whitenothe Cottages. White Nothe is an attractive landmark from a distance, but nothing special from here. A family were trying to remember how to get down to the beach. We continued to the east and soon the ups and downs of the chalk cliffs in front of us came into view, with Bat's Hole in Bat's Head just visible in the distance. We could also see a very bright section of sea which we (rightly) attributed to chalk in the sea below the recent (late April) cliff fall near Durdle Door.
We passed a pyramidal marker and descended gradually to Middle Bottom. There were good views back of the chalk cliffs all the way to White Nothe, with recent rock falls obvious on the beach. We climbed again and descended slightly to Bat's Head. I walked slightly onto the headland for the views, which were spectacular, but there was an ominous crack in the chalk of the headland, so I didn't stay for long! From Bat's Head there was a spectacular steep descent, and I found it quite scary - but I made it! Then we climbed to Swyre Head and descended again (slightly scary, but not as bad as the previous descent) to the delightfully named Scratchy Bottom.
We climbed again and descended to Durdle Door, amazed by (1) the huge number of people milling around Durdle Door; (2) the fact that none of them ventured more than 100 metres past the information board. Up to this point, the path had been remarkably quiet. We went a short distance onto Durdle Door, but the mass of people was a real culture shock so we didn't stay long. There is a car park on the road above Durdle Door, so most people have only walked a short distance. However, accidents can happen in even a short distance - one of a group appeared to have fallen and as we followed our own diverted route towards Lulworth, we saw first a paramedic and then an ambulance arrive.
The first bit of the path from Durdle Door to Lulworth has been diverted following the landslip at the end of April. It appears that they initially set up a shorter diversion, but it now follows a slightly wider loop - you climb up towards the Durdle Door car park, then follow the ridge, descending gently to rejoin the original path. As the path approaches Lulworth Cove it is a wide, paved affair, a motorway of the footpath world. However, when we were there it was not actually too busy, perhaps because people park at Durdle Door rather than walking the mile from Lulworth, perhaps because it was mid afternoon, perhaps because it was starting to rain.
The rain encouraged us to take shelter in the cafe by the Lulworth Cove car park, not that we needed a great deal of encouragement! After drinking tea and being amused by a group of German (?) tourists who were ordering large quantities of food, we visited the Heritage Centre. This is free and I would recommend it if you are interested in the geological processes that have caused Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door to form. It's all down to the five rock types (Portland Stone being the hardest - this is the rock of which Durdle Door and the entrance to Lulworth Cove are formed - whilst the softer Purbeck, Wealdon, Greensand, and Chalk formations have eroded). There is also some interesting folding visible in the rocks, including the 'Lulworth Crumple'.
It stopped raining, so we walked to Stair Hole, a small cove with an even smaller entrance, which is like Lulworth Cove in the process of forming, and which will eventually merge with Lulworth Cove to form a single bigger cove. We also walked down to the edge of Lulworth Cove. As we were walking back it started to rain again, so we returned to the Heritage Centre, before leaving the route of the South West Coast Path and walking up the road to West Lulworth.
West Lulworth is only half a mile or so from Lulworth Cove and it is a pretty little place, with lots of thatch. I hadn't been too sure about "Downalong", where we were staying, partly because it is a modern house, partly because they seem to prefer to let both bedrooms (which share a shower room) to a family or two couples travelling together, so would they really want us, especially for a single night booking on the Friday of a bank holiday weekend? However Shirley Bamber welcomed us warmly and gave us the choice of double or twin room. She gets a lot of walkers, so I stopped worrying that we were somehow putting her out. Shirley was really friendly, and the room was fine.
In the evening we ate at the Castle Inn, just down the road. The food was very good, the drink was superb. They have what they describe as a 'Permanent Dorset Cider Festival', with more than 20 'real' ciders and perries. They do 3 x 1/3 pint 'tasters' and we availed ourselves ourselves of a set. I particularly enjoyed Sandford Orchards' 'Bumble Berry Cider'. The Crown is a delightful old thatched building and their other claim to fame is that dogs are (very) welcome - everyone else seemed to have at least one dog with them!
