Last day on the South West Coast Path! Fitting that it’s a circular walk, bringing my journey of two parts together at the end. The Isle of Portland is a teardrop-shaped quasi-island hanging south of Weymouth, joined only by a vehicular causeway. It’s been of vital importance to the local economy as the source of high quality white limestone, quarried since Roman times and used more recently for grand edifices such as St. Paul’s Cathedral and the UN General Assembly in New York.

I started by taking a bus from town across the causeway to join the Path on the island itself. A short walk along a seawall, then a steep climb up to the Tout Quarry Sculpture Park.

A long gentle downhill brought me to Portland Bill, an iconic red & white lighthouse though in truth there were several lighthouses here. I suppose each was replaced by bigger & better ones.

More limestone quarries on the walk up the east side of the island. Then a stretch along an old railway line. I started to lose interest when the Path took a sharp turn up and inland when the old railway seemed to continue on in perfectly good condition. Walking past a Youth Offenders Detention Center with 20’ barbed wire fencing drained my interest more.

A gravel lot, a barbed wire(!) enclosed camping site, then a rocky descent to a residential/industrial area had me checking my phone for the next bus stop. Not an exhilarating finish to my SWCP adventure but I’m sure an ice cream will cheer me up! 😋

Next: 4 days R&R in London before returning home!!!