Friday, 14 April 2006
Coastwalk , South West Coast Path
Kimmeridge Bay → Chapman's Pool
Distance: 4.40 miles
Ascent: 351 metres
Duration: 1 hour 59 minutes
Crumbling cliffs
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Today's walk saw us re-visiting the Jurrasic Coast whose cliff paths we started walking last July. From Kimmeridge Bay, we climbed to Clavell Tower, an impressive folly perched perilously close to the cliff edge. Later this year the Landmark Trust plan to move the tower back away from the edge and turn it into a holiday home.
At the Freshwater Steps waterfall, what I took to be abandoned crates turned out on closer inspection to be an old flower arrangement spelling 'DAD'. Further along the cliff-top path reached the summit of Houns-tout where the crumbling cliff left craggy outcrops and revealed perfectly layered cross-sections. Every cliff here tells a different story.
After the small, sunlit cove of Chapman's Bay we turned inland to complete the circuit back to Kimmeridge. Although mist obscured the view of the furthest headlands, there were plenty of spectacular views to show us how far we'd come since we started last year.