Post by Dave on Sept 20, 2011 19:18:44 GMT
Portland 5th September 2011
I took what was my first weeks holiday from work this year starting on the day of the August bank holiday Monday and this meant I did not have to go back to work until the following Tuesday. Most of the week I was doing decorating and catching up with other things that needed doing around the house and I feared I would not have any days out like the ones I always enjoyed on previous holidays.
Thankfully a very close friend agreed to spend two days in Dorset with me and I have to say I loved every single minute of the time we spent together. We spent the Sunday in Weymouth and the first thing to say it all seemed a bit quite and not as busy as I know Torbay was. It was sad to see a number of cafes no longer in existence and it was also sad to see Brewers Quay locked up and fully deserted. I know it’s planned to open it again one day and I can only hope that is what happens.
After eating a full English breakfast Sunday morning (well mine was not by the time I took off the bacon and tomatoes as I don’t like them) it was time to go and spent the day on Portland with my friend Lyn. I did once drive around Portland many years ago and also stopped and parked at the Portland Bill lighthouse, but as it was only a part of a much longer day elsewhere, did not spend any time walking the island.
So this time I parked my car right in the middle of Portland and Lyn and I set off walking towards Portland Bill. On the way we passed a number of now disused stone quarries, it’s the stone from the island that has made Portland famous. We later came across a quarry that is still very much in use and I sneaked in to get a few shots of what is a working Portland stone quarry.
I have talked on here before that the word rabbit should never be mentioned to anyone from Portland and for good reason. The reason simply being that a good number of men lost their lives in those quarries due to rock falls etc and every time rabbits were seem and were blamed for causing the rock falls.
It was just past this working quarry that we discovered what turned out to be magic coast path to walk along that took us in the end all the way to Portland Bill. It has to be said the coastline on this part of the island is stunning due to the cliffs themselves and the evidence of the mining on the island. We both really struggled walking into a very strong wind and the only saving grace was the fact the wind was not a cold one.
There are a few reminders along the coast path of the days when stone would have been loaded onto ships and it must have been very hard work just using the winch and pulleys that were erected as close to the waters edge as possible.
Just before we got to the lighthouse itself at Portland Bill, we walked through rows and rows of what looks no more than garden sheds, granted a few of them were far better than your average garden shed, but it’s the price that these get sold for that is astounding. We only saw one with a for sale notice on it and not only was it smaller than my garden shed, it was almost wrecked and would need not only a new roof, but much money spending on it to make it even structurally sound. The asking price? Well a mere ten thousand pounds and I do know the good ones go for far more than that.
We got to the lighthouse and decided to have a cup of coffee but that proved very difficult as we wanted to sit outside and the wind was so strong even the spoon was blown away never to be seem again.
It was time to walk back and we walked back along the road rather than the coast path and in true Dave fashion, I nearly ended up taking us the wrong way and a way that would have meant we would have spent hours and hours walking around the island just to get back to the car. I said to Lyn we turn left here but she was sure we should go right; it was such a good job I listened to her.
Before we left the island I drove to a spot I know where you can get the very best view of the famous Chesil Beach stretching all the way to where it joins the land at Abbotsbury. Just a short drive from this point is the Verne Prison and it has to be one prison when you look at, will ensure you do all you can never to end up getting put inside of it.
It’s built inside the hill and was once a former military barracks dating from the end of the nineteenth century. I’m sure I read on the sign that about 580 men live inside the prison. The Verne is a Category C prison for adult males. The population consists of life sentence prisoners and determinate sentenced prisoners. About sixty per cent of the prisoners are foreign nationals, with over fifty different nationalities represented.
I really loved getting back to what I always loved doing once before and I can’t think Lyn enough for being as brave and foolish as she was agreeing to do the walk with me. Her legs sure let her know later just how far we had walked together.
