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Monday 28 May 2012

My kind of seaside

Hasn't the weather here in the UK been fabulous recently?  On Friday we decided to go to Portland  - we went by car to Dorchester where we parked and got the bus to Weymouth where the beach was busy with people enjoying the sunshine.  We got the bus to Portland Bill from here.  Free bus travel is one of the benefits of getting older!

Last time I went to Portland was for a school visit when I was at college back in the 60s - it was wintertime and my abiding memory of it was of somewhere grey, dismal, bleak and cold.  Today was very different!  This is one of the 3 lighthouses on the southernmost tip of Portland and was unmanned back in the 1990s prior to that it must have been a bleak place to live during the winter months but lovely on days like this. This lighthouse is still functional although the other two are not now used for their original purpose apparently. Portland is famous for its stone  which has been used in building many famous buildings including St Paul's cathedral and Buckingham Palace in London and the United Nations Building in New York.

 The close cropped grass was covered with lovely pink sea thrift and above was the sound of skylarks in the clear blue skies - bliss.

Not the sort of seaside for youngsters who like bucket and spade beaches with ice creams and donkey rides (though that is just what is available at Weymouth) or for parents who don't want to be on the alert all the time in case their little dears take a tumble but I thought it all very beautiful and just look at the colour of the sea!

Here are the other 2 lighthouses.

No words needed here!

We had planned to get the bus back to Ferrybridge and walk along the disused railway track to Weymouth but having waited for 45 minutes for a bus which didn't arrive (good job it wasn't raining as there was no bus shelter!) when the bus did come it was an open top one, not a normal service one, which didn't accept our bus passes!  However the driver told us that if we walked along the coast path for a mile or so we would reach Southwell where buses ran every 10 minutes to Weymouth - what a shame we hadn't known this in the first place!

The coast path was lovely and we had sea views on both sides and across the water to Weymouth which you can see in the distance in this photo.When we reached Weymouth we just had time for a quick cuppa in M & S before they closed the cafe and then it was time to make the return trip to Dorchester.   We will have to go back another day to do the railway walk.

The wanderer leaves for pastures new at the weekend so I hope normal service will be resumed soon afterwards. It has been lovely having her and now that we all have an end date we seem to be getting on so much better together.  I will miss the stimulating conversations and having my way of life and my opinions challenged.



27 comments:

  1. Thanks for the trip to the seaside, Jane. We're landlocked here so I need some sea air!

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  2. Good to hear from you Jane! I've been to Portland once, May 2009. We went to Beer on Sunday,, another quietish place,, plenty of pebbles, a lot of sea and no amusements!

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  3. Thank you for a lovely day out, and it's good to see you back in action.
    It's many years since I visited Portland, but I want to come again just to see that little rock garden.
    I hope you had some sun block with you?

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  4. Lovely post Jane. Looking at these pics I really feel like I'm there with you on a sunny summer's day.

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  5. What a lovely place. And hasnt the weather has been glorious. I crave for the seaside, but although Suffolk has a coast, it's a good 1 and 1/2 hours away so has to be carefully planned. Glad you've had a lovely time with your daughter

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  6. I love that part of the world - we shall be back there again Summer 2013 no doubt.

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  7. LOVE that last sentence ;D

    Great photos of a great day out, that's my kinda coastal destination. No buckets, no spades, no ice creams, and no donkey rides = less people, BLISS!

    x

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  8. I think it was rather grey and dismal when I went to Portland - how lovely to share one of your trips again Jane, and in beautiful sunshine too, what a difference it makes.

    I'm sure you'll miss the wanderer when she's gone, but although it is lovely when we have good company, having room to be ourselves is great too!!

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  9. My kind of 'seaside' too. We have lots of them here in North Norfolk, favourite being Holkham Beach just a short drive away.
    Thanks for sharing, enjoyed the walk!

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  10. I can remember going up inside that first light house, some 15 years ago (where did that go?).
    Lovely blue skies we're having.

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  11. Fabulous pictures - the last time we went to Portland was at least six years ago and I remember it was blowing a gale.

    It looks so different in the sunshine.

    Nina xxx

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  12. Hi Jane great post! We have been following the weather as we count down the days to our arrival, its great now! Lovely photos of this area, dont know if we will get a chance to visit there, prob be north, doing bath,middle england, then heading up to scotland. Pray for nice weather!

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  13. Ahhhh lovely weather you are having ... finally Summer seems to be upon you.
    What a nice day out and Weymouth looked great. So different to Aussie beaches though when I was a child we has shetland pony rides on the beach. Not any more though - probably something to do with Health and Safety. That coastal walk looked lovely and I hope the temperature had dropped a bit by then.
    Lovely to have you back.
    Cheers

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  14. So glad you are enjoying time with your wanderer. Mine comes home June 5 and I can hardly wait to hug her. She's at Southend-on-Sea just now until the weekend when they go to London for a few days, then home. Hooray!

    Your photos are glorious. Such a beautiful sky and sea.

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  15. Gorgeous photos Jane, I can almost taste the salt on my lips!
    Vivienne x

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  16. What gorgeous views, Jane. I am enthralled with all the summery blue and white and that last photo really draws me in. It is so good to see you back on the blog again. Welcome back!

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  17. Love those colours of sky and sea, great to have some good weather isn't it - the Dales have positively bloomed in the sunshine!
    Glad you have had a good time with your wanderer!

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  18. A lovely feeling of space and FRESH AIR in your photos Jane. Good to see you back ......

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  19. That is the kind of seaside that I like best, far better than all those heaving half-naked bodies on beaches. And light-houses too!

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  20. Lovely to see you blogging again! Thank you for the trip to the seaside. I haven't been for years and must really get a visit in this year. x

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  21. Ooh, and that's what I miss! No seaside here at all... My sister was born in Weymouth (not surprising, of course, that we were all born by the sea in our naval family). Lovely to hear from you and to see your beautiful walk.

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  22. Beautiful photographs. I'd love to visit a beach like that, it seems like a postcard.

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  23. Jane, there's a great bird observatory at Portland I think and one of your photos looks familiar so I think I'm right. It is such an island of contrasts isn't it? You revived memories again of childhood holidays climbing Portland Bill.... in the mist. Makes me hanker after the south coast again!

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  24. Nice to see your lovely photos and read your blog - welcome back!

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  25. Thanks for popping by my blog! I love your lighthouse photo!!

    It's the middle of winter and freezing here!

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  26. What a delightful day and lovely photographs.

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  27. You picked a lovely day for your trip Jane. Such a wonderful blue sky.

    It's nice to know you can still get around on buses - reminds me of childhood seaside holidays!

    Good to see you back.

    Jeanne
    x

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