The Purple Penguin

So I left the B&B and strolled along the seafront. It was quite cool as the breeze was blowing in from the sea with a slight mist. Passed over the old bridge which was build in 1877 and claims to be the first ever concrete bridge and then followed the coastal path around to the largest steepest hill in the UK. So far. This got me to the golf course where I followed the little white fossils through the golf course; there were a few people around on the course. Then I went into a series of wheat fields which was very pleasant – mist blowing in and birdsong. Finally got to a sign which told me once I passed I couldn’t get off – no sea or inland access (though I suppose you could turn around and flee if you want). Followed the coastal path and it immediately went into woodland and large hedgerows, in some places the hedgerows fully enclosed the path, like a tunnel, and the path is only one person wide. After a while the path started going up and down and entering the deep, dark wood, where I had to take off my sunglasses to see where I was going. Lots of roots and rocks in the path making the footing tricky and as I got further down it got quite muddy, from streams or where water has pooled. After about two miles of this, I got to where the large slip had happened, not that I could see much as the path is pretty enclosed. After the large slip the path flattened out but still enclosed by trees, so really not a good walk to see the cliffs! But a nice place for trees, irises, hollyhocks, and honeysuckle, with dogroses throughout. Get to the halfway point and there were some old ruins of a pumping station, then a steep climb and much the same as before to Lyme Regis.

I stopped and had a ginger beer at Lyme Regis. Looked at the map and decided to take the detour to Chamouth; the detour caused by the cliff collapse. After another walk along the sea front, it was another steep climb out of Lyme Regis. It spat me out onto a road for a bit, before taking me across another golf course; however, this one was much busier and I had to keep constant lookout and stop to allow play to go through or to make sure they’d seen me and waved me through. (Unfortunately I ran into the not so good golfers.) After dodging through, ducking under, and generally trying to avoid golf balls I ended up on the A35 following the main Chamouth Road to the beach. So much for a coastal path (mind you, it might be better when it’s not a detour.)

Got to the beach where I had a pork pie, cup of tea, and an ice cream. Then waited for Kathleen to finish her three course meal and come pick me up.