Portland - Gateway to Dorset

We would finally get to set foot on dry land again, from a real dock, and the captain had promised better weather as we reached the south of England. Well, one out of two ain't bad...when we looked out in the morning it was still grey and overcast - but we were tied to a wharf!

On the way in to Portland

Portland, when you look at it on a map (without checking Google Earth) is really in the middle of nowhere as far as tourist destinations go, so we had no idea what we wanted to do there. Gerri and David, the couple we toured with in Liverpool, had booked a private tour with a company called 'Jurassic Jaunts' and wanted to know if we'd be interested in sharing again. Yes, that's an odd name for a tour company, but this area is known as the Jurassic Coast because stone from that period and two others has been found along this coastline. We took a look at the company's website and thought it might be an interesting day after all.

Connecting with our guide, Mark, wasn't too difficult, but he had said that, since they're still not used to the cruise ship traffic, the security staff at the port made it a bit of a headache for private tour companies to get in and out.

Once we were out of the port and on our way, we asked Mark to take us 'where he would take visiting family'. Rather than going along the Jurassic Coast, we ended up in rural Dorset, visiting a couple of old villages and really out-of-the-way spots. Mark was a born and raised Dorset man, and he said he really enjoyed showing people around in a small vehicle so he could get to places the coach buses couldn't.

Monica has a favourite British author who set many of her novels in rural England, including southern Dorset, so many of the towns and even some of the villages we passed through were already somewhat familiar, if only by their names.

Our first quick stop was in the town of Abbotsbury. It is easy to see that the town is old - there are signs all over for the celebration of its 250th anniversary in August, but there's even more history than that. Apparently, archaeologists have found evidence of settlement in the area dating back about 6,000 years! It is quite a beautiful place, with the St. Nicholas Church dominating the town. Mark took us into the church first; it isn't overly large but it, too, has quite a history. The wooden pulpit, beautifully carved, also has 2 nice round musketball holes in it. It got these in September, 1664 during the civil war between the Parliamentary and Royalist forces. The organ dates back to 1886 and has some of the most beautifully decorated organ pipes we have ever seen.

Inside the church. The hand stitched kneeling
pillows and pew pillows are beautiful

The pulpit with the organ behind it. The organ
dates back to 1888.

The graveyard, with St. Catherine's Chapel
on the hill beyond

We took a walk around the town,

and then Mark drove us up to a hill outside of town where we had the most wonderful view of Abbotsbury, the coast, and St. Catherine's Chapel standing on a hill overlooking the town. The chapel is still used for services on certain days of the year and is considered part of St. Nicholas Church.

The chapel. In the distance is Chesil Beach,
that connects Portland to the mainland

Our next stop, after driving along a few of those narrow roads bordered by hedgerows or stone walls, and covered by trees, was a tiny, tiny place called Corton. Most people, if they turned off the main road, would think that it was the name of a farm or a house, and drive right by the road. It turns out that Corton is not much more than that, but it has a manor house, a farmhouse, and, surprisingly, a small church. Mark told us that there's an older lady who lives in the farmhouse; she is known to invite his tour guests in for tea when she's there, and when he says they're off a cruise ship, she's seen it coming toward Portland from her vantage point. Unfortunately when we got there, she must have been out in the farm, since we didn't see her anywhere.

Driving into Corton

The farmhouse

A nice view and beautiful garden

The manor house of Corton

Mark took us into the church, which although it is very small, is probably the parish church for the farms and homes nearby. It is very simple, and has a stone altar that dates back to the 12th Century.

From Corton, we drove toward the very old town of Cerne Abbas. On the way, we passed a number of beautiful old English houses that reminded us of our Thomas Kinkade plates and the needlepoints that Monica has done. One of our favourites:

Cerne Abbas is a settlement that was originally built around the Benedictine Cerne Abbey, which was established in 987. The Abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII in 1539 and as he had many of them dissolved it was later mostly destroyed. What is left of it is actually privately owned, but Mark got us behind the gates and gave us a good 'look-round' as the British would call it. The old gatehouse is now a rather large manor house, the old graveyard still stands, as does the abbey guesthouse and one of the original gate towers.

The manor was the old gatehouse

The abbey guesthouse

The gate tower

Inside the gate tower. It is almost unbelievable
that this has been standing for over 1,000 years

We also had some time to wander around the town, and found St. Mary's Church on Abbey Street. The church was built by the abbey in the 13th century and is still the centre of parish life. We didn't go inside, but as we wandered around we found the Squibb Garden as well as the very well preserved stocks. It didn't look like they'd been used lately, but they were chained down so nobody could take off with them. They're probably historical artefacts themselves by now.

As we strolled around the town, we found a number of other interesting things:

This pub dates back to 1570, probably
in the same building

These buildings, across the street from
St. Mary's, probably date back to the
time it was erected

A duck house in a small pond. Couldn't resist!!

Outside of the town is something else the town is known for: The Cerne Giant, a 180 foot high chalk figure carved into the side of a hill. The origins of this figure are unknown, and since there was no written mention of it until 1694 any speculation that it is 1500 years old can't be substantiated. Even though some people may blush at looking closely, it is actually a National Trust monument.

Mark had another group from the ship to take out in the afternoon, so we headed back toward the ship. The nearest larger town to Portland is actually Weymouth, which has also been around for a very long time. In fact, it was one of two seafaring ports through which the Black Death reached England from the continent in 1348, where fleas from black rats came ashore from a ship and ultimately infested an entire population. In 1583 Captain Clark left Weymouth and, along with Sir Humphrey Gilbert, eventually discovered Newfoundland.

We didn't have time to stop anywhere in Weymouth, but we got a few photos on the fly. This is definitely an area we'd like to visit again and explore in more detail. Here are a few photos of Weymouth:

Crazy King George III

Weymouth, the quintessential seaside resort

Who's heard of a Punch and Judy show? They still
put them on regularly right on the beach

Reminds many people of southern France

The Victoria Clock

Back in Portland, Mark drove us above the town, to an overlook that is actually a huge block of limestone, Portland stone. This building material is known worldwide, as the UN Building in New York is made of this stone, as is St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The overlook offers more than just a nice view; there is a huge bunker-like building cut into it near the top. It used to be a prison, but now it is a centre where Immigration officials decide if people wanting to come to Britain can stay.

Looking down over Portland

A closer look at the Channel side of Chesil Beach

In the harbour Mark showed us the final 2 remaining
mulberry caissons from the D-Day Normandy invasion.

The Portland Harbour Fort, built to protect the harbour
entrance

Portland was the home of sailing events at the
2012 Olympic games. It still seems to be
a very popular sport.

Our brief tour came to an end, but we are sure to come back to this area and explore it in more detail. The only way we can describe the day is that we discovered some of southern England's true gems and that they have whetted our appetite for more.

Portland and Weymouth wanted to make sure we didn't forget them. We had a wonderful sendoff at sailaway - the Weymouth Concert Brass played on the wharf, and we received a two-gun salute from the local historic militia.

Friday would be the last official day of the cruise, and since the weather had turned very nice from mid-morning onward, we hoped that our tender stop at St. Helier on the island of Jersey would still be on the schedule.