We’ve spent the past couple of days visiting Charmouth and Lyme Regis. On Friday evening we took a stroll into Charmouth to take a look at the beach. It is a steep walk down and back up again and once we got back to the campsite, I felt as if we had walked two Golden Caps!
The beach is divided into two by the mouth of the River Char and is a mix of sand and pebbles. There is plenty of parking and the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre has lots of displays that can help you discover how to find your very own fossils to take home. They also run guided fossil walks throughout the year.
Yesterday we walked into Lyme Regis another very steep uphill and downhill climb from the campsite. We walked through Charmouth Road car park where there are steps that lead down to East Beach, the tide was out and there was plenty of opportunity for a spot of rock pooling and you can see across the bay to Charmouth and the Golden Cap. There is a concrete sea defence wall that you follow and this takes you into the seafront at Lyme Regis passing the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis Museum where there just so happened to be a small classic Riley car display (much to Tony’s excitement!) and arriving at the Clock Tower.
There were plenty of holidaymakers taking advantage of the very sultry weather, enjoying coffees and ice creams along Marine Parade and setting up for the day on the beach, pebbles one end and sand nearest to the harbour. We walked to Cobb Harbour and along the harbour wall to see where Meryl Streep stood looking forlornly out to sea in the film, The French Lieutenant’s Woman. To the west of the harbour is Monmouth Beach a pebbled beach with plenty of parking at the back.
We double backed and walked up Broad Street, the main shopping street, spotting lots of shops selling pasties, even a mackerel and beetroot one! At the top we took a right into Sherborne Lane which dates back to Saxon times and lined with old and quaint cottages. This brought us down to the small narrow river that runs through Lyme Regis passing the Town Mill, a working water mill that now houses artisan galleries, a delicatessen, cafes and a micro-brewery.
We continued through the back streets of Lyme Regis, passing The Guildhall before making our way back along East Beach where we rested for a while before we made the uphill climb back to the campsite, which we didn’t do, we cheated and caught the bus back! I nearly had to walk as Tony almost choked at the cost of £3 for me for a single 10 minute bus ride up the hill. Good job he had his bus pass with him!
We had planned to stay another night, head back into Lyme Regis to watch Candles on the Cobb http://candlesonthecobb.org/ followed by a firework display, however the weather forecast has put us off and we have headed home a day earlier than planned. Need to get the campervan turned around for our next campervan travels to the South of France in two weeks time!
We have really enjoyed exploring this coastline of Dorset and have fallen in love with it so we will certainly be returning to it again and again if only for the fabulous walking, stunning scenery and excellent selection of food available, (might leave the bikes behind!).
Campervan Travels 