If for any reason we thought Saturday’s walk was tough, this was without doubt the toughest for a while. Only 7 little miles, which we had originally planned to lengthen, with steep steep inclines which were literally breathtaking. The sunshine stayed with us for most of the day and we finished with an icrecream… and then a pint…
- Monday 31st August 2020
- Start: Lulworth Cove, Dorset
- Finish: Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset
- Grading: Severe
- Distance: 7.1 miles
- Timing: 4 hours hours
- Actual timing: 4 hours
- Walkers: Me, RS, JC, ST
- Miles to date: 609
Kimmeridge Bay has one car park, marked on Google maps as a toll road. The get past the toll gate, and use the carpark and loos, you have to pay £7. Service didn’t exactly come with a smile, as we rolled up to the little hut and asked if we could take two cars down to bring one back up. Even when we said we were walking the coast path, she was only interested in telling us when we had to leave by: car park closes at 8:00! And woe betide should you miss it!
The land between Lulworth Cove and Kimmeridge Bay is MOD and actually only accessible to walkers at weekends. A very long detour otherwise and quite an interesting drive through the firing ranges. If you weren’t worried about the gradient of the climbs killing you, you might be concerned about unexploded shells finishing you off, should you accidentally stray from the path!
We left one car in Kimmeridge and took the other back to Saturday’s parking space outside the church in West Lulworth. From here, rather than joining the path, we headed down to the cove itself – as only ST had ever been there. It was a warm sunny morning with the smell of coffee and bacon sandwiches – enough to make us want to stay a while, but the path waits for no one, so we retraced our steps to join the path again near where we’d parked. This is a diversion due to a cliff fall. As we breathlessly made our way down very steep steps back in the cove, we realised we could have done it along the beach, but then would have missed these views…!
You enter the MOD land through a barbed wire gate, locked when they are firing. It was flat for a while and then it really wasn’t. It was almost a hands and knees climb and it looked like this…
There are warnings everywhere not to stray from the, and then you notice tanks everywhere!
Once you get to the top, you have to go back down. And so it continued!
The path went up and down, steeply and sharply. When I look at the map, I realise it didn’t have that many peaks, but when I look at the photos, I understand why it felt like ten rather than three!
We descended into Worbarrow Bay, which was surprisingly populated for a place that’s surprisingly difficult to get to! Even by car, there is a long walk from the car park to the coast.
As we made our way into Kimmeridge Bay, it flattened out – a long sloping cliff top. At the top of the first peak, there was a brand new bag of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference oranges attached to the fence (not photographed) – I wasn’t sure if it was a mistake, a gift or a trick. At the end of the day’s walk, as we approached Kimmeridge there was another bench, this time with two bottles of wine! Again – mistake, gift or trick??
The carpark was packed with campervans, picnickers and daytrippers, all having filled the pockets of the toll-booth lady on their way in, and all having used all the loo roll and soap too. Such is life!
We ended right on time, to allow for a pint and our long drive back to Exeter.
Thank yous and mentions
- Thank you to the drivers: RS and ST today.
- RS sussed out a pub to visit on our way back to the car: The Weld Arms at East Lulworth has a large pub garden and marked pathways throughout. Reasonably-priced local-ish ales on tap too.
Learnings
It never ceases to amaze me what is possible. I look back on some of the walks we have done, which have not only been incredible but logistically challenging too, and truly believe that – where there is a will, there is a way. I have been unwell for the last 100 miles or so of this walk, and I’ve only called off one weekend for a true rest. The rest of the time, the alarm clock (that I loathe so much on week days) goes off at the crack of dawn and off we go, up to two hours of driving for a day on the path. No matter the weather or the ailment, we have walked and walked and walked. And are sad to see the end is near!
The charity bit
…and it’s all for such an incredible cause. I have mentioned Anthony Nolan in every blog post and social media post I have done since the beginning of this walk. So far we have raised £814 of an, as of yet, unfinished walk – smashing my £1/mile target! Help me keep going here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/grace-langridgeswcpchallenge
GraceEliz comes home 