Leaving Poole in Dorset, as part of
our 3-month motorhome trip around the UK, we drove west along what is known as the Jurassic Coast. It is an ancient rock formation that begins near Poole in a place called Swanage in Dorset, and runs along England's southern coastline to Exmouth in Devon.
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| Amazing cliffs on the Jurassic Coast, Dorset to Devon |
Spanning 185 million years, this stunning coastline is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is famous for its
beauty, its fossils, and the small villages perched on the top of the ancient
cliffs.
On
the way, we stopped at Lulworth Cove to see the Durdle Door which entailed a steep walk
down to a cliff edge. Once there, we were rewarded with views of a giant natural limestone arch on the coast, overlooking the English Channel.
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| Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove on the Jurassic Coast, Dorset |
This huge rock formation, an integral part of the Jurassic Coast, spans millions of years of geological history.
Further on we stopped to see the giant carving of Osmington White Horse, near Weymouth. This is a 323-foot-high depiction of King George III riding his horse, that was carved into the hillside in 1808.
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| The Osmington White Horse, Weymouth, Dorset |
We found the Osmington Viewpoint along the A353 heading west from Osmington, and stopped for the long-distance view. Although it has been refurbished several times over the years, it was still impressive.
This
whole area is very pretty with small and attractive villages along the route.
After
passing through a number of these, we drove back down toward the coast to Lyme Regis, an ancient town
that featured in the Doomsday Book.
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| Heading down to the seashore in Lyme Regis, Devon |
We parked above the town, as the
streets are not suitable for large vehicles. Our large motorhome Vtee, would not have liked the narrow, winding, streets leading down to the sea, but
we loved walking them.
After
a while, it began to rain and we had a rushed, uphill climb to get back to Vtee to dry off.
The
next leg of our drive, took us through more very quaint and small villages such
as Seaton and Beer, both on the coast and with very shingled beaches.
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| Colourful fishing boats at the end of Beer's main street |
Beer (strange name!) is very quaint. Its main street leads directly onto the beach which
was full of colourful fishing boats when we were there.
Once a smugglers village, Beer (Pop 1,700) is now known for its malleable stone which it’s said, has been used for carving
since Roman times. Many of Beer's buildings are old and built of this stone. They are very attractive and beautifully maintained.
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| Vtee in the main street of Beer, Devon |
We managed to find a short-term parking spot in our big motorhome Vtee, then had a quick look around this quaint little town, before moving on again.
After
a few GPS hiccups, and very narrow roads, we arrived at Kingsbridge, a pretty
town at the head of the Salcombe Estuary, with lots of boats on its waterway.
Driving on, we drove through Branscombe, a quaint village with colourful cottages and thatched buildings, Teignmouth with its Georgian buildings, and Paignton with its long pier, to Stokenham village for our
camp site.
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| Typical Devon road - pretty but very narrow, especially for big motorhomes |
Even
on a 2-way road, there is barely enough room for say…..a horse and cart, or two
Morris Minors to pass.
The speed limit on most of these roads is 60 miles per hour - that's about 96 km per hour - we felt that you could not do that speed safely. Consequently, no one drives at the speed limit - they do under it.
To date, we have found British drivers to be very considerate. Everyone seems to give way to let other vehicles through, especially ones as big as us!
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| The small and beautiful hamlet of Stokenham, Devon |
We
spent the whole time on the road to Stokenham with fingers crossed, hoping that we wouldn’t
meet a vehicle coming the other way. We
did of course, and each time, had to find a place to pull over or reverse, so
that cars could slowly get past us.
After
a nerve-racking drive at the end of a long day we made it to our camp – the
Start Bay Caravan and Motorhome site.
It
proved to be a peaceful and useful location.
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| Leigh after a delicious meal at the Tradesman's Arms in Stokenham, Devon |
A
slightly longer walk to the south gave us a farm shop. There
are very few shops in these little villages as there isn’t the population to
support them, so the farm shop is the main shop. It's full of local produce and is a very busy
place.
Just
past the farm shop was Torcross, a small holiday village right on the
sea. We walked along the seafront there, eating ice-cream made of
delicious and rich Devon cream.
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| Views over Beesand's seen from our overland walk |
Then
we walked over the hill track to Beesands. This
is a tiny hamlet boasting a few fishing boats, a lighthouse and a pub where we
had a delicious lunch.
On
our return journey, the tide was out so we walked along the seashore,
clambering over some amazing rocks.
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| Marg and the beautiful rocks on the shore of Beesands beach, Devon |
After
a few days, we drove out of the area, re-tracing our route back through the
same wee villages on the same narrow roads.
On
one stretch, we met a large bus – horrors! With
a lot of reversing and moving right into the bank, we made enough room for it
to slowly squeeze past us without mishap.
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| Driving through Chillington on a chilly wet day on a narrow road |
The next village where we had a heart stopping moment was Chillington, a small village of less than 1,0000 people. The houses there are very close together and it was pretty, but a struggle to get past in Vtee.
After driving through several other small quaint villages, our next stop was Plymouth - technically not on the Jurassic Coast, but our last stop in Devon. Plymouth is a large port city with its roots in the Bronze Age. It was another wet day when we were there so we drove around this big city to get an overview first.
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| Top (L-R) The Barbican, Mayflower Steps. Below: Smeaton's Tower, waterfront, Plymouth, Devon |
Then we visited the lovely Plymouth waterfront seeing its historic Barbican, the Hoe, the candy-stripe lighthouse called Smeaton's Tower, and the famous Mayflower Steps. These
steps are where the Pilgrim Fathers departed for America in 1620. We liked Plymouth's oldest areas and waterfront and feel that it warrants further exploration. But after a walk around, we were wet and tired and decided to move on.
We've had a great trip along the Jurassic Coast area, seeing many small quaint towns and beautiful seascapes. But now it's time to drive to our next destination which is in Cornwall.
This is part of a bigger blog on our travels around England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium and Luxembourg. The first blog is called "Off to do the UK in a motorhome".