The Southwest Coast Path

 I didn’t sleep brilliantly last night, due to the fact my B&B room was like a sauna!  After a cooked breakfast served in my room, I set off at 9am. I immediately stopped at the Co Op store next door and purchased a chicken wrap and bottle of beer to celebrate with at the finish line! I headed to Swanage Promenade, where it was looking resplendent in the early morning sunshine.  I made my way out of town up towards Ballard Down.  This was the last significant climb of my adventure and proved to be fairly insignificant in exertion! The view from the top of Swanage Bay was marvellous. I continued on to Old Harry, but the view of the stack was limited (partly because I wasn’t prepared to get too close to the edge)! I met two ladies Della & Jane who were also completing their final stage of the path ( thanks for the donation).  It was then a gentle walk and descent down towards Studland Village. Unfortunately there weren’t any decent views of Studland Bay due to the vegetation.  I

 I’m going to be honest with you, today’s walk was quite tough! I slept soundly at the ‘rustic’ campsite and had a hot shower at 6:30 to wake myself up. I packed up and hit the path by 7:45. There was a steep climb and immediate descent to get to Kimmeridge Bay.  It was strange walking around the bay, without a soul in sight! I climbed up to the Clavell Tower, which was dismantled and moved about 30m inland to protect it from cliff erosion! The path from this point until Chapmans Pool was incredibly taxing. It was very overgrown in places, resulting in a few minor cuts and abrasions!  If things trying to scratch you or sting you wasn’t enough, the path tried desperately hard to break your ankle, with deep drought/subsidence ruts to try and avoid! It was like this for 2-3 miles and I was mentally tired from it all, by the time I got through it. The worry of injuring oneself so close to the finish, really played on my mind!  I was glad that it came to an end, but not so delighted by the

  I had a relaxing stay in the Castle Inn West Lulworth. It’s certainly not cheap ( I got a last minute deal) but they went the extra mile with their thoughtful touches.   After a hearty breakfast, I set off on the official Lulworth Range Diversion Route. Almost immediately, there was a stiff climb out of the village, that gave you views looking back towards Portland.  The next bit was quite nice as the path took you through rolling grasslands, similar in look to the Downs of Wiltshire, where I live.  After a while, however, there was an awful lot of road walking to be done, with nothing to see but high hedges. It was tough on the feet and uninspiring on the eyes. It seemed to go on forever!  Eventually, I reached the point where you climb back up the ridge of the Purbeck Hills. Whilst this was still road walking, it at least gave you something to look at!  When I reached the top, some enterprising sole, had created a pop up cafe. I wasn’t particularly hungry, having not long

 After I updated the blog yesterday afternoon, I caught a bus into Weymouth, where I met up with Steve & Anna. They have decided to hang around for a couple of days, so that they can walk through Lulworth Ranges on Saturday. I had originally intended to do that, but now just can’t face killing time, so I am just pushing on regardless. So last night, was the final chance to meet up with them.  Then whilst sat in a back street pub, Anna suddenly shouted “That’s Peter” pointing out of the window. Sure enough, Peter from Germany who started the same day as me and whom I haven’t seen since Hartland Quay, was walking past. We both ran out and probably startled the poor man! He came inside and joined us for a meal and few beers. It was great to catch up again and finding him like that just made it a special evening!  Despite the (relatively) late night, I was up at 6:30 and left camp at 8:30. I joined the path after walking through a few housing estates. It followed an old railway line. H

 I went out like a light last night and slept through to 6:15. I was hoping for a lie in, but my body decided that 6:45 was a good time to get up, regardless of what my mind told it!  I got up slowly and had a leisurely breakfast, but was still ready to leave at 8:45. I didn’t need to pack everything up, as I’m staying on the same campsite tonight.  I set off for the loop around Portland. The first part is incredibly dull, because you have to walk along the 1.5 mile long thin strip of land that connects Portland to the mainland. It’s a pavement walk alongside an incredibly busy road, which this morning was choc-a-bloc with slow moving vehicles trying negotiate some temporary traffic lights!  Eventually I reached Chiswell and had a steep climb up onto  West Weare, where there were fantastic views looking back along Chesil Beach.  The path then meandered around some old quarry works, where there was the odd bit of stone carving, including the angry dog in his kennel!  There were also the