West Bay harbour in Dorset was the place where nauseating Nick Berry TV drama ‘Harbour Lights’ was filmed. However it has put this atrocity behind it and has seen huge redevelopment in recent years, including a new harbour entrance and breakwater. We paddled in a (very) leisurely style from West Bay to Lyme Regis, with long stops [...]
Archive for April 2007
Harbour Lights 1 comment
The Blue Lias Leave a comment
Mary Anning (1799-1847) of Lyme Regis worked as a fossil finder, selling her discoveries to curious tourists. Her life and career saw fossil collecting develop from quirky pastime to scientific investigation. Anning earned an international reputation among the scientific community for the quality of her finds, which included the first plesiosaur. Anning’s finds played a role [...]
The White Arch Leave a comment
Pulpit Rock is found at the southern tip of the Isle of Portland, a stone’s throw from the lighthouse. East of Pulpit Rock, there is no more southerly spot in England. The rock used to be known as, the ‘White Arch’ before quarrying changed its form. I fell over and got bloody soaked taking the [...]
Tail End Charlie 5 comments
“That was the easiest paddling trip that I’ve ever done”. Heather has just acquired a composite sea kayak, after years of paddling a plastic Capella. For the first time in memory, she was out front, rather than out back.
Fl(4)20s43m25M & F.R.19M13m Dia(1)30s 1 comment
Today I finally completed the chapter on the Isle of Portland, that I seem to have been working on forever. Yesterday we paddled around the Isle of Portland. As always, the highlight was rounding Dorset’s most southerly point, Portland Bill. The Portland Bill lighthouse is just a few metres above the water, tapers attractively and is brightly [...]
Pebbles 6 comments
‘Chesil Beach (sometimes called Chesil Bank) is an 18 mile (29km) long, 200 metre wide and 18 metre high shingle tombolo in Dorset, southern England. The beach is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. This tombolo connects the Isle of Portland, a limestone island in the English channel to Abbotsbury, though it continues [...]
Sunshine 2 comments
Amazing weather lately, winter seems a distant memory. Unfortunately, by heading off on holiday over Easter, I’ve managed to miss much of this precious settled period. Plus (and this really grates) I have to go to work Monday to Friday, when I’d much rather be paddling. I do hope that the sunshine lasts to the [...]
Home and Away Leave a comment
This is the first photograph ever taken by a teenage Berber cowherd girl who lives along the banks of the Oum Rbia River in Morocco’s Middle Atlas Mountains. I don’t think she did too badly for a beginner. She’s the tallest girl in the photo below. With my teaching job’s generous salary and holiday, I [...]
Taking a Liberty 7 comments
Earlier this week we passed Cowes on the Isle of Wight after sunset, and needed to find a camping spot pretty quickly. Luckily, we came across a long crumbling old sea wall, the top of which proved ideal for pitching the tents. This was a great location, enabling us to watch some truly massive container [...]
The Trap 3 comments
In the Hurst Narrows, the kilometre-wide gap between Hurst Spit and the Isle of Wight, the tide squeezes through at speeds of 5 knots and beyond. A number of tide races form, the race nearest to Hurst Spit being known as ‘The Trap’. On the ebb flow, ‘The Trap’ can be an entertaining roller coaster propelling paddlers out towards the [...]
Night Watch Leave a comment
On a warm summer night last year, John Gilmour and I made the crossing of Bournemouth Bay from Swanage to the Needles Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight, about 18 miles. It was too dark to read our compasses (we only found this out after setting off, oops) but some guesstimated navigation saw us through [...]
Wireless Leave a comment
Through the wonder of modern technology (and the carelessness of whichever yachtie this unsecured wireless network belongs to) this blog post is brought to you live from Yarmouth Harbour on the Isle of Wight. Andy Levick and I crossed to The Island from Keyhaven last night, which wasn’t very pleasant. Stiff winds pushed against the [...]
