Kestrels, Hornets

and Underground Mutton

By The Bimbler

At 630 miles the South West Coast Path is England’s longest waymarked long-distance footpath but this walk covered just over 20 miles of it including a circumnavigation of the Isle of Portland. For company I was joined by a good friend Robert Twigger who is an accomplished explorer and author and is in training for an upcoming expedition to the Himalayas.

Not long after we set off I was stung by a hornet that had been hitching a ride on my backpack. After a good whinge and a Ribwort Plantain poultice the discomfort eased and we continued on through Weymouth and caught a ride across the marina in a traditional rowing boat.

The stretch between Weymouth and Portland is set within one of the largest man made Harbours in the world, on this day it was flat calm and looking picturesque.

At one point I noticed a glitch in the Matrix in the form of two identical men digging for fishing bait

Because of the high grade Limestone that forms parts of Portland it has been extensively quarried over the centuries.

Six Million tons of it’s premium building stone was used in the reconstruction of London following the Great Fire of 1666 and it features in Buckingham Palace and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The walk was tiring yet rewarding with plenty of wildlife to look out for. We spotted several Kestrels, one of which I managed to get within 10 feet of, and lots of butterflies I didn’t recognise.

Rabbits have long been associated with bad luck on Portland and were traditionally blamed by quarry workers for causing fatal rock falls and landslides. Even today superstitious locals consider it unlucky to refer to them by name so instead substitute the term ‘Underground Mutton’

The terrain is somewhat challenging and we took longer than anticipated so settled overnight near the Southernmost point of the Isle, tucked out of the wind.

After a restless night we headed off at dawn in search of water for a much needed mug of tea. Once refreshed we continued along the Western path and stumbled upon Tout Quarry which has numerous sculptures scattered over a sizeable area including this one which was my favourite… a reference to the Jurassic Coast perhaps?

Within an hour or so we finished our trek around Portland and dropped back down to sea level where Chesil beach vanishes off into the distance. Not wanting to over exert myself and risk losing my ‘Bimbler’ status it was at this point that I called it a day while Rob disappeared off along the coastline.