This was an unusual walk for many reasons, and as the book states, Portland is different. Different from the rest of Dorset and from the rest of the coast path. The addition of a thick sea mist for most of the day, obscuring any glimpes of the Dorset coast, as well as the presence of two prisons, lighthouses looming out of nowhere and the quarry giving the landscape a post-disaster feeling, made it a very eerie and unusual walk…
- Start: Ferry Bridge, Dorset
- Finish: Ferry Bridge, Dorset
- Grading: Moderate
- Distance: 13 miles
- Timing: 6 hours
- Actual timing: 7 hours
- Walkers: Me, RS, JC, ST, HD
- Miles to date: 587.6
The 2 mile length of Ferry Bridge, is noisy and busy and the footpath is shared with cyclists. As it was raining when we started, no one wanted to get out maps or phones to check where the path was. The coast path is, of course on the west side of the road, which is far more pleasant to walk along – we saw this 13 miles after starting…
The mizzle had set in about half way along Ferry Bridge, so we trudged along, talking loudly over the traffic until we got into Fortuneswell. You’d be forgiven if you missed any coast path signs as they were few and far between. Having misplaced my map, we were reliant on a bit of google and the written description in the South West Coast Path guide book – not always the easiest to follow.
Leaving the beach, we climbed up to the cliffs and then seemed to stay there for pretty much the rest of the day. We happened upon a sculpture park. I didn’t notice immediately that I was standing next to a large stone elephant. It was when I saw a small stone rabbit nearby that on closer inspection I realised it wasn’t just a set of rocks…
Through a stone arch way and then hugging the edge of the island. The path pretty much
wanders through a quarry, and with limited views elsewhere due to the mist, we followed it blindly. It opens out onto sort of moorland on the south west side, before you arrive at the three lighthouses and the coast guard.
From here, we were unable to see Portland Bill Lighthouse until we were much closer thanks to the fog, but were made aware if its presence due to its fog horn – all the more atmospheric.
The east cliff is dotted with sea shacks and a small campsite before the path once again seems to plunge into a post-disaster world as you wonder through another quarry. I have very vague recollections of this at about the age of 6.
The path joins the road briefly and it’s worth pointing out that if you are not paying attention (as we weren’t because we were distracted by litter picking and blackberry eating) you’ll miss the (broken) post on the opposite side of the road leading you back to the path. A rocky, windy (fun) path takes you down to Church Ope Cove, with Rufus castle above.
From here, you climb back up again via a decent set of steps to a view of the island and probably Weymouth on a clear day.
The path then has sea and scrub land on the right and rock climbers on the left. We stopped many times to gape and admire the dangling or nimble folk on ropes. Not long after there, there is another blink-and-you-miss-it coast path marker on the ground. Adding to eerieness of the day was the fact that many of the coast path markers were tombstone shaped at ground level.
The path climbs steeply and comes back to civilsation at the foot of the Young Offenders Institute. Following this round, you cross open land again, before coming to Fancys Farm. We were most surprised to spot wallabies and goats nibbling on grass in what now felt incredibly remote as the fog had once again surrounded us. Following signs, you go past HMP Vernon and becoming aware of the road and shipyard below (but still unable to see it) follow a flat pathway until coming to a former quarry tramway, which was a long, steep path downwards to Castletown.
At the bottom, we went past Portland castle, arriving at Portland Quay. We looped around it turning back on ourselves to go for a pint at The Cove House Inn at Chiswell Beach.
That wasn’t the end of the walk though. After a pint outside, we still had the two mile road back to the car, although now on the quieter side and for various reasons discovered we had walked 15 miles rather than the 13 expected…
Learnings
Since lockdown has eased, and since our walks have wandered into more popuated areas, we had very sadly seen that litter has increased on the path. JC and I filled a plastic bag twice with litter – some of it brand new: crisp packets and drinks cans from that very day. For a long period of time when we were walking in wilder lesser-known areas, there was so little to collect that I stopped taking a bag with me. Today, we could have filled sacks of it. I have zero tolerance for anyone who thinks dropping what they can’t be bothered to take home is acceptable and would do the whole path again with a litter picker and a sack. It worries me to pick up litter, as it’s not a terribly safe or hygienic thing to do, but I have a saddening sense of “if I don’t, who will”.
Thank yous and mentions
The Cove House Inn is well set up for social distancing with seating outside, bookings for inside and a blocked off area to avoid passing people traffic when seated outside. There is plenty of hand sanitiser available and staff who do not touch drinks or food: you remove it from the tray yourself. Good work!
The charity bit
Every time I write my blog, I link it to Anthony Nolan so you can read about what they do. I tag them on Twitter and Instagram too, so everyone can understand why this walk and why these funds are so important!
GraceEliz comes home 