Camping, caravanning, getting out and about in Dorset
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Portland...
Portland is a part of Dorset like no other -
For a start, Portland is an island linked to the mainland only by the causeway at Ferry Bridge and the Chesil Beach. Technically, these two links probably mean that the “Isle of Portland” is more properly a peninsular. Even so all the maps call it the “Isle of Portland” and locals often just call it the Island.
Either way, this massive lump of rock is the remains of the most southerly ridge
of a series running across Dorset. This plate of Jurassic limestone is tilted from
North to South, so that the elevated North of the “Island” has great views across
the Chesil, Portland Harbour and Weymouth. Meanwhile the southern-
Portland is famous for many things, not least the stone from which it is made. The Island has a proud history in quarrying and stonemasonry, the results of which are obvious on the Island itself with quarrying activity clearly visible through numerous massive holes in the ground. But Portland’s stone is also proudly displayed in other places too, not least our capital city, where Portland stone has been used for many prominent buildings and monuments, including Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral.
Islands seem to attract penal institutions like flies and Portland’s no different,
until recently it had three. It became well-
Both the YOI and the Verne are fairly austere and appropriately menacing looking buildings to the North of the Island, with the Verne looking out protectively, as you might expect of a former naval battery, over the harbour below.
Portland Harbour was once one of Britain’s most important Naval bases, and like
the nearby but much smaller port of Weymouth played a large and important role in
the D-
Portland Harbour has now been all but deserted by the Royal Navy, but is again booming with civil uses and new industries. It is also the home of the National Sailing Academy and there is much preparation underway for the hosting in Weymouth & Portland of Olympic sailing activities in 2012.
The Harbour was also home to HMS Osprey, a naval helicopter air station. Whilst
this has also gone, parts of the former air base are now home to the area’s famous
air-
So that’s Portland then, an island community with its roots in the primary industry of quarrying, prisons and seafaring.
Except, that’s not it. Portland is also, in it’s own rugged and wild way, exquisitely beautiful. And nowhere more so than the area around Portland Bill.
“The Bill” is a magnificent place and a complete contrast and surprise compared to
most of the rest of Dorset. While much of the County is smooth and green and rolling,
Portland Bill is predominantly rough, grey and jagged -
Portland Bill is a naturally beautiful place in the way that only big waves on big rocks can be. There’s little between the Bill and the Atlantic Ocean, giving the area an air akin to the West Coast of Ireland or the rugged coasts of Cornwall or Scotland.
With its historic and current links to quarrying the comparison with Cornwall is apt as the villages on the Island and around the Bill consist of small, sturdily built cottages and terraces, many made from huge blocks hewn from the rocks around them.
And then there’s the sea. Looking out from Portland Bill, its easy to see why this
was, and is, an important place to stick a lighthouse. In fact, there are three.
Two have now been turned over to other uses but the newest is still active and a
great visitor attraction -
Even if you decide not to go up the lighthouse, there’s plenty to see for free from Portland’s craggy rocks. The views out over the tidal race and into the Channel are great, as are the views along Portland’s east and west coasts, both of which can be walked via a network of footpaths that circumnavigate as well as crisscross the Island.
If rambling’s not your thing, then stay in the area around the Bill, soak up the
views and enjoy the fresh sea air. Even on the most busy day, you’ll be able to
find a place to sit on a rock and peer out to sea and get a real sense of watery
wilderness. Or, take yourself off to the Lobster Pot café, which is metres from
the cliff-
There’s a sizeable car park at the Bill, but it is also served by local buses.
Portland Bill’s semi-
The only conditions in which you might not want to visit this wonderfully atmospheric place is in fog. This is something Portland suffers from quite a lot because of its location. It makes the area treacherous to those who don’t know it and the fog horn is necessarily very loud!
Portland isn’t a place people always think of visiting as part of their Dorset holiday. Frankly, if they don’t, they are missing out!
Some go there to fish, some to walk and some for the rock climbing, but Portland is just as good as a place to visit, to admire and to relax. That’s probably why the clustered community of sheds and beach huts, which add to the unique feel of this oddly wild and untamed place, are so sought after!
You wouldn’t say Portland was pretty, but it’s beauty is beyond dispute.
A final top tip. Don’t mention rabbits. Local tradition says they are very bad luck. Something to do with quarry workings being made unstable and dangerous...You have been warned!
