Day 22 - Worth Matravers to Shell Bay 

Time Departed: 9.45am

Time Arrived: 4.15pm 

Distance: 23kms

Cumulative Distance: 350kms 

Percentage Complete: 100% 

Number of Steps: 36,000 (460,000)

Walking Grade: Moderate and easy 

Weather: Overcast, humid, cool

Accommodation: Antelope Hotel, Poole

Feelings: Henk - Good, Di - Excited 

It was all systems go for our last day. Henk’s ankle was fine and Ang our taxi driver was early to take us back to Worth Matravers to head eastward. Our last day was kind to us. The walk was mostly easy with many on the path making the most of the Sunday. We counted down each kilometre with Henk’s GPS. 

Before setting off we had a look around Worth Matravers. It is another picture postcard little village with quaint stone cottages. In the middle of the village was the Duck Pond.

Not far from the village on the path were about thirty horned cows. They were obviously used to walkers and not one of them moved as we bypassed them.

The highs and lows of the coast path of the past few days were behind us as the path hugged the coastline and was mostly flat.

We could still see the erosion taking place. This time there were rocks falling away from the cliffs rather than the soil.

Just before lunch at Durlston Castle we passed the Tilly Whim Caves. These were limestone caves mined in the 18th century. They have been closed to the public in 1976 due to rockfalls.

Lunch at noon was minestrone soup and freshly baked local bread. We stayed for 45 minutes to have a good break as we hadn’t had morning tea. On the Durlston Estate is the Great Globe which is said to one of the largest stone globes in the world and constructed in Greenwich in the 1880’s. It is built of Portland stone.

After lunch we were soon in Swanage with its great seaside esplanade. There were many visitors to the town.

They had new beach huts but they lacked the quaintness of the older huts. 

With nine kilometres to go we had one more hill to climb. It was only 80m high so after the last couple of days we felt it was easy.

When we walked along the flat cliff top we came across the Pinnacles with their white stone. They looked spectacular. 

Our last four kilometres was beach walking. Thankfully, the tide was out and the sand was hard. We weren’t looking forward to the walk if there were more small stones like Chisel Beach but we needn’t have worried. 

On the last kilometre we counted down the metres - 900. 800. 700. And then we reached the end and found the signage for the start and finish of SW Coast path. There were two women with their family celebrating their completion of the entire SW Coast Path from Minehead to Shell Bay. The champagne was flowing freely. It had taken them 12 years to complete the path doing a section each year. They were as excited as we were and offered to take photos of us.

It was such a great feeling to have finished the walk. I was a tad emotional. There were days that were so tough that I thought it could be impossible to complete the walk.

We caught the large, popular vehicular ferry from Shell Bay to Sandbanks, Poole. The tide was rushing out to the sea. It only took ten minutes to get to the other side. 

Once we reached the other side we caught a taxi to our accommodation which is in the centre of Poole. It was good to arrive and have a hot shower and to go out to dinner to celebrate.

This has been a challenging walk on many fronts and we are pleased to have been able to complete it. The terrain has been some of the most difficult we have walked and this includes our walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2009 which included other parts of the SW Coast path. Whilst the heights of many of the cliffs haven't been too high at 190m the steep ascents and descents were both strenuous and challenging just as the guide book suggested. 

We incurred all sorts of weather including high heat and humidity at the beginning of the walk to gale force winds which became our Hooley Dooley Days and flooding at Paignton as a result of Storm Agnes. 

We had the occasional, minor physical problems with my stumble near the beginning, Henk’s heel blister which needed a rest day and Henk going over on his ankle yesterday. 

We didn’t experience any sore muscles so our daily hourly walks in preparation for this walk must have been sufficient. We did have our doubts about walking up to seven hours each day but we needn’t have worried. 

Thank you to all who have supported us through this blog and through other private communication. It was great to receive the encouraging messages. 

Di and Henk

South West Coast Path - Plymouth to Shell Bay 

10 September - 1 October, 2023