The Portland Circuit - 13 miles



Ann was really worried about me last night.  I was sick a couple of times (fortunately on the bathroom floor which could be easily cleaned) but when she took me out for my wee before bedtime I didn’t want one.  All I wanted to do was eat grass.  I had an upset stomach and I thought that eating grass might help.  Ann put down newspaper all over the bedroom floor in case I was sick during the night but I wasn’t.  She said if I wasn’t very well in the morning we wouldn’t do a big walk – we’d just have a drive around and do some little walks.

This morning when I went for my little walk before breakfast at about 8.15am I ate loads of grass.  Ann thought I’d be desperate for a wee, because I hadn’t had one since about 4pm yesterday, but all I wanted to do was eat grass so I didn’t have a wee until I’d been out for about 10 mins.  I had to go in the car while Ann had breakfast today and she said if I was sick while she was having breakfast we’d abandon our third day of walking.  I love our walking holiday so I tried my hardest not to be sick.

However I still wasn’t feeling that great.  We drove to the car park at Chesil Beach, at the start of the road to Portland, and got there at about 9.30am. It cost us £5.50 to park there for 12 hours.  It was a massive car park and at least two dog walking people arrived, didn’t bother paying and just wandered off to exercise their dogs.   I had to stay on my lead because we were near the main road but we were walking through a grassy area and I ate loads of grass.  Ann said we didn’t have to do the whole walk – we could just have a little walk round the first area on Portland and then go back to the car.  However, after about half an hour I was let off my lead as we had to climb up a big steep hill to the top of some cliffs.  By then I was having such fun running about, that I forgot I wasn’t very well.

It was ever so cold at the start of our walk.  Ann had to wear her fleece, anorak and gloves but after about half an hour she took her anorak and gloves off and didn’t need to put them back on again.  It was a lovely day.  We could see for miles down the Chesil Beach.

There were quite a few people about on this walk.  I don’t think we went for more than 10 mins without seeing someone.  And also because it is quite a built up area with quite a lot of buses Ann said that if I wanted to abandon the walk at any time we would look on the map and head for the nearest bus stop so she could take me back to the car.  Portland seems to be well served with buses into Weymouth and they all had to pass where we’d left the car.

This walk was described as ‘moderate’ on the official SWCP website.  The first trek to the top of the cliffs was hard, then once we'd done about half of the walk we then had to go down and back up to a place called Church Ope Cove and then the last bit of the walk from the prison down to the water was hard.  Ann said that she had sore feet and also her knees were hurting occasionally.

We got to Portland Bill (the very end of Portland) by about 11.30am and had a coffee at the cafe there.  I got to have a drink in my foldable doggie water bowl.  The worst thing about this walk was that there were absolutely no streams for me to have a drink in.  Ann gave me drinks at regular intervals and I also had several drinks out of muddy puddles but there were no streams.  It wasn’t until we got back to the B&B and I drank loads that Ann wondered if Portland was a water free environment?!  We certainly couldn’t see any water marked on the map.

Once we’d rounded Portland Bill and were on the homeward route we had to walk past a ‘Young Offenders Institution and also the Prison – all very eerie.  I suppose they have these places on islands because if any of the inmates escape there’s only one route via the road off the island.

Apart from stopping for coffee we didn’t have any other breaks.  We didn’t have anything for lunch today but Ann said that she doesn’t really like stopping because her feet get sore when she stops and starts.  In fact neither of us has eaten very much during the last few days.

We got back to the car at about 2.15pm so our walk today took us just under 5 hours.

I’m absolutely shattered.  I’m just lying on my duvet fast asleep.  Ann is lying on the bed having a snooze.  She says her legs feel stiff all over.  I’ve had an absolutely lovely holiday walking the SWCP.  But 38 miles in 3 days is very tiring for a 6 year old collie like me.  I’m looking forward to going home tomorrow and hope that Ann is going to be at work a lot this week so I can have a few days of quiet sleep time.

However, I’m sure when I’ve re-charged my batteries I’ll be up and raring to go on our next walking holiday.  We think we might go to the Torquay area next.

Lulworth Cove to Ferrybridge (Weymouth) - 14 miles

I’m exhausted.  I’ve been walking for six hours and have had no sleep time today. 

We had to get the X53 bus to Wool Station at 10.05am and when we arrived at the bus stop at the Esplanade in Weymouth there was a massive queue.  We think everyone was going shopping in Poole because the bus was the Exeter to Poole one.  Anyway when the bus came it was a big double decker and even though we were at the end of the queue we still managed to get a single seat right at the front of the bus which meant that there was loads of room for me to sit and watch everyone getting on and off.  It cost £3.20 for Ann and the driver let me on for free.  It took us about 35 mins to get to Wool Station and then we had to transfer onto the 103 bus which was a little bus that arrived at 10.45am.  Again the driver let me on free and it cost Ann 90p to get to Lulworth Cove.  We arrived just before 11am.

Lulworth Cove was lovely.  All the houses had thatched roofs and it was ever so pretty.  There were a lot of people about.  We think most people were just having a little walk to Durdle Door Cove which was very pretty and about a mile from Lulworth Cove.  The coastal path out of Lulworth Cove took us up a big steep hill but it was obviously part of a well walked route because there was a wide path of steps leading right to the top.  Then, when we started to head down the other side, we met a group of about four young Dutch boys who told us there was an abandoned dog further down the path.  They said they’d tried phoning the number on its collar but got no answer.  Ann was a bit cross that they’d just left it for someone else to deal with, and so began our first adventure of the day.

The little dog was gorgeous.  It was a puppy spaniel and she was absolutely exhausted.  She was all wet and had loads of thorns etc sticking in her fur, her paws were red and it was obvious she’d had a really long walk and could go no further.  She was just lying at the side of the path half asleep but she wagged her tail when we approached her.  Ann was really annoyed because there were loads of people walking on this part of our walk and they all must have just ignored her.  Ann phoned the mobile number on her collar and left a message saying puppy was exhausted and that we would take her back to Lulworth Cove.  She let Ann pick her up and she snuggled right into her but as we had almost a mile to go back to Lulworth Cove, Ann asked if I’d mind if she borrowed my lead because puppy was too heavy to carry for long.  I didn’t mind.  I liked the puppy.  So we walked back.  I was off lead and puppy walked by Ann’s side on my lead.  When we got into the car park Ann told me I had to walk off lead by her side as there were a lot of cars about.  I managed to do that perfectly, but then when we got to the Heritage Centre she took the puppy off the lead, tied me up outside and carried puppy into the centre.  I couldn’t believe I’d been left outside when I’d been such a good girl.  Ann told the Heritage Centre man that she’d found puppy exhausted and didn’t know what to do with her.  Secretly I think Ann wanted to keep her but we knew she must belong to someone because she had a collar & ID tag on and she was also wearing one of those collars that sends out an electric shock if they bark too much.  The Heritage Centre man phoned a dog rescue centre, the dog warden and someone else but couldn’t find anyone that would help locate her owner.  The dog warden wasn’t even answering the phone and if he’d come out he could have scanned her to see if she was micro chipped.  Ann really wanted to take puppy with us, but she was so exhausted all she wanted to do was sleep.  When Ann put her down in the Heritage Centre she immediately just went to sleep so a 14 mile walk with us wasn’t really an option.  Ann told the Heritage Centre man that we were walking to Weymouth and if he could look after her, we’d come back and get her.  But the Heritage Centre closed at 4pm and we knew we wouldn’t be finished our walk by then, let alone be finished and be able to drive back to Lulworth Cove by 4pm.  Anyway after a lot of discussion, the Heritage Centre Man eventually found someone in the village that agreed to look after her until her owners contacted us.  We left her there, but by 3.30pm we still hadn’t heard anything from her owners so phoned the Heritage Centre.  Apparently the lady who was looking after her had phoned the local vet and asked him to do a search on puppy’s phone number.  It turns out that puppy belonged to someone who actually lives in Lulworth Cove and she’s been returned to her owners.  We’re happy about that, but very disappointed that puppy’s owners couldn’t even be bothered to return our call or the call from the Heritage Centre.  It makes us wonder what kind of a life puppy has?!

Anyway by the time we’d finished faffing about with all that it was well after 12 noon when we started our walk.  And obviously we had to go back up the big steep hill.  The first part of our walk was ever so hard.  There were three or four really strenuous areas where we had to walk down and up very steep hills.  The cliffs were very high and although we had lovely views (we could see all the way to Portland/Weymouth) it was very hard going.  After about the first half an hour there wasn’t many people about but it was a really lovely day, in fact Ann had to take her fleece off for some of the walk.  Also, after the first 1 – 2 hours the walk was quite easy.

This walk wasn’t totally isolated – there were other people that we met on all sections of the walk but because we’d ended up leaving so late we were very conscious of the fact that we had to get to Weymouth before it got dark.  Ann had some mini pork pies for our lunch but she wasn’t very hungry so we didn’t eat them.  We stopped a couple of times so that we could both have a drink.  There weren’t very many streams on this walk for me to drink out of and as I was doing quite a bit of running about I was getting thirsty.

After we’d been walking for a couple of hours we could hear loads of dogs barking.  And then, the next thing we knew, we saw 12-14 beagles running across several fields.  There was no one with them and we couldn’t see anything that they were chasing, but they were running in a pack and quite obviously seemed to know where they were going.  I was desperate to go chasing with them, but Ann said ‘NO’ so I was a good collie and just stuck to the path.  It was strange though – we didn’t know what they were up to.

We got to Osmington Mills at about 2.30pm and there was a very nice pub there called the ‘Smugglers’ with loads of seats outside.  It seemed like a really nice place to stop for a coffee but because we were very conscious that we had to get back to Weymouth by about 4pm-ish we didn’t stop.  Instead we just kept walking and walking and walking.  What was quite nice with this walk was that right from leaving Lulworth Cove we could see Weymouth and Portland so could see where we were aiming for.  We just didn’t know how long it would take us.

However once we got to the last hilly bit of our walk which was just before 4pm, and a built up area where we could see the Weymouth Esplanade, we stopped for a coffee in a very nice cafe called the ‘Lookout’.  Ann tied me to a picnic table while she went inside to order a coffee, but I was so tired I would have lain down even if I hadn’t been tied up.  In fact I didn’t feel very well

After coffee it was about another hours walk along the Esplanade, through the town and back to our B&B.  I kept stopping and trying to eat grass as I was feeling really sick by then.  We got back about 5.10pm and I’m totally exhausted.

I’ve been sick a couple of times since coming back but now I’m just lying asleep in the shower cubicle.  I hope I’ll be well enough to walk round the Portland Island tomorrow.

Abbotsbury to Ferrybridge (Weymouth) - 11 miles

Today we had to be at the bus stop on Weymouth Esplanade by 9.15am to get the X53 bus to Abbotsbury.  It was a big double decker bus that goes from Poole to Exeter.  It cost us £2.70 to get to Abbotsbury – 40p for me and £2.30 for Ann.  It wasn’t a very busy bus so we had a seat to ourselves.  We got to Abbotsbury at about 9.40am.  First, I had to stay on my lead while we walked down a little road until we got to some fields where we saw a coast path sign.  For the first hour or so we were walking through fields which were inland from Chesil Beach.

I was on my lead for most of this time as there were a lot of sheep in the fields and Ann said I couldn’t be trusted not to go chasing.  However, a little deer ran right in front of us, jumped over a fence and went zooming across the sheep field.  I was desperate to chase it, though I have to admit it was so speedy I don’t think I would ever have caught it.  It made all the sheep run together into the corner of their field, but by that time it was almost right at the other side of another field.  Then we met a farmer rounding up some other sheep on his quad bike.  He had three mongrel type dogs sitting on the back of his quad bike.  They weren’t collies and I thought I’d look much better than them sat on a quad bike – I’d have loved a go at that.

After about an hour or so we reached the sea at Chesil Beach and I was allowed off my lead for the rest of the walk.  I was a bit thirsty because I hadn’t had a drink since we left the B&B.  But then I spotted a big deep trough so I jumped in, had a drink and also had a good wallow in the water.  Unfortunately when I came to get out I couldn’t because the sides were too steep so Ann had to help me.

The weather wasn’t that great today.  It wasn’t cold and it didn’t rain but it was quite misty so we couldn’t admire the view.  We didn’t take very many photos.  Chesil Beach would have been lovely if we could have seen all the way to Portland but we only managed to see a little bit of Portland when we got to the end of our walk, and even then, most of it was shrouded in mist.  Also we didn’t meet many people on our walk today.  Every now and again, when we got near a village, we met dog walkers but we didn’t meet anyone else walking as far as we did today.  At least we don’t think we did.

Today’s walk is described on the official SWCP site as being easy – and it was.  Apart from the start, when we had to walk up hilly fields, it was pretty much all on the flat.  However there was absolutely nowhere for us to stop for coffee/lunch etc.  Ann had brought an M&S quiche that she hadn’t eaten last night, for our lunch but because it was so damp and misty we didn’t fancy sitting down anywhere so we just kept walking until we got to the end of our walk which took exactly 4 hours.  After my dip in the trough, I managed to find a couple more places to have a drink so I was OK and Ann had a few drinks of water but she just did that on the go.

We passed several caravan sites and wondered if they had a cafe/pub where we could stop for lunch but they all seemed to be closed for the winter.  We also walked through an area where I had to go back on my lead because there was a sign saying that ‘fast horses’ could be galloping past and there was what looked like a horse racing circuit.  But we couldn’t see anything on our map that indicated this.

The other thing that was really annoying was walking through a military area where apparently we had to keep to the path because there might have been unexploded devices.  Well we always keep to the path.  So, we walked round this area at Tidmoor Point where there is a rifle range, we kept to the path as all the signs said, and then we got to the end of the danger area and found a locked gate.  After consulting our map we realised we only had about another 10 – 15 yards to go.  So we climbed over the gate (which said ‘KEEP OUT’ at the other side but nothing on our side) and then we had to climb over another one.  It all seemed a bit weird – we’d followed all the signs, there were no flags flying to say that anything was happening and yet one weeny, teeny area of the SWCP appeared to be closed off.  Anyway we passed through this area in less than a minute and were on our way again.

We got to Ferrybridge, which was officially the end of our walk, at about 1.40pm and Ann spotted a really classy looking cafe with a lovely outdoor area called the ‘Crab House Cafe’.  We went there and Ann tied me up at a lovely outdoor picnic table, which was under cover, while she went in to ask if she could just have a coffee.  Once inside, Ann realised that it was a very posh fish restaurant.  However, because she’d gone in (looking like a scruffy, bedraggled, walker), she felt she had to say something so she asked if she could just have a coffee.  The ‘chef’ said that as it was so quiet we could.  Ann had a lovely cup of coffee for £1.90 and she gave me a drink of water in my foldable doggie bowl.

After that we had to walk back to our B&B which we did via the Rodwell Trail which is a walkway from Ferrybridge into the centre of Weymouth.  We reckon this added 1 – 2 miles onto our walk, but that’s OK.  Tomorrow when we do a more strenuous walk from Lulworth Cove to Weymouth it will be slightly less than the 14 miles to Ferrybridge.

I’m really tired now.  I’m trying to sleep but there’s fireworks going off and I just don’t know where to  lie so that I don’t hear them.

I’ve had a lovely day but I’m such a tired little collie dog now.

On my hols in Dorset

I am such a little lucky collie dog.  I’m on my holidays.  I’m in Weymouth for four nights and am going to be walking 38 more miles of the SWCP over the next three days.  We’ve never been to Weymouth before and Ann chose Weymouth for our mini break because it’s quite an urban area and with the dark night’s drawing in, we need to finish our walks by about 4pm, or at least be walking through ‘civilisation’ by then.

We left home at about 9.45am and first we had to stop off at M&S so Ann could buy herself some tasty snacks to eat tonight.  She’s ‘googled’ all the dog friendly pubs in Weymouth, where she thought we could eat in the evenings, but then she remembered it’s ‘Bonfire Night’ tomorrow evening and I hate fireworks so she promised we would stay in for most of the evening tonight and tomorrow.

We’ve been in our B&B since about 6.45pm.  We’re staying at the Elwell Guest House on Rodwell Road.  We were hoping to get here by about 5pm but spent forever driving around trying to find it, as there’s loads of road works going on and we kept being diverted so didn’t actually get here until about 5.30pm.  It’s OK here, though our room is very small.  Ann booked a single en-suite room for £40 per night, bed and breakfast (I’m free) but the owner said we were the only people here tonight so we don’t know why we couldn’t have a larger room.  Actually I don’t care.  I’ve been lying in the shower room for most of the night and a couple of times I’ve actually gone into the shower cubicle and lain down in there – it’s lovely and cool.  On the plus side – I’m allowed to go into the breakfast room with Ann tomorrow morning as we’re the only people here.  Apparently I’m not allowed to stay in the bedroom by myself so if other people book in over the weekend I’ll have to be put in the car while Ann has breakfast.

We’ve had a really lovely day en-route here.  We decided that we’d spend the day driving the coastal route to Weymouth because we’ve never been to East Devon/Dorset before, and then on Monday when we go home, we’ll probably go the direct route.  It took us about two and a quarter hours to get to Exmouth (including stopping at M&S). 

I had a lovely play on the beach at Exmouth.  We parked for free right next to the beach.  I got to chase wind surfers, though I couldn’t catch them.  Then we went into the ‘Harbour View Cafe’ for lunch.  There was a big sign on the door saying that doggies were welcome as long as they were on their leads.   It was really busy so we didn’t get a ‘harbour view seat’.  We sat next to lots of squealy toddlers.  I just ignored them and was ever such a good girl when Ann left me alone to order her lunch and go to the loo.   Ann had a black coffee and jacket potato with egg mayonnaise and cheese for lunch (£5.50) but she said it wasn’t very nice.  The jacket potato was teeny weeny and there was too much filling and some of the salad garnish was starting to go a bit brown.  I was happy because I had the doggie water bowl all to myself.  There was only one other doggie there when we arrived but just as we were leaving about three others appeared.

Then we went to Budleigh Salterton.  We drove into a car park by the beach and had a five minute walk around but decided not to stay.  It wasn’t a very nice beach – it was a bit stoney and Ann didn’t think it was worth paying to park the car.

After that we went to Sidmouth.  For some reason we thought Sidmouth was a genteel little seaside town in a relatively flat area.  It’s surrounded by the most massive cliffs we have ever seen, on both sides.  Anyway we had a half hour walk along the promenade and around the town.  It seemed quite nice but was nothing like we’d imagined.

Next we wanted to go to Lyme Regis and went via Seaton because one of the SWCP walks starts/ends there.  We didn’t stop at Seaton but again it’s surrounded by really high cliffs.

Lyme Regis was another place that was nothing like we expected.  It’s a town nestled between two lots of really high cliffs.  We had a 20 min walk here but there were lots of really interesting little shops.  Ann walked to go in some of them and have a look around but she couldn’t because I was with her.  She said I was a very spoilt little dog because most owners would have just left me in the car while they went for a look round the shops.  Ann said she’d planned this holiday because she knew I would enjoy it and she’s promised not to leave me by myself for any longer than is necessary.

The East Devon coastline is very, very high.  The cliffs are enormous.  We think this area of the SWCP is going to be really hard.

After leaving Lyme Regis we drove along the coastal road to Weymouth.  East Devon/Dorset has some really pretty little villages with lots of thatched cottages.

Ann left me in the car while she checked into our B&B and unloaded our luggage and then she took me for a walk into town so that we could check out where to get our bus from tomorrow.  We have to walk to the Esplanade in Weymouth to get our bus.  It took us half an hour to get there and 20 mins to get back.   Weymouth seems lovely but we didn’t start our walk until 5.45pm and by that time it was dark so we couldn’t see much.  Also, I wasn’t a good dog.  Several fireworks went off and I pulled on my lead.  Ann said she would look after me, but I just wanted to get away from them and was constantly pulling, so Ann said our walk wasn’t enjoyable.

Anyway we got back to the B&B about 6.45pm and I’ve been asleep ever since.  I’ve got my duvet here, but I’m lying on the shower room floor because it’s nice and cool.

Tomorrow we’re going to walk from Abbotsbury to Weymouth along the Chesil Beach and I’m so looking forward to it.