Beside the seaside: Dorset circuit, Hardy Monument, Abbotsbury, West Bexington, Weymouth.....

In this ride, I set out to explore the coast of Dorset between Weymouth and West Bay, map below.

I intended to start by parking at the Hardy Monument on the hills behind the coast. However, the NT webpage for the monument informed me that the car park was closed for repairs, so I chose instead to park in a layby to the East on the B3159 where it crosses the same range of hills at Gould's Hill. So far so good. However, my intention to follow the South Dorset Ridgeway to the aforesaid monument was thwarted by a notice informing me that that path was closed because it had been undermined by a badger set (!). Not heard that one before. A diversion was defined, but it all sounded too complicated. So instead I reached the monument on roads via the village of Martinstown.

Having arrived at the monument, I discovered that whilst the main car park was indeed closed, there was after all a smaller car park open lower down. Anyway, any frustration was compensated by the views, along the coast eastwards to Portland Bill, westwards beyond Lyme Regis, and inland over the Dorset countryside. The monument is to the memory of Vice-Admiral Thomas Hardy (of 'kiss me Hardy' fame), rather than the great novelist and poet. I then descended rapidly on lanes to Abbotsbury. This was a steep descent, with more great views over the sea: I wouldn't like to have to ascend this way. I stopped for a snack in the yard of the Winchester Arms in Abbotsbury, before pressing on to the coast. Here I set off along the lane which runs just behind the beach: this is a rare opportunity to cycle close to the sea. The surface was tarmac for the first mile or so, but the next mile to West Bexington was a track, rough but cyclable at first, but soon becoming deep shingle, impossible to ride over or through. So I got off and pushed, and had a welcome cuppa when I arrived at the cafe at West Bexington beach car park. Sadly the coastal path westwards looked uncyclable, and is footpath anyway, so I retraced my tracks to Abbotsbury, taking the bridleway back into the village.

Now I made my way to Weymouth, taking backroads where possible, passing the Abbotsbury Swannery, through the villages of Rodden and Langton Herring. Then, after a brief spell on the busy B3157, I branched off on a good bridleway past Bagwell Farm, and the road past the East Fleet Caravan Park (there were good views over the East Fleet lagoon and Chesil Beach). The final miles into Weymouth were along the busy B3156 (which had a particularly horrible up hill stretch), finally descending on the A354 to the Portland Bill Causeway at Small Mouth.

From here, the traffic-free Rodwell Trail follows the disused railway into central Weymouth: there are some good viewpoints over Portland Harbour, and I was also tempted to stop for an ice-cream in the little park overlooking the sea at the ruins of Sandsfoot castle.

I then picked up the cycle path out of town beside the A354. This was built as part of the infrastructure investment for the sailing events at the 2012 Olympics, and provides an excellent cycles-only route to Dorchester, albeit mainly beside the busy road. It is possible to make an excursion into the Radipole RSPB bird reserve (I heard the explosive call of a Cetti's warbler). A mile or so out of town, the path climbs on the old A354 to a 'crossroads' with the Dorset Ridgeway, which I took westwards back to the car.