SOUTH WALK:- From Abbotsbury to Charmouth - No dodgy knee and No cream Tea!

Saturday September 27th - and the alarm went at 5:30am for an early start to catch the 7.07am bus from Charmouth. I was heading back to Abbotsbury, where I had arranged to meet up with Michael Ricketts for a days walk to Charmouth. I packed extra First Aid equipment and pain killers in readiness. There was thick mist but by the time the double decker bus with it's 4 occupants arrived in Abbotsbury, most of the mist had been burnt off and it was a beautiful morning. Mike was so keen - he had got there half an hour early -and the village was deserted as we headed down the hill to the Swannery where I had ended my last walk from Portland. There was no sign of any swans, but I had e mailed the Swannery advising them that it might be better to keep the swans locked up rather than risk any more outbreak of Harpenden Bird Flu!

As we headed across the fields towards the beachside path, the fields were full of young pheasants, flying in all directions and I managed to fall A over T , much to Mike and the pheasants amusement. For the first hour we walked alongside what was the end stretch of Chesil Beach and were heading for Burton Bradstock. We were a bit startled to come across a sign saying BEWARE SINKING PEBBLES - TURN AROUND! I did a quick 360 degrees swivel, but I don't think that's what they meant. We kept going regardless of the danger and with reckless abandon. At one point, our feet were sinkng up to 2 inches into the pebbles!, but we were hardened men of steel and laughed in the face of such adversity. After about 10 yards we were out of immediate danger - and before we knew it were at Burton Bradstock beach and the welcome sight of the Hive beach Cafe. This was a splendid place and a Bacon roll and Cappuccino went down a treat. After a flat period of coast since Abbotsbury - the orange mud cliffs cliffs started to rise up and it definitely started to look more Jurassic. As we headed for West Bay, our half way point, we passed through Burton freshwater where there was a large Caravan park - one of many on this stretch. Despite the path clearly heading inland to avoid the waterway carving through the beach, Mike decided that we should be able to head straight on - and we only just avoided having to wade across.

From here it was a steep climb up out of the bay but with splendid views and sheer cliffs dropping down to the stony beach. After a couple more miles we could see the harbour of West Bay stretching out in front of us and an impressive series of cliffs disappearing into the distance beyond.

Being a dedicated athlete, it never occurred to me that we could stop in West Bay for a snifter, but when it was suggested - it didn't seem such a bad idea! But after that - there was not much to hang about in West Bay for, so we started out on the 7 mile up and down stretch to Charmouth!
At one point, as we headed across a flat stretch of grassy clifftop - we were approached by 4 women, one of whom proceeded to stop and start rolling up her trousers in front of me! I asked her whether she was going to trying to show off her War wound, which may not have been appreciated given her dubious age, but it turned out that she had a knee support also - and seemed to think that I might want to see it! Of course, a man with my stunning good looks, is well used to women tearing off their clothes at the sight of me, but it turned out that there were 6 of them in total - all had walked from Lyme Regis and were catching the Jurassic Bus back from West Bay.

Our next stopping point was Seatown, and a much needed rest at the beachside hostelry.

From here we were faced with a long climb up firstly to Thorncombe Beacon and then towards Golden Cap - which is the highest mainland point on the South coast.

Silver Cap on the other hand was complaining of "pains in his buttock" - well enough said!
It was a tough climb up Golden Cap, but the views on the way up were spectacular and even more so from the top where you could see for many miles in all directions

It was quite crowded at the top, as you might expect on a sunny Saturday - and we could clearly see our destination of Charmouth about 3-4 miles away. The thought of a nice Dorset Cream tea in one of the many Charmouth tea Houses was a welcome boost to our tired legs and painful buttocks.

On the final descent to Charmouth, we had been warned of an inland diversion around a cliff landslip, but in fact a fellow walker kindly informed us that it was easily circumvented, so we stuck to the original path and were soon at Charmouth Harbour bustling with day trippers stuffing their faces with ice cream cornets. Our walking mission accomplished, the next mission was to find somewhere pleasant for a Cream tea. Let's head up to the main Street, I said - there will be loads of places! I was wrong, so we ended up in the pub again! I had chalked up another 16 miles - the Dorset Health Authorities hadn't been required and it had been another beautiful sunny day - so all was well. After replenishing some of the lost fluids - I gave Mike a lift back to Abbotsbury. He is threatening to join me in Cornwall for another section of the walk, dodgy knees permitting!

Next week, I shall be back up to the North coast to Ilfracombe and heading for Barnstaple!