The Dorset Coast, England 2016 🇬🇧 – Michael and Pam's Travels

Travelled : 141 Kilometres from Lymington to Portland, Dorset.

Visited : Wareham Village, Corfe Castle (£19.80 entry + £2 parking) and Village, Lulworth Cove (£4 parking) and the Jurassic Coast

Stayed : Portland Harbour, £5.50 overnight, no services. N50.581361, W02.469465

Very windy overnight again, the Hymer gentle rocked away but we enjoyed a good nights sleep anyway. We overnighted in Sconce Point carpark a short distance from the Yarmouth Ferry Terminal with a couple of other motorhomes. It was a great spot, very quiet apart from a bell on a buoy about 200 metres off shore which rang from time to time and a nice clean set of to toilets nearby were very convenient.

Parked up at Sconce Point Battery Museum. Still windy despite some protection from the building.

We are booked on the ferry at 7.50 am, it leaves promptly and has free wifi. We say our farewell to the IOW, 25 minutes later we drive off into Lymington. Our next challenge is negotiating Bournemouth and Poole as we head west into Dorset. Roundabouts and bypasses take up much of the next hour, the traffics moving well enough and we are not in a hurry. We stop off at the village of Wareham. Most people visit this ancient Saxon village to walk the earthen walls built to protect it, but we stopped off for a loaf of bread. The lady at the bread shop told us about the walls and we went off to explore.

These amazing earthen walls surround to town of Wareham. Only breached where a modern street has been continued through. Nicely mown as well.

From Wareham we turn south into an area known as the Ilse of Purbeck. Another 30 minutes later we can see the ruins of Corfe Castle, already on a substantial hill it dominates the skyline. We luckily find a spot in the carpark and get stung with another parking fee. Cannot get over how many cars are parked here.

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The castle’s keep once stood 40 metres high. Amazing given construction started in 1086 by William the Conqueror.

Still jacket weather at Corfe. Sadly the castle stands as a ruin today as it was partially demolished by order of parliament following the civil war in 1646.

The grounds within the castle to Corfe Village beyond. Sadly no jousting today.

The weather is changing every 15 minutes today, when the sun brakes through it gets warm very quickly. Then just as quickly it clouds over and the wind chills very quickly.

The village square in Corfe, it’s a lovely little village. We walked around and into the church and its ground’s chatting to the Deacon for a while.

We backtrack north-west before again turning south across the Purbeck Hills towards the coast. This area is apparently an artillery and tank training ground, coincidentally we hear some very loud explosions at odd intervals. We arrive at Lulworth Cove to be greeted by another even bigger carpark, yes ‘park and pay’ again. This area is known as Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.

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We have a very late lunch today and a little rest before we head off on the coastal walk. Lulworth Cove and it’s carpark.

Without doubt one of the most picturesque walks we have every done. Emerald sea, white cliffs and the green of the downs.

The path is a challenging walk as the hills just seem to keep on rising. Saw this from a distance and thought it a headstone until we got to it.

Back from our coastal ramble, we walk down to the Cove. It really is a pretty little spot, not surprised there are so many cars and buses here.

It’s getting late and we cannot stay here. So we turn the Hymer west. There are some wild camping spots around Portland Harbour south of Weymouth. It takes about an hour but that’s another story for another day. Safely parked up on the harbour front with a few other motorhomes its Rose and Heineken watching the kite surfers race across the water.

Michael and Pam

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