Field of flowers

 

Our route by way of the Corfe Valley had us encounter a huge field of wild flowers, through which our footpath fortuitously passed. Approaching the final hill of what was an arduous Purbeck walk, the wonder and colour of the field was a welcome distraction.

Gad undercliff

 

Gad Cliffs is a striking section of cliff on the Jurassic coast. A 150 year old layer of Portland Limestone capping steep scree slopes of Portland sand and shale between Kimmeridge Bay and Worbarrow Bay.  The undercliff is a particularly rugged piece of terrain, and I'm not certain if it's strictly open to the public, so wouldn't advise  it. It's certainly a wild piece of the coast. 

Lulworth Ranges Chieftain bridgelayer

 

The Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School was established towards the end of the First World War in 1918, it's ranges are utilized by all three branches of our armed services. Used as targets you'll spot old battered tanks scattered about the landscape, look carefully and spot mechanisms for moving targets. Most of the tanks are way off the marked safe routes, well within the range, though this Chieftain AVLB Bridgelayer was close enough to the path to take a look. 

Range walk

 

Today's walk was not a long one, though a challenging one. A particularly hilly route through Lulworths' military range; Whiteways car park to Flowers Barrow to Arish Mell to Bindon Hill to Mupe Bay. We paused at Mupe for a welcome rest, some refreshments and a chilly dip in the crystal clear sea. Noice. Then; Mupe Bay to Bindon to Arish Mell to Flowers Barrow to Worbarrow Bay to Tyneham to Whiteways car park. That's only 8.7 miles but with a 2,256 ft elevation gain. Bloody lovely though, top of the leader board of this years walks.

Wartime relic

I glanced down as we navigated the undercliff of Mupe Bay and spotted a 1945 type guilded metal clad steel .303 cal. projectile.  You can tell it's 1945, or after, by the position of the crimp; pre-1945 the crimp would have been lower down the projectile. The bullet was unmarked, I suppose it could've hit something soft, though I think it was more likely a dropped round later set off in a bush fire on the coastal grassland above. I saw lots of examples of that on Godlingston Heath, another wartime training ground, projectile and case often laying less than a meter apart.

Mupe

Just look at that. 185 million years of strata, Earths' ancient geological history on show, representing the entire Mesozoic era. It's no wonder that the Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage site; a landscape of international geological importance, particularly the section between Mupe Bay and Dungy Head, where the strata is buckled and folded highlighting the raw power our planet is capable of. Mupe was our destination this morning, such a lovely spot, and what a lovely day for it. I've always loved this place, it's wild and rugged, with moods that change with the weather; welcoming today, though in stormy conditions another place altogether.

Studland wood

This is the way.

The Pinnacle and the Haystack

 

The way the chalk cliffs here have eroded has formed Pocket Bays filled with flint pebbles, the motion of which cause the pockets to erode further, which in turn creates stacks. The Pinnacle and the Haystack above represent the latest chalk stacks in a multi millennia spanning parade of stacks, and their replacements are already being created.

Portable antiquity

 

Glancing down whilst walking the edge of a ploughed field on the ridge of the Kimmeridge Bowl, something caught my eye. A prehistoric flint scraper. Common in the tool kit of the Neolithic farmers who first settled Purbeck. This example appears well worn, with signs of damage, possibly both ancient and plough. As finds go, flint is a particular favourite of mine, it feels such a personal artefact. That feeling of being the first soul to handle a prehistoric flint since the person who probably crafted it never dulls. I'll record it under Portable Antiquity Scheme; an item like this may seem insignificant, though it adds to our broader understanding of our ancestors who walked this land before us.

Kimmeridge

 

I've said it before, the Isle of Purbeck stands outside of time. A landscape appearing to have avoided the worst ravages of modernity; I imagine for the most part unchanged for centuries. Mere minutes from the sprawling urban expanse of BCP, it's an entirely different world, a natural wonder. A landscape rich in monuments, the stories of a millennia of human activity carved into the fabric of the isle, so much so that every walk can be a walk through time.

 

Tyneham valley

Laying out her tapestry of vibrant seasonal hues, Spring has arrived in the Tyneham valley. Stunning.

Coastal path

In part our walk back from White Nothe was along the undulating coastal path, back towards Durdle Door. It's a well worn route as shown by it's multiple narrow deep cut paths. At this point of the walk both the ups and downs were taking a toll on tired legs. But the views. Man, the views. And on such a smashing day too. Have I ever mentioned how blessed we are living in this part of the country. 

White Nothe smugglers path

White Nothe is a 160m high chalk headland overlooking Weymouth and Portland, it marks the western end of the high Cliffs which begin in Swanage, the coast beyond known as the Weymouth lowlands, although lovely, is far less dramatic. The headland is most famous for its zigzag smugglers Path up from the undercliff, which is thought to be the smugglers path featured in the 19th century novel Moonfleet. The path is one of the best on the Purbeck coast. Mind, the smugglers path is not for the weak hearted or those with a fear of heights, it's really steep and at one point buttock clenchingly scary. Even though I've navigated the path countless times over the years it still gives me the willies, the exhilaration and views though on completion are worth it.     

Purbeck

A walk in Purbeck, along the Jurassic Coast, our first World Heritage Site, a landscape of natural wonders, and a memory repository of countless Sundays exploring, of adventures, not always undertaken safely nor in appropriate conditions if truth were known. Since the early 80's Purbeck has been a place that has called to us, so many memories of days roaming its' wild landscape with dear friends. A treasure trove of fond memories. Walking those same coastal paths this morning, scrambling amongst boulders and scaling slides with one of those dear friends was a welcome exercise in timelessness.

Houns Tout

 

I'd seen that the coastal path down from Houns Tout to Chapmans' Pool was closed back at the Summer Solstice, though this is the first time I've seen the landslide that caused it. Hell of a slide. A whole section of the cliff has gone, the coastal path with it, slumped towards the shore. In time the fences will be moved a few meters inland and a new path established, for now though it's a fair detour inland from Houns Tout to Kingston and then seaward again to Chapmans' Pool. Nice though. The Purbeck coast is in flux. It was ever thus.

Encombe

 

The picturesque Encombe valley; for my money one of the loveliest pockets of Purbeck.

Summer Solstice sunrise

We arrived in Purbeck just shy of 04.30, parking at the gate to Encombe we began the short walk up and around the edge of the Encombe bowl to the coastal high point of Swyre Head and its' crowning tumulus. From the summit of the tumulus we surveyed a landscape bathed in pre-dawn stillness and that eerie light, as in the east the warm hues of dawn began slowly flooding the horizon. A growing intensity of colour heralded the solstice sun, shortly a bright orange disc emerged above the horizon and the longest day of the year had begun. Blessings at Solstice time. /|\

Worbarrow Bay and Tout

 

Worbarrow Bay and Tout. But for ephemeral remains glimpsed through undergrowth and thicket you'd never imagine that until the Second World War this was the site of a small fishing village and Coastguard station. Military involvement with this landscape has been a double edged sword, both destructive and protective.

Tyneham Valley

 

This morning was our first foray to the isle of Purbeck this year, and what a morning to choose. It was bloody lovely. Purbeck's a special isle, a magical isle, adjacent to an expansive urban sprawl, yet remaining worlds apart. A seemingly timeless place, and an area that mercifully has thus far through a mixture of factors escaped the ravages of development, in some parts remaining to all appearances unchanged for a hundred years. As you walk all around you the visible remnants of 5000 years of history and human activity are etched on the landscape, with every period well represented from prehistory to present day. The photo is across the Tynehan Valley to Tyneham Cap, with Swyre Head and then St Aldhelms' Head in the distance. Beautiful.

Climb out of Swanage

From Ballard Down we'd approached Swanage via the inland Whitecliff route and climbed out of Swanage up to Ballard Down via the coastal path this morning; a picturesque route with lovely views, and one that appears to have changed little in the decades I've known it. The first time I walked this route was on an ill fated camping mission at 14; a friend and I, enthusiastic though poorly equipped and prepared, had walked from Bournemouth to Swanage, had a disastrous camp amongst the old quarries above the town, and after spending our bus fare home on ciggies and chips, tired and weary, had trudged up this very path towards Ballard Down before descending to spend a cold night in the dunes followed by the first ferry across the harbour mouth. I learnt a lot of what not to do camping on those early camping trips.