The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

The Southwest Coast Path: Sandbanks to Lulworth Cove

The most recent section of the Southwest Coast Path (SWCP) I had completed, in September 2023, encompassed the western half of Dorset, from Lyme Regis to Lulworth Cove. At the time the Lulworth Ranges were closed, so my trekking ended there. Last month I returned, joining a friend from California, to complete the eastern Dorset section of the route in four days, traditionally the end of this 1014 km* long distance path. A couple of train changes got me in less than 5 hours from Hastings to Poole, where the afternoon before I met Allison, who had just arrived from California.

* – alert readers may have noted that in the last post I used strictly metric distances. I will continue to employ the system that 90% of the world uses for good reason. One kilometer is roughly 0.62 mile and one meter about 3.3 feet.

In point of fact, the SWCP actually begins/ends at Shell Bay, at the terminus of a short ferry from Sandbanks in Poole. We were doing this section “in reverse” of the usual direction.

Allison on the Sandbanks ferry, all of a five minute trip.

Day 1: Shell Bay to Swanage

13 km, 220 m elevation gain

With Allison at the start/end of the SWCP
Shell Bay, a sandy slog to start!
Old Harry Rocks. Can you spot the natural window?
Tiny Persian Speedwell (Veronica persica)
View towards Swanage, where our first night’s accommodation lay.
Wall Bellflower in Swanage
Purbeck House Hotel balcony view, Swanage

Day 2: Swanage to Kingston

20 km, 760 m elevation gain

Roman columns at the Swanage amphitheater, an outdoor music and theater venue
Durlston Castle, Durlston Country Park. A lovely section of wooded paths began near this interesting Victorian-era building.
Allison and Anvil Point Lighthouse
Chalk Milk-wort
An Early Spider Orchid. We might have missed these little fellas if some avid botanizers had not pointed them out to us.
A field of rape (rapeseed oil is called canola oil in the Americas).
The Vagabond Hiker
Coastal vista, emphasizing some steep climbs
Admiring the view. . . and resting my knees!
Hill Bottom Plantation. We turned inland at Chapman’s Pool towards our accommodation in Kingston.

Day 3: Kingston circular via SWCP and Hardy Way

18 km, 600 m elevation gain

Limited lodging gave us an opportunity to stay two nights in Kingston and also do some inland walking.

Twins. It was lambing season and most of the Ewes seemed to have two lambs.
Chapman’s Pool, where we had left off the SWCP the day prior
Houns-Tout Cliff view. I have to love some of the place names!
Clavell Tower, a 19th century folly
Kimmeridge Bay, seen from the Hardy Way. The next morning we (read: Allison) arranged a taxi down to where we left the SWCP.
View from Swyre Head. Perhaps this flat block was used as a triangulation point. Any other ideas?

Day 4: Kimmeridge Bay to Lulworth Cove

13 km, 635 m elevation gain

Broad Bench, Lulworth Ranges. We would be walking most of the day through the ranges, run by the MoD and closed much of the time. They were open for more than two weeks at Easter, however.
Wild cabbage and Tyneham Cap
Worbarrow Tout & Gad Cliff (background). Despite all the clouds, the rain for the most part left us alone.
Allison climbing up Rings Hill
View towards Bindon Hill. We would remain in the Lulworth Ranges until Lulworth Cove.
View looking back along the coast, with Bindon Hill the obvious high point. We did three steep climbs this day, which proved the hardest for me despite the shorter distance. Allison’s in the middle ground near some signage.
Mupe Bay with its eponymous cliffs looming in the near ground
Looking back at Mupe Bay Beach Cliffs with some prolific gorse
Lulworth Cove pano. It was still a walk around to the cove village and then inland for 2 km to our West Lulworth hotel. I just got tired of taking photos!

The weather was great and the days’ walks were amazing. Hiking with a friend who has a similar pace and who I had not seen in more than a year was a huge bonus. Just to be clear, while I walked for 4 days and then returned to Hastings, for Allison this was the beginning of a 66 day trek to complete the entirety of the Southwest Coast Path in one go. I, in contrast, will soon be on the 8th year of what be will be at least a 10 year plan, beginning in Westward Ho! Devon in late May 2018. Stay tuned for my future (shortish) endeavors to complete this project.

I am currently in Hastings, supposedly training for a two-week trek in Peru later this month. I have some walks from a last minute surprise trip to share with you before that expedition. Until then,

Get your daily dose of nature wherever you may be!

The Vagabond Hiker

The Southwest Coast Path: Lyme Regis to Lulworth Cove, Dorset

Having a few spare days in the UK at the end of September, I took the train and bus down to Lyme Regis to pick up where I left off 15 months ago walking the Southwest Coast Path in South Devon. This latest installment covered about 50 miles over four days, walking generally west to east along what’s known as the Jurassic Coast. In 2001 the Jurassic Coast was designated a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO and it remains England’s only Natural World Heritage Site. According to UNESCO, “The cliff exposures along the Dorset and East Devon coast provide an almost continuous sequence of rock formations spanning the Mesozoic Era, or some 185 million years of the earth’s history. The area’s important fossil sites and classic coastal geomorphologic features have contributed to the study of earth sciences for over 300 years.”

Without more ado, here are some of the photo highlights from my four days’ walking.

The sea wall leaving Lyme Regis. The weather was to prove somewhat problematic
Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium). I’ve shown these before, but in late September there weren’t many flowers blooming.
The archeologist statue. Note the rock hammer.
An artistic gate, seemingly celebrating the Vikings
Looking back on Charmouth, with Lyme in the far distance
View east towards Golden Cap, the highest point on the South Coast of England — though only 191m above sea level.
View west from Golden Cap. Brambles, along with bracken and gorse, were my frequent companions.
Wind-sculpted hawthorns on the way to West Bay, towards the end of day 1
A typical dry stone wall, seen shortly after leaving West Bay on day 2
Hive Beach. The weather was rapidly deteriorating. . .
A wind vane along Cogden Beach. Winds were from the SSW, gusting to 45 kts.
A beach poppy (Glaucium flavum). My last photo on day 2 as I placed my camera in a dry sack for the duration of my rain-soaked walk to Abbotsbury.
A wooded inland path on leaving Abbotsbury. With dry clothes and a mild, (mostly) sunny day, my spirits had markedly improved.
Fishing boats on the Fleet, en route to Weymouth. “An extensive oasis of relative calm compared with the open sea across Chesil Beach, the Fleet Lagoon is a vital shelter and feeding area for wildlife.”
A picturesque farm
A Painted Lady
Sandsfoot Castle, Weymouth. Along with Portland Castle, this artillery fort was built during the 16th Century to provide defense for the Portland Roads and harbor.
Castle Cove, Weymouth. I deviated a bit from the SWCP to walk along this beach.
The colorful Weymouth harbor
Weymouth beach, early morning on day 4
Smuggler’s Inn. Built in the 13th century, the Smugglers Inn was a major landing place for smuggled goods in the 17th century. I was too early for lunch, but enjoyed a soda water and lime along with some breakfast fruit, provided gratis by the accommodating waiter.
Coastguard cottages at White Nothe. Amazingly remote (for England) and completely off grid, from a distance I thought it was an old manor house. One of the cottages was for sale the prior month at £225,000. I enjoyed a pack lunch at the WW2 pillbox on the right.
An atmospheric view east. The rains this day were thankfully brief.
Coast view towards the Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove
The Durdle Door, a popular tourist attraction
Lulworth Cove, where my 4 day walk ended and I caught the Jurassic Coaster bus to the Wool train station and the return to Englefield Green

Back at my desert home in St. George, Utah, I am enjoying the warm (and dry!) days hiking and swimming. My next overseas adventure will be during the holidays. Christmas morning will be spent exploring Petra, Jordan with Maggie and other clients on a guided KE Adventures trip. So, until the New Year, a hiatus from blogging. But not, of course, from the outdoors!

The Vagabond Hiker

Inland walks in Devon

Apart from the five days hiking along the South West Coast Path from my most recent blog post, I spent the last four weeks walking some of the many inland paths, including some of the more popular walks in Exmoor and Dartmoor National Parks, as well as some local walks that required less driving time. From these dozen or so walks, I have distilled the following photos that I hope will give a flavor of the variety of Devon’s landscapes and nature.

Local Walks

In contrast to a 45 minutes to an hour plus drive necessary from my AirBnb in the mid-Devon village of Cheriton Fitzpaine for the closer of the national park walks, the local walks ranged from one right outside my door to about a 30 minute drive to reach the Exe River in the lovely city of Exeter.

A country lane on a Coombland Circular walk, about 20 minutes from my home
Surprisingly, bluebells were still in bloom at the end of May in Coombland
A typical Devon countryside vista seen on a circular walk from my house in Cheriton Fitzpaine
A field of barley near Cheriton Fitzpaine
View of the River Exe at the Quay in the city of Exeter. A 6 mile loop walk along the river was a great way to experience this lovely cathedral city.
The River Exe from Belle Isle Park in Exeter. This one park prohibits cycling and dogs, and as such is a peaceful oasis.
Countess Wear paper mill building along the river just south of Exeter. Some structures here date from the 17th century.
Gentrified apartments along the river in Exeter

Exmoor National Park

From my mid-Devon AirBnb in Cheriton Fitzpaine, I was about equidistant from the two national parks, the more wooded Exmoor and the higher, more rugged-feeling Dartmoor.

Exmoor, formerly a royal forest and hunting ground, is an area of wooded vales and hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon counties, named for the River Exe, whose source is in near its center. It was designated a national park in 1954.

Vista with a herd of about 40 Roe Deer, seen on a circular hike around Dunkery Beacon, the high point in Exmoor. This hike was technically in Somerset, not Devon.
Exmoor Ponies near Dunkery Beacon
Tarr Steps and Tarr Farm near the start of a circular walk to the village of Withypool. At 54 meters in length, the late medieval Tarr Steps is by far the longest clapper bridge in England.
The River Barle between Tarr Farm and Withypool. The long distance Two Moors Path follows the river here, connecting the south and north Devon coasts.
St Andrews church in the village of Withypool
A Withypool Cafe scone with jam and cold cream. A great snack break! And no, I didn’t consume all that cream.

Dartmoor National Park

Covering about 370 square miles, Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon that has been protected by National Park status since 1951. The landscape consists of moorland capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors. While it provides innumerable hiking opportunities, but because of its size I focused my efforts on the eastern and northern portions that were closer to my home.

View towards Yes Tor and High Willhays from near the trailhead at the (disused) Meldon Quarries
High Willhays summit cairn vista. At 621 meters (2,039 feet), it is the highest point in the park, indeed in all of southern England. This and the following photo were taken with my Panasonic Lumix. All others were taken using my Samsung A52 phone.
Vista with clouds on the descent from High Willhays. Far more dramatic than a blue sky!
Teign Gorge through which its namesake river flows. I did a 9 mile loop walk with Maggie through the gorge and on the hillsides above.
Dartmoor ponies grazing, hopefully not on the foxglove!
Teign River reflection in Teign Gorge
Fingle Bridge from the nearby cafe where we re-hydrated with a well earned soda water and lime
A house in the village of Scorriton at the start of a 9 mile circular walk I did last week up onto Holne Moor
PUDC boundary standing stone on Ryder’s Hill. The Paignton and Urban District stones, placed about every 200 meters, mark the catchment boundary of the nearby Venford Reservoir. (No, I did not know that at the time).
Cottongrass on Holne moor. My walk encompassed three separate hills, the highest of which was Ryder’s Hill.
Wild Dartmoor ponies near Ryder’s Hill summit.
Haytor (r) and Haytor rocks (l) from the Haytor car park. This short (5 mile) circular walk featured some very interesting scrambling opportunities and seemed much longer than the actual mileage.
View from Haytor towards the west. Maggie can be seen on the lower left.
The Vagabond Hiker standing on a rock slab at Houndtor. (Photo courtesy of Maggie).
Maggie at a Dartmoor stream near Houndtor. The riparian landscape provided a stark contrast to the nearby uplands.

When this blog posts, I will be in the midst of trekking in Norway, in the highest and one of the most rugged mountain ranges that country boasts: The Jotunheimen. Those eight days will be the subject of my next blog. Until then, enjoy the great outdoors wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

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