Seatown to West Bay (4 miles)

Whilst on my way to visit friends in Devon, I stopped off to bag a short stretch of the South West Coast Path (SWCP), namely Seatown to West Bay (both within Dorset).

Essentials:

Start: Park at Seatown Beach car park. An attendant will relieve you of £8 for the privilege.

Walk: SWCP from Seatown to West Bay via Eype Mouth beach, 3 miles.

Finish: Bus stop outside the George Inn next to West Bay harbour. Catch the X53 bus back to Chideock, and walk down a bridleway back to Seatown (1 mile, making 4 miles in all). Or you could just walk back the way your came.

Notes: Easy to follow, although watch out for warning signs of cliff collapse and consequent path realignment. Big climb to Thorncombe Beacon (155m). Refreshments: Anchor Inn overlooking Seatown Beach; plenty of offerings in West Bay.

I parked in Seatown Beach car park at around 1pm. Had I been hungry, I could have got a bite to eat at the Anchor Inn, but I had eaten on the way down, and so got going straight away. The long haul up Thorncombe Beacon, was rewarded by great views back to Golden Cap (191m, the highest point on the South Coast), and along to the massive vertical East Cliff (that's East of West Bay, it's confusing), and beyond, in the distance, the Isle of Portland.

Looking back over Seatown to Golden Cap

It was an easy climb from the stony beach at Eype Mouth over West Cliff (that's West of West Bay), although a landslip has required a slight realignment of the path. I arrived at bustling West Bay at around 3pm. Rather than just walk back the way I had come, I saved a little bit of walking by taking the X53 bus back to Chideock and walking down a pleasant lane back to Seatown (RED line on map).

The X53 bus will prove handy in any further excursions on the SWCP in Dorset. It covers lots of key access points for the SWCP between Weymouth and Lyme Regis, runs roughly every two hours in season (check web for latest times) and takes senior bus passes.

I was slightly surprised not to see signs for the King Charles III England Coast Path. I guess it's taken for granted that the ECP follows the SWCP.

My other coast walks can be found on this page.

For the next section of the SWCP (West Bay to Abbotsbury) see this post.

Here's some photos. It was a hot, overcast day, but bright nevertheless.