The South Downs Way. A personal journey.Future - The South West Coast path.Our aim, and my initial idea for the whole thing, is to take on the South West Coast path. For two reasons; it's beautiful part of the world, and it is something that will allow us to look properly and closely at some parts of the South West that we have previously viewed at speed whilst driving past. Of course, just walking it for the sake of doing so is a major reason, as in the South Downs Way, but now more so, in that walking in itself has proved to be an unexpected pleasure. The thought of doing so round what I consider to be one of the most scenic parts of the world (not that I've viewed much of the world personally) is pretty much manna. In the middle of the SDW walk, Christmas got in the way. We were staying in a cottage about 1/2 mile off the South West Coast path in Dorset, so we did a quick recce. We walked from Seatown, near Chideock, to West Bay. The walk was not dissimilar from the beginning of the South Downs Way, and had many attractions. It was blowing hard from the South West, so that helped us up the hills, and resulted in respite going down the other side. But it has to be said that although the coast itself and the views were spectacular, certain parts are not a joy to behold. The numerous Caravan Parks are a blot - Eype is a charming village and the walk is lovely - but the seemingly obligatory mass of oblong white boxes does nothing for the place. When I was young, we stopped in West Bay once, and stayed in the pub on the beach. Consequently, I've always looked back at the place with some nostalgia. Subsequent visits have proved me wrong; the pub isn't nice any more, and the Harbour seems to be smelly and unkempt. And now, walking down into West Bay was somewhat depressing; the architecture is reminiscent of Second World War fortfications. This is not a problem in itself as Alderney in the Channel Islands proves, but this is more modern, domestic living. A huge part of West Bay seems to be (another) Caravan Park, in full view of the walker, almost saying "here I am warts and all, fancy a burger?" No thanks. The final nail in the coffin of what I'm sure might be a nice place in summer was the Greater Black Backed Gull pulling a fish (a big long one - maybe a small Conger) out of the mud and trying to scoff it. There was a burger van just the other side of the harbour. Clearly muddy fish is a better bet than wet burgers and chips fried in oil. But, just when it all looked bleak, a lovely little Border Terrier pup came round the corner straining on his lead. Enough to make anyone smile. The Jurrasic Coast is wonderful. Just try to keep your eyes on the natural cliffs and Chesil Beach stretching away in all it's majesty, and you will appreciate Dorset, as we did, for what it should be.
|