Sunday 28 July 2013

Chesil Beach, Dorset

We are actually driving back to the coast having picked up my camera





As usual in many of our country lanes there are passing places as lanes only wide enough for one vehicle
If you look carefully you can just see Chesil Beach (part of The Jurassic Coast) in centre of picture


Another passing place



Chesil Bank is a strip of beach between inland waters and the English Channel



Here we see the 14th century St. Catherine's Chapel standing solitary upon a hill that dominates the village of Abbotsbury


We access the beach via. a walk board, the only point of access to this part of the coast
(Don't want to confuse you but we did visit the Sub-tropical gardens first (another post)) and it is now early evening 


Chesil Beach is 18 miles long and runs from West Bay to Portland


So different looking into the evening sun


to looking away from it
This strip of beach is far wider than it looks from up on the the hill


A good view of Portland on the horizon




I really like the way the countryside meets the shore line and one can see the sheep grazing so close to the sea





We have walked a couple of miles already
and although we are tired after a morning walking around the Swannery and afternoon around the tropical gardens,  we want to walk as far as we can here even though it is heavy going on large shingle and not flat


The strip of beach continues into Weymouth 8 miles away but during Summer months we are not allowed to walk any further than the red sign ahead so as not to disturb the nesting birds who often lay their eggs on the beach


We are now at the other side of the Swannery and the white patch upper left top are the colony of swans


so we turn around



walking back towards the sun and the exit walk board
this has been a very pleasant walk



17 comments:

nikkipolani said...

Lovely walk on the beach with you. And I didn't even get sand in my shoes! The countryside so nearby is so pretty.

Needled Mom said...

I'm so glad you got the camera. The scenery is so glorious and I am thrilled to have gone along on the journey.

Gracie Saylor said...

While the countryside around you is uniquely beautiful and so many miles from Portland, OR, I feel very much at home as I view your photos, Barbara. It is both interesting and exciting to me to realize how much we have in common :) Thanks for posting!
Gracie xx

Elizabethd said...

What beautiful views. The lanes are so similar to ours here, narrow and difficult to pass...and overgrown too!

Merisi said...

A magical place, along the beach and close by!

Have you read Ian McEwan's novel "On Chesil Beach"? Now I know how the area looks, thank you, Barbara!

Elizabeth said...

What a wonderful walk!
I have heard of Chesil each but never been there.
Happy Birthday, Oliver.

La Petite Gallery said...

I adore Swans, this is such a beautiful beach. Thank you for sharing. There are so many gorgeous area's where you live. Wish I had a beach like this one. We have lots of rocks to climb over to get to a beach, and not sandy like that one.
Loved the post. yvonne

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

What a beautiful place. I do love the beach so enjoyed the pictures very much! It would be a nice place to walk for sure!

Cathy said...

Is that beach normally deserted? Or was it just too cold?

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful area. I like seeing all that open space. Those narrow lanes are always fun. We somehow manage to only meet motorists incapable of reversing, even though the passing place behind them is closer than the one behind us!

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

So interesting to see green rolling hills and grazing sheep so close to a beach. You captured some lovely views. The beach itself looks very pebbly as opposed to sand. I wonder which is more difficult to walk in? Either would be a good work out, that's for sure.

CherryPie said...

It all looks very beautiful :-)

Scriptor Senex said...

There was a "Time Team" programme based on a house which overlooked (from some distance away) Chesil Beach and Portland Bill and it looked an idyllic setting. That's where I'll be living when my Lottery win comes through!

Adrienne said...

It's so beautiful! You know I love the Oregon Coast and the beaches there but I would LOVE to walk the beaches near you. It would be most fun if you could walk there with me!
~Adrienne~

Vee said...

Beautiful countryside! Simply scrumptious photos.

Annie Jeffries said...

Dear Barbara, I love the way you take pictures and tell the story. You make the read feel so THERE.

Annie Jeffries said...

Sheep close to the sea. Every time I think of that I remember the time I went to Mont St. Michel years ago. There were flocks of sheep lining the road as we drove to the Mont. I imagined that the sheep had to have been born knowing when NOT to be there as the tides moved in.