Day 6 - Fortuneswell - Lulworth
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Author: Dave Statistics:
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An old refurbished tall ship next to a modern seacat.
The mist and rain arrive
The day started much as the rest have this week so far; a clear blue sky with a slight chill in the air and with a promise of being hot later on. The first stage of our walk was the slog across the causeway on the footpath next to the main road. It was noisey, not very interesting and a hard start on the feet. Tarmac is never great for walking long distances on. Across the causeway we followed the path along into the harbour area of Weymouth which was surprisingly pleasant. We dropped down onto the beach to make the long drag along the bay a bit more bearable for our feet. The town's conurbation fell behind and as we progressed along the beach it became less sand and more shingle which became hard going and I cut back up to the promenade. I looked behind to find Jason was no where to be seen. I sat on a bench in the sun and waited. When I saw him approaching in the distance he was walking with a gait that resembled a man who had had an accident in his underwear or one with very bad blisters. I was upwind from him at that point so couldn't tell which scenario was correct.
He reached the bench I was sitting on and collapsed in a heap.
"Sorry bloke. Had to stop for a bit and do some maintenance on my feet"
I was thinking to myself that was not so good as it was only mid morning and today was the longest on the hoof with the hardest undulating section to come this afternoon.
"How are your feet ?"
"Not so good" he replied. "I've put some more compede on, but the blister isn't looking too good."
We rested a few minutes and then continued with Jason limping along and looking in a fair bit of discomfort despite the extra compede application. I had a bad feeling about it.
We plodded on leaving Weymouth behind only to pass a caravan site with a fun fair attached. Overlooking the whole proceedings was a very large, very ugly hotel that looked like it was built in the 60's. I can't imagine why someone would want to spend their holiday in such a place, but then, I doubt many would want to walk long distances every day for their holiday either. We passed on by the hotel and crested the hill to be met by a bloke walking his nine extremely well trained collies. They all came to heel and lay down with a single wave of his arm. It was almost telepathic control. The overall remote feel of the path improved now on having left behind the town behind. there were pleasant tracks meandering over low cliffs and through gorse and Hawthorne. At one swing gate we met a German fella by the name of Reiner. He had just retired after having heart trouble and three stents inserted into his coronary artery. He decided he need to go and do something relaxing and settled on walking the 1000Km SWCP long distance footpath. As it turns out, he wasn't a stranger to long distance walking and had completed a few routes in France and Spain. We walked with him until we got to Osmington Mills where Jason and myself decided the Smugglers Inn pub was a good spot to stop for a brew.
I went and ordered an OJ & coke for myself and an OJ & Lemonade for Jason along with a large pot of tea. When I got outside with the drinks Jason had his boot and sock of and was looking at his heel. He glanced up at me with a look of concern on his face "come and have a look at this, bloke"
I went the other side of the table and physically winced when I saw his foot.
I said "Bloody hell, that doesn't look too good"
I privately thought 'Shit, he's gonna need a skin graft on that heel!'
The top two layers of blisters had burst and the skin had come off. A third blister was forming on what was left of the fresh skin underneath. It had been bleeding and looked just like someone had taken a sanding belt to the back of his foot.
I offered to spray it with the special alcohol foot spray we had - which can sting a bit; the worse the blister is, the worse the pain. I won't repeat his answer to my kind offer - but it amounted to no thanks !
On further discussion and taking into account the hard part of the day was yet to come, he decided to bail out and get a bus or taxi to Lulworth and I would continue on the path and catch up with him in Lulworth later on.
The day started much as the rest have this week so far; a clear blue sky with a slight chill in the air and with a promise of being hot later on. The first stage of our walk was the slog across the causeway on the footpath next to the main road. It was noisey, not very interesting and a hard start on the feet. Tarmac is never great for walking long distances on. Across the causeway we followed the path along into the harbour area of Weymouth which was surprisingly pleasant. We dropped down onto the beach to make the long drag along the bay a bit more bearable for our feet. The town's conurbation fell behind and as we progressed along the beach it became less sand and more shingle which became hard going and I cut back up to the promenade. I looked behind to find Jason was no where to be seen. I sat on a bench in the sun and waited. When I saw him approaching in the distance he was walking with a gait that resembled a man who had had an accident in his underwear or one with very bad blisters. I was upwind from him at that point so couldn't tell which scenario was correct.
He reached the bench I was sitting on and collapsed in a heap.
"Sorry bloke. Had to stop for a bit and do some maintenance on my feet"
I was thinking to myself that was not so good as it was only mid morning and today was the longest on the hoof with the hardest undulating section to come this afternoon.
"How are your feet ?"
"Not so good" he replied. "I've put some more compede on, but the blister isn't looking too good."
We rested a few minutes and then continued with Jason limping along and looking in a fair bit of discomfort despite the extra compede application. I had a bad feeling about it.
We plodded on leaving Weymouth behind only to pass a caravan site with a fun fair attached. Overlooking the whole proceedings was a very large, very ugly hotel that looked like it was built in the 60's. I can't imagine why someone would want to spend their holiday in such a place, but then, I doubt many would want to walk long distances every day for their holiday either. We passed on by the hotel and crested the hill to be met by a bloke walking his nine extremely well trained collies. They all came to heel and lay down with a single wave of his arm. It was almost telepathic control. The overall remote feel of the path improved now on having left behind the town behind. there were pleasant tracks meandering over low cliffs and through gorse and Hawthorne. At one swing gate we met a German fella by the name of Reiner. He had just retired after having heart trouble and three stents inserted into his coronary artery. He decided he need to go and do something relaxing and settled on walking the 1000Km SWCP long distance footpath. As it turns out, he wasn't a stranger to long distance walking and had completed a few routes in France and Spain. We walked with him until we got to Osmington Mills where Jason and myself decided the Smugglers Inn pub was a good spot to stop for a brew.
I went and ordered an OJ & coke for myself and an OJ & Lemonade for Jason along with a large pot of tea. When I got outside with the drinks Jason had his boot and sock of and was looking at his heel. He glanced up at me with a look of concern on his face "come and have a look at this, bloke"
I went the other side of the table and physically winced when I saw his foot.
I said "Bloody hell, that doesn't look too good"
I privately thought 'Shit, he's gonna need a skin graft on that heel!'
The top two layers of blisters had burst and the skin had come off. A third blister was forming on what was left of the fresh skin underneath. It had been bleeding and looked just like someone had taken a sanding belt to the back of his foot.
I offered to spray it with the special alcohol foot spray we had - which can sting a bit; the worse the blister is, the worse the pain. I won't repeat his answer to my kind offer - but it amounted to no thanks !
On further discussion and taking into account the hard part of the day was yet to come, he decided to bail out and get a bus or taxi to Lulworth and I would continue on the path and catch up with him in Lulworth later on.
Durdle door viewed from the west as the mist began to roll in.
Durdle Door from the west.
I left Osmington Mills and Jason behind. The weather had started to close in and with rain forceast for later in the afternoon I wanted to get a move on to beat the weather to Lulworth. We had stopped at the smugglers longer than intended so I broke into a trot to try and make up some time. To call it a run or or even a jog would have been pushing it, but it was a decent pace. The going was easy under foot for the first couple of miles until I got just past Ringstead - where there was what appeared to be a nice little cafe. A short while after Ringstead the bigger climbs started. the first was White Nothe. Just at the beginning of the climb I caught up with Reiner who was still plodding on at a reasonable pace. My pace over the last couple of miles had made up some good time so I slowed down to a more sustainable rate, especially as the big ascents and descents coming up.
Reiner was a wealth of knowledge. His personal interest was in biology and ecology. He knew about most of the plants and animals we encountered and I learnt a few things about the flora we could see on the downland we were walking over. In return I regaled him with my geological knowledge of the area - most of it from what I remembered on a geography school trip from 30 years ago ! By this point the mist had started to descend and many of the summits we were passing over had little or no visibility. As we descended and approached the cliff top overlooking Durdle Door the mist closed right in and we could barley see the edge of the cliff let alone the rock arch itself. We paused and were about to move on when the cloud thinned a little and the brooding outline of the rock arch loomed out through the fog. I've seen this geological tourist attraction many times, but this was probably one of the most impressive. You could more sense the presence rather than actually see it.
We carried on towards Lulworth on what were now busy paths. There were day trippers wandering about on the paths in flip flops, high heels and 'nice' shoes. Some even thought it was a good place to bring push chairs. We weaved our way through the inappropriately dressed crowds down towards our destination for the day.
We reached Lulworth and I bid Reiner farewell and wished him luck for the rest of his journey - he was staying in the youth hostel. I set off for the walk up to West Lulworth to find Tewksbury cottage, my B&B for the evening. The rain started to come down a little more steady now but still quite light. I hadn't put a jacket on as yet this week but was getting close to it and would definitely be digging it out of my pack if the B&B took too long to find. Luckily, 5 minutes up the hill and there it was ! Bearing in mind this was the only place in the Lulworth area that was in our price range I was not expecting too much. What greeted me was an old thatched cottage. After the lady answered the door and let me in, I heard the rain starting to come down heavier - looks like I got here just in time ! Another day and I've still not needed the waterproof yet this week ! Today was close though to be fair.
Jason had already arrived courtesy of a taxi for the princely sum of £30. Despite this inconvenience he had selflessly taken it upon himself to do a reconnaissance of the local pub; The Castle. One of the first things he told me on my arrival (after telling me to give the bog ten minutes or so before I went in) was that the pub had a cider festival on. Oh dear....what could possibly go wrong ?
Reiner was a wealth of knowledge. His personal interest was in biology and ecology. He knew about most of the plants and animals we encountered and I learnt a few things about the flora we could see on the downland we were walking over. In return I regaled him with my geological knowledge of the area - most of it from what I remembered on a geography school trip from 30 years ago ! By this point the mist had started to descend and many of the summits we were passing over had little or no visibility. As we descended and approached the cliff top overlooking Durdle Door the mist closed right in and we could barley see the edge of the cliff let alone the rock arch itself. We paused and were about to move on when the cloud thinned a little and the brooding outline of the rock arch loomed out through the fog. I've seen this geological tourist attraction many times, but this was probably one of the most impressive. You could more sense the presence rather than actually see it.
We carried on towards Lulworth on what were now busy paths. There were day trippers wandering about on the paths in flip flops, high heels and 'nice' shoes. Some even thought it was a good place to bring push chairs. We weaved our way through the inappropriately dressed crowds down towards our destination for the day.
We reached Lulworth and I bid Reiner farewell and wished him luck for the rest of his journey - he was staying in the youth hostel. I set off for the walk up to West Lulworth to find Tewksbury cottage, my B&B for the evening. The rain started to come down a little more steady now but still quite light. I hadn't put a jacket on as yet this week but was getting close to it and would definitely be digging it out of my pack if the B&B took too long to find. Luckily, 5 minutes up the hill and there it was ! Bearing in mind this was the only place in the Lulworth area that was in our price range I was not expecting too much. What greeted me was an old thatched cottage. After the lady answered the door and let me in, I heard the rain starting to come down heavier - looks like I got here just in time ! Another day and I've still not needed the waterproof yet this week ! Today was close though to be fair.
Jason had already arrived courtesy of a taxi for the princely sum of £30. Despite this inconvenience he had selflessly taken it upon himself to do a reconnaissance of the local pub; The Castle. One of the first things he told me on my arrival (after telling me to give the bog ten minutes or so before I went in) was that the pub had a cider festival on. Oh dear....what could possibly go wrong ?
Tewksbury cottage - A proper character B&B with a monster breakfast. Recommended !
