Glimpses of the sea
Catching glimpses of the sea makes a walk extra special.
This is the Isle of Portland and in the distance is the famous Chesil beach is 45 foot (14 metres) at it's highest point.
Many of the old Portland cottages are built on the steep slopes overlooking the sea.
On a warm autumn day the blue and green colours of the sea were beautiful.
The majority of people on this stretch of beach are fishermen. This is a wonderful description of the same scene in the 1930's written by Llewelyn Powys :-
On a fair summer's morning how wonderful to stand on the famous sea bank overlooking Dead Man's Bay with wide-benched fishing boats on either side, and the pebbles under foot spotted and blackened with fisherman's tar; the air smelling of green waves, or wind and sunshine; and the vast nets spread out everywhere to dry. |
| The Cove Inn picture taken from http://thecovehouseinn.co.uk |
And the old stone tavern called the Cove Inn which stands on the top of the beach - was there ever such a hostel? The landlord was told me that during the worst winter gales the sea invariably reaches to its stone porch and goes poring down on each side of the house to the sheltered village street below.What a view presents itself from its sarcophagus-like doorway in fine weather - the great sea beach with its wide-sweeping curve of twenty miles, the broad flecked acres of the West Bay; and everywhere old weather worn benches, old stone seats,where generations of aged fishermen, with bleary eyes still as keen of sight as the eyes of shags are content to sit for hours scanning a sea and horizon familiar to them for the past seventy or eighty years.
Moving back to the present these modern buildings were built for those competing in the sailing events at the Olympic Games held here last year. They have now been put on the open market to be sold.
On the edge of the Olympic village the old control tower in the foreground is one of the few reminders left that this area was home to a naval base for 150 years, it closed down in the 1990's.
Sarah x
I have never been to Chesil Beach, but I hope to get there one day as it looks wonderful from your photos. Looks like you had a great day!
ReplyDeleteThe Columbia River Gorge area is much windier and less green than where I live not many miles away. Both areas are uniquely beautiful. The views of the Gorge can be breathtaking, but then the views of Mt. Hood from where I live are breathtaking as well. I love the views in and around Portland, Oregon, and the views of the Portland near you, too! Thanks so much for posting the narrative as well as your wonderful photos, Sarah :)
ReplyDeleteGracie xx
Your views of Mt. Hood are always fantastic too!
DeleteSarah x
I look forward to visiting your blog, you live in a really scenic part of England. I'm in the north, but who knows, I may get chance to visit Dorset one day.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
S xx
lovely photos, thank you for sharing your visit!
ReplyDeleteI love the old stone buildings. Looks like a nice place to visit and I thank you for the tour! X
ReplyDeleteI remember Portland with the Naval base - now I don't recognise it. It certainly would be worth visiting as the coast looks so pretty, love the old cottages and then is Portland Bill - have you visited there? I remember climbing to the top of there many years ago and getting to the top with jelly legs.
ReplyDeletePortland has changed slowly since the naval base left. I have done several posts about Portland including the lighthouses but don't appear to be very good at indexing them - they must be under Weymouth or special places in Dorset! It's a long time too since I climbed the lighthouse too!
DeleteSarah x
What a lovely little town! Thank you for taking us on this little trip! :) x
ReplyDeleteGreen Man and I had lunch in that pub, it was 21st May 2010, our wedding anniversary, and we had a walk along Chesil Beach, it was my first visit to Portland, and I loved it. Thanks for the memory. Joy xx
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sea views and picturesque villages by the English coast line. You are really lucky Sarah to live near Dorset and enjoy visiting so lovely places.I can't imagine anything else for you except the sea, you feel so happy with its breeze and saltiness....I can understand what sea can offer... I always enjoy the English countryside too!
ReplyDeleteIt looks lovely. I'd love to walk along that beach:)
ReplyDeleteDear Sarah,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comments over at my blog.
Every time I read your posts.. I fall in love with the area that you live in. I love those old stone houses with a view of the sea.. such a great write up..
There is a special place for me that is far away from here.. I like very much.. Its called "Shaka's Rock"..in Kwa Zulu Natal... the beaches are stupendous..and the Indian ocean wide open for all to see.. its beautiful. you might want to google it. nice post.. val x x x x
I'm fascinated by these solid, old stone buildings that get battered by the waves. I can just imagine the residents and even guests of the Cove Inn sitting out a storm. Frinton and Clacton are two very different seaside towns on the Essex coast, they are right next to each other, but Frinton is seen as very refined whereas Clacton is regarded as the opposite!
ReplyDeleteMy dear....you have again stolen my heart. Stone cottages and the sea? PERFECT. Anita
ReplyDeletePortland looks like a very beautiful place! When we lived in Kamloops I just had to drive an hour north or east to get to to a very different type of area. Not so much here at Cultus Lake - trees, mountains, fields, rivers and streams pretty much make up this little corner of the world, no matter which direction you look.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Sarah, Everything looks so calm. Beautiful photos(like always). Have a wonderful day and thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Bobbie Lynn
Beautiful photos! stunning scenery and the blue of that sea took my breath away wonderful photos x
ReplyDeleteI so love your pictures of the sea Sarah, all the more when I haven't been myself for a while. And that beautiful Dorset coastline too x
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful day you had for taking photos - the sea is so blue, was it really that colour. How lucky you are to live in such an interesting area.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautifully sunny day. I can confirm that living very lose to the sea has its positives and negatives-the very strong winds can be a real pain. At least we have no chance of the waves hitting the house as we are high up. I think Dartmoor would have to be the closest but most different environment I think.
ReplyDeleteDartmoor and the Devon coast are so different, but they are also in our top five places to visit.
DeleteSarah x
The only 'different' place here is the naval base across the loch - and you're not allowed to visit that! Lovely photographs as ever Sarah.
ReplyDeleteI'm not terribly keen on Portland, but your pictures show it in it's best light! I think you would be very fit if you lived there and had to climb those hills daily!!!! Lovely photos to cheer an otherwise rubbish week!!
ReplyDeleteWow, it is beautiful there. I love your beautiful photo's. Have a nice weekend
ReplyDeleteI've visited Portland just once, on a beautiful calm day. I can see how it might get quite wild though. I love your first picture with the cottages (and seagull) looking out over the sea.
ReplyDeleteSarah
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking us along with you, nice to see other coastal areas.
Love the photo looking through the grasses
Annie x
Gorgeous photos, I am making a list of place to visit from your posts. Im hoping to visit in 2015.
ReplyDeleteSuch a very pretty place, so different to our sea side towns.
ReplyDeleteOh be still my heart.... What could be more beautiful than an ocean view of the sea from a stone cottage... I so enjoyed the tour... Thank you for taking me along.
ReplyDeletefondly,
Penny
Lovely pictures - I especially like the composition of that first one.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see Portland stone in its native habitat, when so much of it was carried away to London to build St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace etc!
Best wishes :)
I love those old stone cottages but am not so keen on the more modern houses, to me they're not in keeping with the surrouding area.
ReplyDeleteI get the travel bug when I see your photos! Very beautiful! When I last visited Geneva I found it very different from where we live - I could not believe that it still belongs to Switzerland! Enjoy your weekend! Christa
ReplyDeleteAs too often happens when I visit her Sarah I swear I can smell the sea and hear the seagulls ... you often leave me longing to visit the coast!
ReplyDeleteI love the old cottages and the beach and the sea are so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are amazing as always. What a lovely spot. We found a common the other day that had a real "moor" feel to it, right in the middle of our familiar countryside. A little area of land that felt completely different to everywhere around it. Upland grass, cattle grids, open windswept moorland, little stone houses. We must go back and explore thoroughly I think.
ReplyDelete