Day 18 - Isle of Portland - Weymouth

Time Departed: 9.00am

Time Arrived: 2.30pm 

Distance: 24kms - 18kms walking, 6kms by bus

Cumulative Distance: 287kms 

Percentage Complete: 80% 

Number of Steps: 24,000 (364,000)

Walking Grade: Easy and some moderate 

Weather: Overcast, humid and cool, windy

Accommodation: The Gloucester House B&B

Feelings: Henk - Relaxed, Di - Relaxed

Our morning decision was to follow the coastal path around the small Isle of Portland and from the isle catch the bus back to the mainland at Ferrybridge to avoid the hard track we walked on yesterday. We walked passed The Cove House Inn which sits high over Chesil Beach. Not far from the pub where we had last night’s fantastic meal we could see where Chesil Beach ends and in the opposite direction where it went on forever to West Bay. The Isle of Portland is six kilometres long and is called a “tied island” as Chesil Beach joins Portland with the mainland. 

We were warned not to take any stones from Chesil Beach. It is estimated there are 180 billion stones making up Chesil Beach. Ian McEwan the author of one of my favourite books, “On Chesil Beach” found out the consequences of taking some pebbles off the beach when he wrote the novella. 

After we climbed the steep West Cliff, the path was relatively flat on the island’s plateau. We had stunning views over terraced houses, one of the world’s largest man-made harbours, Portland Harbour and Chesil Beach. 

At the top there was a path diversion due to land slips and it took us directly to one of the many isle’s quarries, Tout Quarry. This abandoned quarry was one of 80 quarries working on the island and is now a nature reserve and sculpture park. Some of the stone from the quarries was used for St Paul’s Cathedral and a section of Buckingham Palace. To reach the prime Portland stone a considerable amount of poor quality stone was either tipped off the cliffs or stacked in stone walls. We walked through the quarry finding the sculptures dotted through it.

At eleven o’clock we had a great morning tea at a creative tea shop, the White Stones Art Cafe. We sat at a bench in the courtyard and I loved the mixture of the mosaic tiles and the plates in front of us. We had freshly homemade lemon cake and coffee and walnut cake. Delicious! 

The path took us around the enormous HM Prison The Verne, formerly a fortress and barracks.  The exterior, high stone walls were grey. Obviously, the light-coloured stone is kept for other purposes. 

Our guidebook suggested not using the word “rabbit” whilst on the island. Apparently, old stories suggest that when superstitious quarry workers saw a rabbit emerge from a barrow then there would be a rockfall. Rabbits are referred to as “underground mutton”. We didn’t see any rabbits but we passed the Fancy’s Family Farm and saw the unusual site of about ten wallabies in an enclosure. 

The bus from the Isle of Portland to the mainland was so much easier than rewalking the stony path.. We could see the path from the bus on our right as well as the high Chesil Beach on our left. It was flat walking through a busy Weymouth to our well-positioned B&B which overlooks the seafront, Weymouth Bay.

Our hosts are keen to please and the historic B&B dating back to 1790 is a Grade II listed building which was extensively and tastefully renovated during the Covid lockdowns. On arrival Henk and I had an hour’s nap. 

Tomorrow is a rest day so we can have a good look around Weymouth. Henk decided to go to the laundromat (1.5kms away) and I wrote the blog.  For dinner we went to a beachfront Italian restaurant, Oliveto which is located in the former art deco Pier Bandstand with terrific views over the bay. The interior made us feel, once again, that we were in an Agatha Christie setting.

The restaurant was only ten minutes away from our B&B and when we walked back it was blowing a Hooley but it was lovely walking along the promenade with the near full moon.

Following our rest day tomorrow we have only three more walking days to reach our destination of Poole.