Visiting Portland Bill and Chesil Beach – school geography remembered

Who says holidays can’t be educational?  Certainly not me, and I think I’m turning into my mum with the geography class as we’re on the move!

When she took us on holidays in the UK, she would point out all the geographical features – rivers, meanders and oxbow lakes, dry stone walls, glacial features and more.  We would moan and mostly ignore what she was saying, but the subliminal advertising obviously worked as I ended up with a geography degree, and my brother also enjoyed the subject.

But now I hear myself saying the same as she did, trying to open N’s eyes to what’s around him.  So our second day on holiday in Swanage was on my checklist for visiting various geographical features I’d read about in my geography classes.  Typical it was quite a windswept day, looking like it might rain.

Portland Bill

We headed first of all to Portland Bill.  It really felt like going to the end of the world, so that feeling must be even greater at John O’Groats or the like.  If it had been warmer weather and less windy we might have done the 3 lighthouse walk, although neither the OH or N sounded thrilled at the idea of this.  I always think lighthouses look spectacular, and N knew just what a lighthouse did thanks to Peppa Pig!

With the dark sky, it looked so striking.  We also walked a bit along the coast to look at the cliffs and the storm battered rocks and stacks.

I love being there having the cobwebs blown away.

N seemed to just enjoy watching the sea, although he didn’t want to get too close to the edge (or for either of us to do so).

Chesil Beach

After a short blowy time, we headed back to the car and down to Chesil Beach.  After studying coasts in my geography lessons, I always wanted to see Chesil Beach, so there was no way I was missing seeing it.  It was amusing because we seemed to be following a coachload of school children around as they’d been at Portland Bill, and were then just leaving Chesil Beach as we arrived.

All of these places had parking nearby.  It annoys me having to pay every time you go somewhere different, but luckily most weren’t too expensive.  It does seem a bit ridiculous when it’s off peak and there’s about 3 cars in the car park.

Chesil is pretty amazing.  It’s entirely pebbles, and stretches for 18 miles alongside the main coastline.  Behind it is a lagoon and nature reserve, although it was so windy, we didn’t actually see any wildlife.  The opposite side of the road had people windsurfing which was amazing to watch.  One person on his board was travelling the same speed as us in the car – N was really interested in watching them as we drove past.

It was a hard slog walking up the pebble ‘hill’, and at the top it was definitely what could be termed blowy.  N wasn’t too keen and wanted to head straight back down again.

It really is a spectacular beach, but I couldn’t get a decent photo of the length as the weather just wasn’t playing ball.  So it was time to head back to Weymouth and grab some lunch.  It was a good job I didn’t want to actually walk along it as if you want to do so, there’s lots of advice to read on where is safe to walk for personal safety against the waves and wind, as well as where you can walk for environmental reasons.

Weymouth

Like most children, N loves sand whether it’s on a beach or in a sandpit.  Weymouth was again a bit blustery, but even without his bucket and spade (the OH refused to let him pack it in the car – sad face!), he made the most of making shapes and getting sandy.

We wandered along the promenade to find somewhere to eat lunch, but decided we’d grab a sandwich and sit on a bench on the beach front.  It’s lovely just watching the world go by, and even in October there were plenty of people out and about.

The only thing we missed out on was ice creams, as it really wasn’t the weather,  Plus I always think it’s a shame going to buy from a local ice cream maker, only to then find they don’t have dairy free options.  I think N would be gutted to not have one after being promised.

It was a busy day, with lots of in and out of the car, but worth it so I can say I’ve been to the places I used to study in geography class.  It’s a shame we didn’t make it further along to Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove, but the weather was so up and down and always threatening rain so we tended to head back to the cottage in the afternoons for a breather before dinner.

The verdict on the day was definitely ‘blustery’.

Do you have places that you want to visit after studying them at school?

Try these alternative days out in Dorset ideas.