Lyme Regis & West Bay
August 15, 2022
HM 204. Lyme Regis and West Bay.
Sailing west from Portland into the large expanse of Lyme Bay begins with a rounding of Portland Bill and careful avoidance of the dangerous Portland Tidal Race, "so violent as to make it perilous for leisure craft to attempt to pass through it." One reason why the next two harbours do not receive many visiting yachts.
West Bay is Bridport's Harbour, a town famous for exporting ropes and nets. Incredibly King John was responsible for starting the rope making industry in Bridport and 300 years later Henry VIII ordered that ‘all cordage for the English Navy should be made at Bridport’. Since then, the original harbour has been silted up by shingle from Chesil beach and the current harbour (West Bay) lies nearly two miles further south.
£20m and 40,000 tonnes of granite armour rock has been used making the small outer harbour more sheltered, attempting to stop the beach and walls from being washed away. The sea may cause occasional havoc here, but I received a friendly welcome from harbour staff Ben, John and Ian.
A few miles further west along the famous "Jurassic Coast" lies Lyme Regis. Many early discoveries of dinosaurs were found here by fossil collector Mary Anning in the 1820s. Mary was also the inspiration for the tongue twister poem ‘She Sells Sea Shells on the Sea-Shore' !
One of the most unforgettable scenes in cinema was set on Lyme's beautiful curved harbour wall, The Cobb. Thought to date back to Edward the First, no one knows the origin of the name, but few will forget Meryl Streep, standing on it in a storm portraying the forlorn French Lieutenant's Woman!
The day we visited was much calmer and the very cheerful harbour staff Becka and Rosa found a good floating berth for Good Dog on their temporary summer pontoons.
The slightly elusive HM James Radcliffe looks after both these council harbours, overseeing a lot of the engineering works ever since he started working here straight after school. I recommend a visit to both these harbours, but possibly by land not sea...
Sailing west from Portland into the large expanse of Lyme Bay begins with a rounding of Portland Bill and careful avoidance of the dangerous Portland Tidal Race, "so violent as to make it perilous for leisure craft to attempt to pass through it." One reason why the next two harbours do not receive many visiting yachts.
West Bay is Bridport's Harbour, a town famous for exporting ropes and nets. Incredibly King John was responsible for starting the rope making industry in Bridport and 300 years later Henry VIII ordered that ‘all cordage for the English Navy should be made at Bridport’. Since then, the original harbour has been silted up by shingle from Chesil beach and the current harbour (West Bay) lies nearly two miles further south.
£20m and 40,000 tonnes of granite armour rock has been used making the small outer harbour more sheltered, attempting to stop the beach and walls from being washed away. The sea may cause occasional havoc here, but I received a friendly welcome from harbour staff Ben, John and Ian.
A few miles further west along the famous "Jurassic Coast" lies Lyme Regis. Many early discoveries of dinosaurs were found here by fossil collector Mary Anning in the 1820s. Mary was also the inspiration for the tongue twister poem ‘She Sells Sea Shells on the Sea-Shore' !
One of the most unforgettable scenes in cinema was set on Lyme's beautiful curved harbour wall, The Cobb. Thought to date back to Edward the First, no one knows the origin of the name, but few will forget Meryl Streep, standing on it in a storm portraying the forlorn French Lieutenant's Woman!
The day we visited was much calmer and the very cheerful harbour staff Becka and Rosa found a good floating berth for Good Dog on their temporary summer pontoons.
The slightly elusive HM James Radcliffe looks after both these council harbours, overseeing a lot of the engineering works ever since he started working here straight after school. I recommend a visit to both these harbours, but possibly by land not sea...