Jurassic Coast Part 2

Durdle Door, Golden Cap, West Bay and Lulworth Cove

At almost a hundred miles long, the Jurassic Coast stretches from Exmouth in Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset. I was on the Dorset end of the coast.

I wrote about Weymouth in the first post - Weymouth Harbour And Beach

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Durdle Door

Durdle Door is a limestone arch that is an ancient natural formation on the coast. It is possibly the most famous structure on the coast and a must see. It is truly magnificent.

There is a large National Trust car park and a camp site so you can visit there for the day, or book a camping spot in the holiday park for a longer visit.

The coast itself is a short walk from the parking area down a relatively steep hill side. Once on the cliff, the view is simply stunning. From there you can see the Durdle Door itself, as well as the two beaches on either side. There is a path of steps down to the beach.

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Golden Cap

Golden Cap is a hill and a cliff, and is the highest point on the south coast of England. It's apparently called "Golden Cap" due to the greensand rock at the top which has a golden hue to it.

There are several ways to get there on foot via marked out trails and walks. Going from the National Trust car park like I did, there is a very nice walk through the woods, up a grassy hill and finally a steep climb up steps to the cap.

You are likely to encounter other walkers, especially locals walking with their dogs, in the wood paths. Most of the route is family friendly but it would be quite hard work to take a buggy up the steps at the end.

As expected, there are great views to be observed wile climbing the hills and, of course, on top of the hill itself. You can observe West Bay and West Bay Beach from atop and along the side of the Golden Cap hill.

It was such perfect weather for paragliding on the day, and there were several of them in the sky. Later on while sitting at West Bay Beach, one of them almost landed on my head!

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West Bay

West Bay is a historical settlement around a harbour. The interesting thing about this harbour is that it's not a natural landscape and has in fact been moved at least a couple of times over the centuries.

The original economy of West Bay was export of nets and ropes, but the harbour lost significance with the arrival of the railway. Today, the economy there is mainly fishing and, of course, tourism.

There was a lot of construction going on along the beach when I was there, so it wasn't the most picturesque. It's a brown pebble beach as well, even though it resembles a sandy beach from a distance.

It does, however boasts of a magnificent cliff starting from about half-way along the beach. It's also climbable, but I was feeling a little worn out from the earlier trek up the Golden Cap to go see what the views were like up there. It reminded me of Seven Sisters, except the cliffs are golden-brown, not white.

The West Bay harbour itself is very picturesque and vintage looking. I'd love to visit there in low season when there aren't as many vehicles parked in front of the beautiful old buildings.

There are many places to eat, drink and be very merry. I helped myself to some good coffee, of course.

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Lulworth Cove

Lulworth Cove is located near West Lulworth village, and it's an incredible natural cove on the coast. It's near Durdle Door and there is a path along a hillside that can be used to access Durdle Door on foot.

This is possibly even busier than Durdle Door, which is why despite having the largest car park of anywhere I visited, it took me ages to find a parking space. Apparently half a million people visit every year and about a third of those visit in the months of July and August. In short, I was there at the super-high season.

The beach is extremely beautiful, but for me is uncomfortable being made primarily of white (limestone) pebbles. The beach is also not prone to waves, being in a cove, so it's safe for families. Dogs are allowed on the beach as evidenced by the number of barking canines all over the place.

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There you have it, the end. I've only visited the Dorset end of the Jurassic Coast as far as I can remember. I can't wait to visit the Devon end at some point in the near future. I may have unwittingly been there already, actually, as I have been to Devon before, but not specifically for this sort of stuff.

Shout out to you if you actually read the entire thing. I realise that it's quite a long post, something like a thousand and a hundred words. I also recently said I would stop writing much in my post, but instead "let the photos speak for themselves", but I guess I got carried away :)

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Peace and Love ✌🏿
Adé

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