Dorset to East Devon, England 2016 🇬🇧

Travelled : 129 Kilometres from Portland Harbour, Dorset to Colation Raleigh, Devon.

Visited : Maiden Castle, Cerne Abbas and Lyme Regis

Stayed : Otter Inn, Colaton Raleigh (Brits Stop) free N50.67839 W03.30686

We wake to the wind again this morning, but the sun is out and Portland Harbour is a picture. The harbour foreshore proved to be a quiet and restful stop. We were joined by a couple of other motorhomes in the early evening. The man never came and collected his £5.50 so it was free night. As you may suspect this put Pam in a very good mood to start the day.

We stopped in at Morrisons on our way back through Weymouth for a quick shop and to buy a credit voucher for our internet account. We installed a motorhome wifi system in the Hymer this year and its working well. Just cannot add credit on-line due to our foreign currency credit card, but using a voucher is nearly as simple.

We are soon on our way north closing the A35 into the outskirts of Dorchester to our first stop of the day, Maiden Castle, which could be better described as a hill top fortress.

What looks like a hill is actually a complex series of defensive ramparts surrounding the hill.

Walking down into the rampart you get a feel for their size and height. Must have been good on a pick and shovel back then.

On the road again heading north, we skirt Dorcherster continuing to the village of Cerne Abbas. On the hillside overlooking the village the figure of a man (obvious) carrying a club is etched into the side of a hill.

Dorchester DT2, UK

Don’t think it was exactly what we expected, but it wasn’t far out of our way. The figure is first noted in local records in 1650, but some argue it dates to the iron age.

What was a surprise was how pretty the village of Cerne Abbas is. The pubs appear to be in a contest to outdo each other. The gardens of Cerne Abbey and the old ruin beautiful and interesting.

The ruins and gardens of Cerne Abbey. Most of the abbey was destroyed during the reformation.

The current buildings within the abbey grounds are just as splendid.

We continue our drive along the Jurassic Coast into East Devon in the afternoon. The weather has turned again and it rains steadily, so our visits to Lyme Regis and Sidmouth are a drive through. The ‘park and pay’, catch the bus into town option doesn’t entice in the rain.

We start thinking about we to stay when the sun makes a reappearance. We head for a pub in our Brits Stop book called the Otter Inn in Colaton Raleigh. A quick chat to the landlord and we are safely up for the night in the carpark. We have dinner at the pub and chat with some other motorhomers before calling it a day.

Sidmouth EX10, UK

Our stop for the night, good food as well.

Michael and Pam

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