Hiking the Dorset SWCP: Part 1

The SWCP, or South West Coastal Path stretches from Poole Harbour in Dorset to Minehead in Somerset, taking in 630 miles of coastline on England's glorious south western peninsula.

It's quite a thing to behold, and I'm pleased to say that as part of our training for hiking Peru's Inca Trail, we set out to walk the miles of Dorset coast using the SWCP.

Here is a guide to how to conquer such a feat, and a few tips, including pub stops along the way. Part 1 will cover Poole to Weymouth, and Part 2 covers Weymouth to Lyme Regis. There's a few hops, skips and jumps to join up the path, but as you'll be doubling back on occasions, we wont worry too much about that.

As for getting about, a car is helpful, but also the Purbeck Breezers for transport on Purbeck in the summer months.

Shell Bay to Studland 

Assuming you've taken in the 7 miles of golden sands and promenade of Bournemouth and Poole beaches, start this 'out and back' walk at Studland. Leave the car in Sandbanks and hop on the chain ferry, then follow the sand all the way to Middle beach. Stop for a much needed cup of tea and slice of cake at one of the cafe's before heading back, and keep a weather eye for nudists!

See the Shell Bay to Studland route now on MayMyRun.

Top Tip: This walk is almost all on sand at beach level, so bring a towel for a refreshing dip at the end.
Pub Stop: Knoll Beach Cafe
Distance: 5 miles Start/End: Shell Bay
Gain: 52ft

Swanage to Studland

After exploring the seaside town of Swanage, head left along the beach until you find the wooden steps. From here, you climb up the hill and are treated to stunning views of the bay. Follow the path as it crests and you will see Bournemouth and Poole Harbour in the distance. At Old Harry Rock, follow the path to the left all the way to the Banks Arms, where you'll find local beers and fish and chips waiting on the large garden. If you can tear yourself away from the lovely garden, it's a short walk to the main road and bus stop where you can hop on the 40 bus back to Swanage.

See the Swanage to Studland route on MapMyRun.

Top Tip: Start with tea and cake from the tea room in the carriage of an old train at Swanage station.
Pub Stop: The Banks Arms
Distance: 4 miles Start: Swanage, End: Studland
Gain: 200ft

Swanage to Winspit

From Swanage, head right along the quay and up the hill. Follow signs to Durlston through a residential area and woodland to the welcome centre. Here the SWCP picks up and follows the coast all the way past Dancing Ledge to Winspit, a disused quarry. There's a few steep climbs with steps, but poles shouldnt be needed.

From Winspit follow the path up to Worth Matravers, stopping at the Square and Compass for some live music and local cider, then take the road through Langton Matravers to Swanage.

See the Swanage to Winspit route now on MapMyRun.

Top Tip: Make the most of the photo opportunities at the Durlston Globe and Winspit Quarry
Pub Stop: The Square and Compass
Distance: 11.6 miles Start/End: Swanage
Gain: 900ft

Chapmans Pool to Kimmeridge

Start your walk from Kingston village or Houns Tout car park. Head down South Street and through the sheep fields towards Chapmans Pool, but turn right off the track at the sty. Cross the fields to pick up the path and find the famous steps out of Chapmans Pool. Once out, follow the path up and down (and back up again) until you reach Clavell Tower and the path dips into Kimmeridge Bay.

Head out of the bay towards the village, stopping at the Clavell Arms for a comfort break before continuing past Seabcombe House and through the farm. Cut through the fields back to the path you were on earlier and follow the route back, turning left at the top of Houns Tout to catch the path back to Kingston, and hopefully a plate full of jerk chicken!

See the Chapmans Pool to Kimmeridge route now on MapMyRun.

Top Tip: Things start to get hilly and there's a lot of stinging nettles, walking poles and doc leaves recommended.
Pub Stop: The Scott Arms and Clavell Cafe
Distance: 11 miles Start/End Kingston Village
Gain: 1250ft

Tyneham to Lulworth

Park and leave a donation at Tyneham before either heading south to Worbarrow Tout (for the views) or east to the mouth of Worbarrow Bay. From here it's a steep climb out of the bay to Flowers Barrow before you dip into the tank graveyard. Watch you footing and heed the warnings, this is a military training zone. Follow the path over a few more climbs before winding down to Lulworth Cove. After freshening up, head left along the beach and climb out of the cove through Fossil Forest and pick up the path back to Tyneham.

See the Tyneham to Lulworth route now on MapMyRun.

Top Tip: Check the Lulworth ranges are open before setting off and make time to explore the abandoned village of Tyneham.
Pub Stop: Lulworth Cove Inn
Distance: 11.4 miles Start/End: Tyneham Village
Gain: 1812ft

Lulworth to Preston

Park at Lulworth and take the path over the ridge towards Durdle Door. After taking some pictures, follow the path keeping Portland in view. As you near Ringstead Beach you'll see signs for the White Nothe and then the path becomes a lot flatter, eventually dropping into the beer garden of the Smugglers Inn.

From here, you can continue to Preston, or Weymouth, or head up the road to catch the 30 bus back to Lulworth Cove.

See the Lulworth to Preston route now on MapMyRun.

Top Tip: Stop to admire Durdle Door and Man o' War beach.
Pub Stop: The Smugglers Inn
Distance: 7.1 miles Start: Lulworth, End: Osmington Mills or Preston
Gain: 900ft

Happy Trails!

Coasteering in Dorset with Land & Wave

"But you did jump off all the higher rocks in Ibiza!" my friend reminds me when I bring up that Mark is planning a coasteering experience to celebrate his birthday. Everyone is invited but it seems this time we've gone too far!

The adrenaline junkie in me is excited a few weeks later as we get wet-suited ready for an afternoon of sharp rocks and steep drops with the Land & Wave team at Dorset's Dancing Ledge. Before I know it the sea is in view. It's a gorgeous day; green fields and spotless blue skies take my mind off what's to come. Then, finally it's time for some fun!

Our guides Ross and Hannah start off light with gentler jumps, helping us acclimatise to the chilly water, slowly building up to the biggest leaps of the day. They're easy enough to entertain, after all the water is a brilliant turquoise and the sun is illuminating the depths below the surface, but taking that final step still takes balls!

I can't believe the time it takes to hit the water but as soon as I do, I can't wait to climb back up and do it again! What a rush! Everyone gives it their best shot and any initial fears are soon replaced with bants and the occasional face plant!

But no one escapes "the gauntlet" - the final challenge where we battle against the swell to traverse a natural wall. I'm literally swept away before an outstretched hand pulls to relative safety, but by this time I'm too busy laughing to be scared! 

Check out the video of our Dorset coasteering experience now!

We ended our weekend with a night at Burnbake Campsite in Studland, Purbeck. This cute campsite was the perfect base for our weekend, and had everything you'd need even for a longer stay. After cooking endless BBQ to feed our tired bodies, we huddled around the fire pit toasting marshmallows until midnight, only to be awoken by the dawn chorus and a screaming child. Such is life on a campsite, but the laid back communal atmosphere meant we didn't really mind, not when when there's bacon baps and hot tea on the go from the friendly food hut!

Burnbake Campsite, Purbeck

The Big Bournemouth Beer Festival (2016)

25th March 2016, by Mark Gale

In its 7^th year, the Bournemouth Beer Festival keeps getting bigger and better. Each Easter weekend sees the festival pop up in the Purbeck Hall at the Bournemouth International Centre (known as the BIC) and spreads itself out over the 4 day bank holiday, much to the delight of the locals who attend to sample the vast amount of beers on offer.

We first visited the festival in its 2^nd year back in 2010 and although it has no doubt risen in popularity, not too much has changed in that time since our last visit – in fact one of the biggest changes since then is my own perception of beer. Like many men these days, the resurgence of the craft beer trend has led to an evolution of people’s taste buds that has taken our palettes beyond the bland and boring swill of mainstream lagers such as Fosters and Carling (absolute swill) that you used to (and still do) get in most ordinary pubs into the realm of beers of vast varieties, flavours and colours.

Why is this important? Because, when we first visited we (myself and my friend Adam) were only beginning to expand our horizons of tasting beer when we first visited, whereas these days we have a much better idea of not only what we really enjoy, but also what quality beer tastes like, so we were very interested to see how things would measure up with the benefit of added experience.

Also along for the ride were Claire, Jess and Mike – who would admit to being on the other side of the coin and not the biggest beer drinkers; but considering the range on offer were willing to come give plenty of it a go! What was good about this was we were all interested in trying different things, so it often meant we were insistent on letting others try what we’d ordered so we could experience as much of the taste as possible!

So here’s a running order of the beers I sampled on the day:

Pre-event: Brooklyn Lager

As a warm-up we stopped by the local Wetherspoons (Moon in the square), where I had one of my current favourites, Brooklyn Lager. A strong, 5.2% lager that I’ve really grown to like this over the year; both before and after trying it in New York. It may be a lager, but it’s a lot more complex with a deeper, bitter taste but is still refreshing. Big fan of this and love the bottle design too.

During the event

1: Beast (Dark ale, 6.6% by Exmoor)

Beautifully complex, plenty of flavour dancing around your tongue. I loved this dark ale and it felt like a stout that was a lot lighter. If I wasn’t so interested in trying others, I would’ve had this all night and will definitely seek this out again as it was my favourite of the night!

2: Sunchaser (Blonde, 4% by Everards)

Claire’s choice as she didn’t want something too heavy. Problem was that even she felt this was too far in the opposite direction. This was a very drinkable beer, problem was there honestly wasn’t much to talk about with the flavour as it was very plain. Advertised as ‘lightly-hopped’; perhaps a few more hops are in order here!

3: Red Dragon (Red ale, 4.5% by Great Orme)

I enjoy red and ruby ales as they offer something different; in this case it was a very fruity bitter (yes, it’s possible!) which I wasn’t expecting. Nice, but I’ve had far better reds.

4: Captain Pigwash (Porter, 5% by Potbelly)

Claire’s choice and a surprising one for her as I wouldn’t expect her to like a porter. The description included chocolate and ‘crystal’ malts (?) and wasn’t something I enjoyed.  Maybe the combo of the flavours involved isn’t for me, but I couldn’t quite grasp what on earth was going on with this one as it didn’t sit well with me and left a very weird taste in my mouth. Strangely, Claire loved it and declared it as her favourite of the night!

5: East Street Cream (Bitter, 5% by RCH)

Although mainly sampling half-pints, I was certainly getting a bit full at this point. Next up was this bitter which tempted me with its promise of both bitter and sweet in one go and that's exactly what comes across. This was really satisfying on the pallet and along with a nuttiness was something you could happily have more of - perhaps another time after not so many full bodied beers already!

6: Ripper (Belgian Tripel, 8.5% by Green Jack)

I'm a huge fan of Belgian tripel's but other countries attempts often fall very wide of the mark. Not in this case though. I was really pleasantly surprised with this as it had all the usual notes of a tripel but still had a distinctive twist that kept it firmly in the realm of other ales. There's far better of course, but this was a very good attempt.

What's the event like itself?

The atmosphere is brilliant; laid back but also suitably livelier as time goes on with a band playing. The festival appears every Easter bank holiday and sees countless visitors and you can see why, because for £7.50 a ticket and very reasonable prices for the beers on offer, you certainly feel you get value for money. Everyone also receives a memento glass to drink out of during the night, which is a great souvenir to take home from the night.

You start the night by booklets of beer vouchers, which you use to purchase beers - as some are pricier than others (often down to the strength) - and we were over zealous as we eventually ended up selling our booklet on as we didn't need anywhere near the amount we bought!

One thing I couldn't help but notice was that most of the beers on offer were all in the realm of ale, which isn't necessarily a problem, but I can't help but think the organisers could either invite suppliers that have a more varied range of beers, or make it a bit clearer about what the majority of beers are like. Take nothing away from it though, we all had a really good time, but it was partly down to our success in finding a table - if you're stood up in a massive hall all night you may feel differently!

So final verdict? Give it a go obviously! What was clear was that even if you aren't the biggest fan of beer, there's so much to try that it's worth a go just to be adventurous and those we were with still had a great time, whereas those of us who are closer to connoisseurs had a great time - with all that's on offer you can't fail to have a great time trying them all!

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Walking Dorset's Coast: Sandbanks to Middle Beach

Over the summer we will be walking the c.100 miles of Dorset coast in training for our 4 day hike in Peru. Keep track and find inspiration in our Walking Dorset's Coast series, covering routes, handy pubs and fuss-free camping.

Mark and I have both run the 7 miles of Bournemouth and Poole's sea front countless times, so we're giving these miles a miss in favour of more challenging spots, and after braving Hengistbury Head a few weeks ago we took on the sandy shores of Studland.

Parking in Sandbanks and taking the ferry (£1 per person from Sandbanks to Studland, free on the return journey) across the mouth of Poole Harbour to Studland, we walked 3 miles to Middle Beach; the end of the sandy road. From here the South West Coastal Path continues up along the Jurassic Coast.

Studland is famous for it's nudist beach, but I think you'd have to be pretty ballsy to brave the sea on any March day, let along in the nuddy! The craziest thing we saw was a handful of ultra runners competing in the Jurassic Coast Challenge. They were in the last few miles of a marathon, having done 2 marathons in the two days before. I was glad we were spreading our challenge out this time! Being able to walk at a conversational pace, hand in hand with Mark makes such a difference from the strain of running, where we're often miles apart.

With the 3 mile walk back and a chilly wind in our minds, we re-fuelled at the National Trust Knoll Beach Cafe with hot tea and sumptuous slices of cake whilst warming our nipped fingers and dusting the sand from our boots.

On the return leg, the tide started to come and I spotted these little jelly droplets in the sea floor's ripples. If anyone has any idea what they are please share!

By the end of the walk I was ready to put my feet up (6 miles on sand will do that) but felt the sun's effects on my cheeks and am already looking forward to tackling more challenging walks over the coming months. 

Sandbanks to Middle Beach Walking Route Map

An Introduction To Wine @ Hotel Du Vin, Poole

Despite the howling winds and stormy weather that blew us into Poole's Old Town last night, we were quickly warmed by the Head Sommelier of Hotel Du Vin ahead of our evenings wine tasting.

Having lived a stones through from the Langhe and Barolo wine regions, and holidayed in Chianti town, it's somewhat surprising I've never been to a proper wine tasting before. I've learned bits and pieces along the way, asking to squish grapes where I can, but nothing compares to one-on-one time with a pro and a few good bottles of vino with friends.

So as a gift this Christmas, Mark arranged a wine tasting and dinner with friends at the perfectly named Hotel Du Vin in Poole.

The Wine Tasting Room

After drying off we were invited to the tasting room and our lesson began. In front of us were 4 small glasses of wine. The glasses, we were told, were those used by professional tasters, and designed to trap the aromas of the wine in the glass. Some more high-end tasters will even supply differently shaped glasses depending on the wine being tasted to maintain perfect sipping, swilling and spitting conditions; wine after all is a £100 million industry in the UK alone.

Our first wine was Chablis. Chablis comes from a specific area in Burgundy, France and is made using the Chardonnay grape. Our sommelier asked us to smell the wine, as he introduced the flavours or apple and citrus before we sipped. During the tasting we were encouraged to chew the wine, as it's the side of the tongue which detects the acidity of the wine. It was crisp, dry and delicious.

Following was a Californian Chardonnay, which immediately was more golden in colour with scents of vanilla. It's here we were introduced to oak. The oak barrels used in wine making is what delivers the subtle differences and complexities to different wines, as the wood and degree of toasting combine with the wine inside. This chardonnay was a firm favourite with our group!

Our wines for the night

After finishing the white selection we moved on to the reds, starting with a French Pinot Noir. It was young and playful with good level of clarity, which is often a sign of its youth. Age in wine is not always a good thing; depending on the grapes used some wines are best at a younger age to get the right balance of flavours before oxidation spoils the bottle. A vintage wine, is not necessarily old, but refers to wines that have been produced from perfect conditions, and are as such hard to come by. Reserva, historically for Rioja wines, does refer to age though...

"Rioja spends less than a year in oak barrels. Rioja Reserva is aged for at least three years, of which at least one year is in oak. Finally, Rioja Gran Reserva wines have been aged at least two years in oak and three years in bottle." Wiki

New World wines are generally produced in the Southern Hemisphere, California and the emerging Asian markets. Old World wines are European. Our final wine was a new world wine from Argentina; a Malbec which Argentina produces a lot of. This wine was older and full bodied with plum notes. It had a higher dose of tannins; a natural chemical created by the natural products used to make wine (grape skins, seeds and oak). Over time this may form into natural sediment and found at the bottom of the bottle, but it's completely natural and safe to drink. Sediment does not mean that a bottle has "corked" which instead refers to wine that has been contaminated by cork taint and has a smell of mould and damp.

Great wines & great friends

Free from corked wines here, we were now at the end of our introduction to wine, with our heads full of new knowledge, questions and (I admit) a little post-wine fuzziness. We finished the evening with dinner and a bottle of Cotes Du Rhone, knowing just a little more about the fascinating world of wine!

Seaside Strolling

With winter daylight at a premium, I love making the most of the Christmas break with a chance to visit the beach for a seaside stroll. The fresh air and churning sea is the best refreshment I know, and you never know what you might find washed up.

The sea was particularly choppy today and the winds had blown lots of seaweed onto the beach.

Possibly Egg Wrack seaweed - dark green with little parcels

Thongweed - long and stringy seaweed

With the seaweed came lots of tiny jellyfish and velella velella which I've never seen before. These cute blue creatures are cousins of the jelly fish family and travel where the wind takes then using their little fins. Cute!

Velella velella

Small pink jellyfish 

Small orange jellyfish

The perfect way to end a winters day.

Isle Of Wonders - Discovering Purbeck

The Isle of Purbeck is not what it may seem. In fact it isn't even an island, but a peninsula creeping out the south of Dorset between Poole and Weymouth.

Just 15 or so miles from the hustle and bustle of Bournemouth, Purbeck is a world away in atmosphere. Busy beaches are replaced with quiet coves and the packed towns give way to sleepy villages.

This August Purbeck opened it's doors to the somewhat unexpected occasions of reggae parties and outdoor movie nights. I went along to see what surprises this corner of Dorset had in store.

Reggae Night In Kingston, Dorset

As August rolled into Dorset, The Scott Arms in Kingston announced their reggae and jerk party night. Kingston, Dorset would for one day transform to embody the colour and flavour of its Jamaican counterpart with rum punch, jerk chicken and reggae on the decks.

The village is famous because of The Scott Arms pub and it's stunning views overlooking the Purbeck hills and Corfe Castle. The village itself is dotted with nothing more than quaint cottages selling fresh honey and eggs and an imposing church; the epitome of British countryside living.

As we arrived the cars were mounted on any available piece of narrow road, and the music was humming. The usually more than adequate beer garden was loaded with a heady mix of families, local and an eclectic crowd drawn in for the party. Locals chatted among themselves in that wonderful way village communities do that townies don't get and the laid back vibe took hold.

Jerk was all that was on the menu, so we snaffled a seat next to a new family and ate our jerk with rice and peas, plantain and homemade slaw, washing it down with a glass of punch as the sun set. And it went down very nicely. The flavours were balanced and tasty, and whilst I would have liked a little more spice, I think it was a perfect introduction to Jerk for a Dorset village.

The party rolled into the night long after we'd left, no doubt the event of the year for this tiny nook.

Luna Cinema at Lulworth Castle

Our next exciting discovery on the Isle of Purbeck was that the Luna Cinema was bringing an outdoor movie night to the iconic Lulworth Castle in late August.

Lulworth Castle actually isn't a castle at all, and was built as a hunting lodge in the early 1600's, before being seized by the Roundheads during the English Civil War. The French royal family used it as a residence in exile in the 1800's and the whole building was gutted by a fire in the 1920's. After much restoration with the help of English Heritage, the Weld family who have owned the castle since the 1640's, opened the gates in 1998 and the castle became a top event site in Dorset, hosting weddings, Camp Bestival and now Luna Cinema. 

Approaching the castle through the gates it looked like something from a movie, with the sunset casting a vanilla speckled sky over the turrets. We and other film fans milled about exploring the castle and grabbing a burger before huddling up in our camping chairs and blankets and accepting more than our fair share of free Starbucks and cider samples. 

The movie tonight was a Sunday afternoon favourite in my family; Back To The Future! We don't get many outdoor cinema clubs in Dorset and although I've made my pilgrimages to the likes of Summer Screen at Somerset House, there's nothing like events in your own back yard.

As we settled into the movie, I realised this was probably the first time in my life I've sat silently, undisturbed by my phone to watch this movie. There were so many smaller details which I'd become blind to in the years of lazy Sunday afternoon watching. I was discovering it all over again, almost like watching it for the first time. 

Despite the autumnal chill that crept in as the moon rose, we giggled and snuggled until it was time to go home, having rediscovered a classic in a show-stopping setting.

There's loads more to discover in Purbeck too, including the stunning natural sights of Durdle Door and the Jurassic Coast, and the villages of Wareham and Worth Matravers. Have you visited any? Share your favourite Purbeck spots with me.

Saturday morning SUP

This weekend I made the most of a sunny moment in the British summer to go stand up paddle boarding (SUP). There's a new surf hire place on Branksome beach called Shaka Surf which I've passed by a few times just waiting for the right conditions to get out on the water.

Saturday morning's forecast was good all week, and when I woke up the sun was already up and shining through a cloudless Dorset sky. We zipped down to the beach just a mile away and within minutes I was out on the water as Mark relaxed on the shoreline with a book.

It was my first time paddle boarding solo, but it was an amazing feeling. The slight breeze kept me on my knees as I paddled out towards the large yellow buoys which dotted the beach. It's surprising how much of a good workout paddling is, especially for the arms and core as they fight to stabilise yourself. I was certainly working off the BBQ and beers we enjoyed the night before!

As I rounded the first buoy I glanced down, and to my surprise found that in the green water loads of large white jellyfish were swimming beneath me. Not just one or two, but a consistent stream, and enough to put me off practicing my stood-up paddling skills for fear of falling in. Jelly fish are not my friends.

Instead I decided to relax for a few minutes, and laid down flat on my board briefly closing my eyes and enjoying the gentle rocking of the ocean as a jet-ski zipped past and a vintage airplane flew above en route to the air show.

Riding the wind to the next buoy I was amazed at the number of jelly fish, all appearing out of the green sea like mysterious marshmallows and passing me by without a care in the world. Excitedly, I wondered if I might see a turtle - apparently they've been spotted off the Dorset coast, attracted by the jellyfish which they eat.

Before I knew it I was getting the signal it was nearly time to go, and I practiced my paddling in the jelly fish free safety of the shallows, before we headed home.

What a way to spend a morning!