Day 16 - Eype’s Mouth to Abbotsbury 


Time Departed: 9.15am

Time Arrived: 3.00pm 

Distance: 18kms 

Cumulative Distance: 241kms 

Percentage Complete: 67% 

Number of Steps: 28,000 (309,000)

Walking Grade: Easy and Moderate 

Weather: Sunny with a light breeze

Accommodation: The Ilchester Arms

Feelings: Henk - Good, Di - Good


It was a great day for walking and yesterday’s “Hooley Dooley Day” was behind us. We loved our hotel at Eype’s Mouth as we felt we were in an Agatha Christie set expecting Hercule Poirot to walk into the room at any moment. The hotel was tastefully modern with a 1930’s feel about it. We could be influenced by our current reading. I’m reading Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” which uses Burgh Island as the setting. This was the island we passed in a heavy fog early in our walk which inspired Christie to write the book and Henk is reading Lucy Worsley’s biography of Christie. 


We had a very easy walk through to nearby West Bay. It has a lovely harbour, known as Bridport Harbour.



We walked around the harbour to the first cliff to find we needed to do a diversion due to a major land slip in May this year. There was a map showing us the new path which ran behind the cliff and through the golf course. 



The path up to lunchtime was an easy one on top of the cliffs.  We had an early lunch at the Hive Beach Cafe at Burton Bradstock. It was only eleven o’clock and stayed for forty-five minutes. 



The cafe is a very popular one with a good menu choice and three cook books to its name. Henk opted for indulgent buttermilk pancakes with berry fruit compote and maple syrup.



After lunch the coast path took us above Burton Bradstock and we could see the effect of the erosion.



When we climbed the cliff we walked onto flat green path parallel to the beach for about a kilometre to avoid walking on the stony beach. We were then forced onto the beach and it was hard going. We tried walking on the the ridge, near the water, near the back hedge and it made no difference. Nothing worked except walking slowly on the tiny stones and it was tiring and seemed endless. 



We walked an exhausting two kilometres on the stones until we reached West Bexington, a tiny place with a few houses and cafe/restaurant. There was still six kilometres of beach walking remaining until we had to turn off the path to get to Abbotsbury. We had to find an alternative and thanks to Henk’s trusty gadgets he found the South Dorset Ridgeway Path. It meant walking up a steep road and path for a kilometre to get to the ridge parallel to the beach but it was so much easier than walking on the stony beach. We climbed to 180m which was 10m less than yesterday’s Golden Cap. We then had stunning views over Chesil Beach which runs from West Bay to Portland a distance of 29 kilometres. We were pleased to be off it. We also had fantastic views to our north.





The walking on the ridge was mostly flat and easy and seemed to combine a number of walks including The Hardy Way and the Hill Fort Walk.



As we descended from the ridge we had great views over Abbotsbury. We could see the Fleet Lagoon in the distance sitting behind Chesil Beach. It’s a tidal lagoon and the largest in the country. We’ll walk by the lagoon tomorrow.



After arriving at our accommodation we put our feet up for a while and had a cuppa before heading out to see the picturesque village. We walked to St Nicholas’ Church and the abbey alongside honey coloured stone houses with many having thatched roofs. Parts of the church dates back to the 14th century. 



My father’s maternal side comes from Dorset. As we walked through the graveyard along the path to the abbey Henk saw by chance a gravesite with the name Critchell, my paternal grandmother’s maiden name. It was quite a coincidence. We tried to find some more but most of the gravestones were too worn to read them.



From the  church graveyard we could see the ridge where we walked overlooking the village. It was a beautiful afternoon. 



We had a great dinner of locally caught sea bass with vegetables at our hotel. We were hungry after our early lunch at the Hive Beach Cafe. 




 














Comments

  1. WendySeptember 25, 2023 at 10:53 PM

    A good distance covered today. Pancakes look good but those wee stones to walk on did not! All the best for the next leg of your journey

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2023 at 12:01 AM

    I recall visiting the swannery when Bill and I visited Abbotsbury on a mobile meander along the south coast.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2023 at 12:07 PM

    What a great day Di! So many interesting places. ❤️ HK

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2023 at 4:44 AM

    What a day! Good distance covered. Loving the Scenery! It would feel almost like home, finding an ancestor's grave? Love the photo with those clouds. JB (Junket).

    ReplyDelete

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