Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The week has been hot – even if the sun isn’t shining the humidity is still difficult to walk through. I walked from Swanage to Kimmeridge Bay the 2nd day, passing Durlston Caslte, Tilly Whim Caves and Dancing Ledge. Shakespeare’s quote ‘one touch of nature makes the whole world kin’ that was carved in the rock beneath the castle seemed appropriate for the 3rd day as I walked from dawn through the Lulworth ranges without meeting another person. It was the most breathtaking day yet with many steep ascents and rewarding views. It was quite spooky being so alone – a heavy fog suddenly engulfed the ranges and reading the information boards of the deserted village of Tyneham made me pick up the pace a little! You walk so close to the cliff edges that drop down to rolling seas and I was scared that the sheep that were running out of my way were going to go over! After a stop in Lulworth cove I carried on to Osmington Mills, passing Durdle Door and enjoying the height of the path looking inland across the country side and down the steady slopes of the cliff.

I didn’t enjoy walking through Wembury at all, lots of wrong turns. Urban navigation was a bit of a failure and my legs managed to seize up with all the walking on pavement. Eventually by the 5th day I was setting off from Burton Bradstock to arrive in Lyme Regis that afternoon, climbing 191 metres high at Golden Cap, the highest point on the south coast.

My Dad was able to walk from Lyme to Sidmouth with me the next day. I was grateful he could walk with me that day because the undercliff between Lyme and Seaton felt very claustrophobic – as the book says ‘you are unlikely to get lost, but most unlikely to know where you are’. The cliffs above us were impressive and I can’t imagine being one of the two Victorian geologists who witnessed the 1kmx100mx50m chunk of cliff that fell on Christmas Eve all those years ago. We walked the route from Beer to Sidmouth with ease – although it was a long day and difficult path we had done it before and were happy to be dropping back down into our hometown of Sidmouth for a day of rest!