Route: Lulworth and Durdle Door
Area: Dorset
Date of walk: 6th August 2015
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 8.0 miles
Weather: Overcast at start but soon cleared, then sunny and warm
We parked in the main car park in the attractive village of West Lulworth and followed the wide track up the cliff, clearly visible from the car park. There were too many folk around for our liking but we guessed rightly that most of them would visit nearby Durdle Door and go no further. This proved to be the case
Durdle Door is a spectacular rock archway and a wonderful sight as we walked past it and continued along the cliff tops
It was a rollercoaster of a walk, with several big ups and downs and we climbed 1,700 feet in all – enough to get us up an average sized lakeland fell. The views were spectacular, especially so once the initial grey sky was replaced by sun and blue skies thanks to a strong breeze from the west
After passing by a navigation obelisk at West Bottom we turned inland and walked back to the start along the tops of the fields – the views from here were almost as good as those from the cliff tops, and it was a fabulous walk thanks to a combination of spectacular scenery and favourable weather
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
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The climbing starts as soon as we leave the car park in West Lulworth to join the procession heading for Durdle Door
Looking back down to the start
We follow the coastal path for the next 4 miles or so
St Oswald’s Bay
Durdle Door Arch, and Portland Bill in the distance
Looking back to St Oswald’s Bay
Bat’s Head protruding into the sea
Durdle Door again
Marbled White butterfly, one of many we saw along the way
Looking back to Durdle Door as blue sky starts to replace grey
The steep climb up Swyre Head
Looking back
Bat’s Head
Middle Bottom
Looking back up to Swyre Head
Portland in the distance
Gazing out to sea - or having a breather
Another view back towards Swyre Head
Having passed by the lower of two navigation obelisks, we head inland to start the return leg
Heading back to West Lulworth
Looking back
A caravan park in the distance increasingly detracted from the views looking forward
I’d guess this signpost has been photographed many times
Scratchy Bottom, which came 2nd in a poll for Britain’s worst place name (Shitterton won - or lost)
Approaching Newlands Farm, where we descend and have to walk through the caravan park mentioned earlier
An unexpected bonus as we passed through the park - baby swallows perched under the eaves of an outbuilding, waiting to be fed
West Lulworth ahead
Spectacular skies on this section of the walk…
Almost back to the start
We walked past the car park to visit the twisted rock formations of Stair Hole…
…and the remarkable circular Lulworth Cove
The mouth of the cove
When in Rome…
