Day 15 - Lyme Regis to Eype’s Mouth 

Time Departed: 9.15am

Time Arrived: 3.00pm 

Distance: 16kms 

Cumulative Distance: 223kms 

Percentage Complete: 62% 

Number of Steps: 27,000 (281,000)

Walking Grade: Moderate and strenuous

Weather: Overcast, strong blustery winds

Accommodation: Eype’s Mouth Country Motel

Feelings: Henk - Cautious, Di - Good

Yet again, I am saying “What a difference a day makes.” After two glorious days in Lyme Regis I have named today “Hooley Dooley Day” after learning the word “Hooley” a few days ago. We walked in strong, blustery winds coming from all directions all day. It was challenging. Near the end of our walk into Eypes (pronounced eeps) I took a video of Henk walking down the last hill. It gives a good idea of the exhilarating conditions we walked in.

When we set out walking down the lovely Main Street of Lyme Regis we knew we would be going quickly uphill and away from the coast to walk inland and parallel to the coastline to avoid the land slips of the Spittles and Black Ven to reach Charmouth Beach. The signs were ominous. 

We were going to do more fossil hunting at Charmouth Beach but the conditions had deteriorated, the tide was high and the waves were thrashing on the stony beach. There were a few hardy souls fossiking. We could see the waves reaching the bottom of the cliffs towards Lyme Regis.

As we climbed the steep hill from Charmouth Beach (nominated as one of the UK’s Best Five Beaches in 2017) we came across a fantastic gate featuring Viking ships.

When we got to the top we could see Golden Cap in the distance, the south coast’s highest point at 191m.

Walkers coming in our direction warned us of the high winds on the summit of Golden Cap. We had our lunch on a bench overlooking the cliffs to the west before climbing. We surprised ourselves how quickly we climbed the peak given the conditions. Sometimes the wind pushed us along and other times it pushed against us. It was unpredictable. As the winds were fierce we only spent a short time on the top before steeply descending and getting protection in the leeward side of Golden Cap. The views from the top were spectacular. 

When we reached Seatown, a very tiny place with a Spa, a pub and holiday cabins, we decided to reward ourselves with an nutritional icecream and Coke from the Spa! There was a bench outside the shop and we put our backpacks in position to try and get some protection from the wind. A young guy kindly offered to take our photo.

From Seatown there were still three high hills to climb in the challenging conditions. One was Thorncombe Beacon which, because of its high position was used to warn of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

Coming down into the Eype Mouth was very steep and we had excellent views over the coastline including many land slips.

We had to head inland for about half a kilometre from the coastal path to our accommodation at Eype Mouth. Once we got to our lovely room which overlooks the coastline we immediately had hot showers so we didn’t stiffen up after fighting the wind. We had a terrific curry dinner in our hotel’s restaurant. It hit the spot as we were hungry after using up so much energy today.

This morning Henk decided to walk in his new sandals and double thick socks instead of his leather walking boots. He wanted to take his boots as well in case the sandals didn’t work out. His boots are heavy so he put one in his backpack and I took the other. The sandals worked out well and Henk had no issues with his heel. He is considering wearing his boots tomorrow.

All in all, today’s walk was a good one with spectacular views over the coastline. The wind was a challenge but since arriving in Dorset the walk has become easier and there seems to be less challenging steep climbs over short distances. Tomorrow the forecast is for better weather.