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.
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