West Bay to Abbotsbury (10 miles)

I bagged the previous section of the SWCP on the way down to visit friends in Devon. On my way back a few days later, I had more time as I could start earlier, and so decided upon a longer walk, namely West Bay to Abbotsbury.

Essentials:

Start: Park at West Bay car parks (charge)

Walk: SWCP West Bay, Burton Bradstock, Freshwater Beach, Cogden Beach, West Bexington, Abbotsbury Beach, St Catherine's hilltop chapel, Abbotsbury Village (10 miles)

Finish: Bus stop outside Ilchester Arms, in Abbotsbury Village. X53 bus back to West Bay (2 hourly service in season; takes senior bus passes). You could also shorten the walk by walking up to the bus stops at Burton Bradstock, Cogden Beach and West Bexington

Notes: At Freshwater Beach you may either attempt to wade across the stream, or follow a one mile diversion inland. At Cogden Beach, I slogged along the shoreline, but found the shingle exhausting, so I recommend trying the official path behind the Burton Mere lakes.

I first tried to park in the West Bay Road car park, but being Sunday, this was occupied by a Sunday market. So I carried on to the East Beach car park, where there was plenty of room, but at a price (£15.80 for the day).

Having grabbed a coffee at the Watch House cafe, I set off at about 11am. Suspecting that the path along the top of the East Cliff had been diverted well away from the cliff edge due to rockfall risk, I decided instead to walk along the beach at the foot of the cliffs. Elsewhere, the cliffs tend to slip creating an undercliff, but here the cliff falls erode to vertical cliff faces, which are impressive to behold. I walked as far away from them as I could along the waterline, just in case.

East Cliff

At Freshwater Beach, a stream (the River Bride) gushes across the beach. You could probably wade across if you are prepared to get your feet wet. Or, people have constructed bridges from piles of stones (which looked slippy). So the only choice was to follow the path diversion inland through a campsite to a footbridge, and then return along the opposite bank of the stream, adding just under a mile. It looked as though the beach to Burton Bradstock might be submerged and rocky in places so I chose the clifftop path.

Just before Burton Bradstock, signs warn that the path in front of the Seaside Restaurant has been closed, and there is no right of way through the grounds. However, plenty of people were ignoring that. and taking the direct route to the BB Beach. This brings you out in front of the Hive restaurant, which was mega busy at this peak holiday time. I decided I cold not be bothered to wait to be served, and pressed on, arriving at Cogden Beach.

Remote Cogden Beach is the beginning of the massive shingle spit of Chesil Beach, and being difficult to reach, had far fewer people (mainly fishermen). I ignored the official SWCP signs pointing inland and instead walked along the shoreline. It soon became clear this was a big mistake: walking the shingle was exhausting. So after about a mile I cut up and was lucky to find an opening through the scrub to reach the official path. This blissful grassy interlude lasted only a short time, before the official path once more takes to the shingle for the final mile to West Bexington.

I visited here a few years ago, and the cafe was then a simple tea shop. That cafe has morphed into a 'venue' with a deafening 'band', and rammed with up market diners. I pretty soon got the message that my request for a cup of tea was not welcome, and once again moved on.

The track beyond was again covered in deep shingle, but this soon gave way to a more normal dirt track, then a tarmac lane to Abbotsbury Beach, where, finally I got my cup of tea at the friendly Chesil Beach cafe in the car park.

To reach Abbotsbury Village, I climbed to St Catherine's Chapel atop a hill, a fine viewpoint overlooking the village and Chesil Beach. I descended to emerge beside the village store, where I bought some sandwiches: I was pretty hungry after those failed attempts to get a snack at the posh cafes. It was around 4.30pm, not long to wait before my X53 bus back to West Bay (due 1659, arrived a few minutes late).

My other coast walks can be found on this page.

For the previous section of the SWCP (Seatown to West Bay) see this post.

Photos: Hot sunny Sunday in August