South Haven Point to Weymouth (plus Isle of Portland)

19th-23rd September 2002

Highlights:
South Haven Point, Old Harry’s Rocks, Swanage, Durlston Head, St Aldhelm’s Head and Chapel, Lulworth Ranges, Lulworth Cove, Stair Hole, Durdle Door, Chesil Beach, the east coast of Portland.

Introduction.

I don't know what made us decide to do it; I vaguely remember having seen a TV programme advertised (for a different region) in our telly guide earlier that year, following a chap walking the South West Coast Path.

Neither of us had done any serious long-distance walking before. We'd been bought up to enjoy the Traditional Hearty English Sunday Afternoon Walk (THE SAW). However, THE SAW tends to be no more than 5 or so miles, and neither of us had walked more than 7 or 8 miles in an "official" walk (this excludes us both having managed to drunkenly stagger back fairly vast distances overnight from parties in other towns!).

We did a few practise walks in the Chilterns over the preceding couple of months, and had got up to 12 miles with a fully laden pack without any serious problems. We hadn't, however, been able to practise doing a couple of days on the trot, and a work colleague who had walked much of the SWCP warned that walking long distances on consecutive days did give you cumulative aches - especially on the second and third days. She didn't arise any concern in me though - I felt fit, healthy and up for the challenge. Little did I realise it would be the start of an obsession with walking…

Please note that I'm writing this retrospectively from very rough notes more than two-and-a-half years down the line. So please excuse any errors or inconsistencies I may make.