Jubilee Greenway 8 & 9

We had planned to continue walking the Jubilee Greenway path around London (our last stage was back in 2018!) from Woolwich to North Greenwich.

Unfortunately, a derailed train decimated the service to Woolwich so we decided to skip those sections for now and start from London Bridge. Our fast train was cancelled, so we had to use a slow (and quite busy) train to get to London.

The Jubilee Greenway path is very close to London Bridge station – you can see the marker disc in the pavement:

Eventually we reached the river near the memorial to the London Bridge bombing:

Then stopped for a coffee at a cafe in Clink Street, named after the prison that was there:

Now following the river path (which was a bit too busy for Rocco to be off the lead), we passed the rebuilt Globe:

and lovely views of the river and city:

Finally, there was a patch of ground by the Tate Modern where Rocco could run around:

The tide was low enough to expose a beach, but decided against Rocco getting muddy and wet!

The OXO tower has now been re-purposed as apartments:

Eventually, we reached Southbank, which was quiet here but VERY busy by the London Eye:

And the shiny new Big Ben:

We’re now on Jubilee Greenway Section 9, with the Houses of Parliament looking glorious in the sunshine:

Behind the wall on the right is St Thomas hospital, and the wall is now a Covid Memorial:

We crossed Lambeth Bridge and decided it was time for a beer. Luckily there was a pub in a fairly quiet street not far from Millbank with some tables outside. And then on to Victoria Tower Gardens to eat our lunch.

The route then goes past Westminster Cathedral and Parliament Square (both busy with tourists). Rocco had a bit more “off lead” time in College Green:

Shortly after, we reached St James’s Park and walked around the lake.

A lot of the paths were quite busy with tourists and waterfowl, but Rocco excelled himself off lead, even walking to heel occasionally. But managed to somehow find a muddy puddle, much to the amusement of passers by.

We then stopped to cool down under a plane tree:

From there, it was a short walk to Buckingham Palace, then to Victoria Station and a train home.

A very interesting day out, but quite warm at times!

 

 

Poundbury

As rain is (again) forecast for this afternoon, we did a morning explore of Poundbury, the town “created” by Charles III (then Prince of Wales). It’s on the outskirts of Dorchester and despite being started in 1993, all looks very new and clean!

There is a large park nearby, so Rocco could have a bit of off-lead time:

This is the entrance to Poundbury cemetery:

Past the cemetery are open fields with many tumuli still standing:

Then back to the park, a short drive home, and a cup of tea!

Ringstead Bay

The weather forecast for today wasn’t brilliant (the BBC said showers all afternoon) so for the first time this week, we actually took waterproofs with us and headed to Ringstead Bay, east of Weymouth. The car park is high up on the hill looking down to the sea with Portland and Weymouth in the mist:

What I assumed was the correct path down turned out to be a bit of a struggle – it was a public footpath, but not very used!

After a bit of a struggle, we got onto the SW Coast Path where walking was a lot easier!

We dropped down to the beach at Ringstead Bay so Rocco could have a swim:

After a coffee break, we continued on the coast path:

to a pub with lots of outdoor seating (useful with a wet dog), beer & food:

You can just see the pub nestling in the hills:

We did try to get down to the beach there, but it was a long way down and didn’t look too inviting, so we retraced our steps along the coast path:

And found a nicer beach for Rocco to have another swim!

On the way back up the hill (using the track), we passed St Catherine’s Church – in the middle of nowhere, but still has monthly services:

Then the long climb back up to the car:

And not a drop of rain – a lovely walk, though VERY warm as there was very little breeze.

Thorncombe Wood

In the afternoon we went to Thorncombe Wood, the location for Hardy’s Cottage. This needed prebooking and wasn’t dog friendly, so we just had a stroll in the rather nice woods instead:

This is Hardy’s Cottage:

 

We passed a very nice pond, but I didn’t want Rocco wet (and dogs were not supposed to go in there) so he had to just look instead of getting wet!

Maiden Castle

Tina wanted to visit Dorchester County Museum, which (probably) wasn’t dog friendly, so we dropped her off and went for a walk from Poundbury. Luckily, the “Duchy of Cornwall” had provided a permissive path between Poundbury and the bridleways going to Maiden Castle, so we took that:

Maiden Castle itself is an old hill fort, and probably better viewed from the air than the ground:

It was also full of sheep, so Rocco had to be on a lead…

Still, an interesting walk with no roads!

Tout Quarry Sculpture Park

Our final visit on the island was to Tout Quarry Sculpture Park, “created” from an abandoned quarry on the island:

This view of Weymouth & Chesil Beach was nice:

There were over 50 sculptures in total, though we didn’t find them all!

Church Ope

Our next stop was Church Ope, on the east side of the island. We were going to visit the Portland Museum, but due to bad planning, it was closed today. Instead we walked down past a ruined castle to a small cove:

Rocco enjoyed a swim or two:

Then we headed back up a different path, past a ruined church and back to the car.

Portland Bill

A nice day was forecast, so we drove to Portland Island, just south of Weymouth. First stop was Portland Bill, the southern most tip, and after some battles with a non functioning parking meter, set off to explore. The lighthouse looks lovely in the sun!

We visited the Lighthouse Visitor Centre, then I went on a tour of the lighthouse. This is the old lens, only replaced a few years ago:

And this is the modern LED equivalent, looking tiny by comparison:

Views from the top were superb:

After a coffee, we went for a stroll nearby; nothing special but a chance for Rocco to stretch his legs:

Hardy’s Monument revisited

After a bit of an explore, we couldn’t find anywhere nice to eat our sandwiches, so we headed back to the top of the hill near Hardy’s Monument. Much windier than on the coast, but nice views!

After lunch, we had a quick stroll up to the monument (Admiral Hardy, not Thomas Hardy) and enjoyed the flowers.