A water taxi ride transforms a linear hike along Dorset's Jurassic Coast into a circular route. The journey begins with a rigid inflatable boat (Rib) from West Bay to Lyme Regis, with plans to walk the 10 miles back.
A boat trip through history
The rain stops as the boat leaves the harbour, revealing views along Chesil Beach to Portland and west to Lyme Regis, with Start Point on the Devon coast visible on the horizon. Skipper Nick, highly knowledgeable, pauses to highlight the shoreline's history and the treacherous waters of Lyme Bay, where the seabed is studded with wrecks from fishing boats, smugglers' ships, and the two world wars.
On New Year's Day 1915, the battleship HMS Formidable was torpedoed by a German submarine, with fewer than 200 of its 750 crew surviving. During the second world war, the Dorset coast served as a major mustering station for allied forces before D-day. In Exercise Tiger, a rehearsal for the Normandy landings, hundreds of American service personnel were killed in an attack by German boats, later known as the Battle of Lyme Bay; the wreck sites are now designated war graves.
Lyme Regis and the Cobb
At Lyme Regis, the walkers disembark on the Cobb, the harbour wall made famous by Jane Austen, who had Louisa jump from it in Persuasion, and by John Fowles, who lived in Lyme. The film adaptation of his novel The French Lieutenant's Woman starred Meryl Streep as Sarah Woodruff, and its trailer begins with her sweeping across the Cobb. For filming, many town buildings were given a 19th-century facade, and the town's bookshop kept its temporary fascia for years.
The walk back to West Bay begins inland, as the west Dorset coast is friable and cliffs keep falling onto beaches, forcing a diversion through a golf course to Charmouth. Historically, a coastal road called Long Entry connected the settlements; in 1725, a 17-year-old Henry Fielding attempted to abduct his cousin Sarah from Lyme, escaping along Long Entry before being stopped by her guardian.
Fossils and ancient landscapes
Along the path, a sculpture by Greta Berlin depicts Mary Anning, a hammer in one hand and the skeleton of Ichthyosaurus anningae held aloft, reflecting her importance to palaeontology. The boat trip began on crumbly sandstone, which gave way to fossil-rich clay westward. Charmouth, a village with no harbour, is popular for swimming and paddleboarding due to its shallow waters.
The next section of the South West Coast Path to West Bay coincides with the Monarch's Way, the route Charles II took to flee to mainland Europe after the civil war. The walkers pass the remains of St Gabriel's Church, which fell into disuse in the 18th century but sheltered smugglers' contraband. Soon they reach Golden Cap, the highest point on the south coast at 191 metres (627ft) above sea level, with views over Lyme Bay.
Final stretch to West Bay
At Seatown, the group stops at the Anchor Inn for refreshments, meeting friends on a shorter walk. From Thorncombe Beacon, they descend to Eype Mouth, whose church was chosen by PJ Harvey to record Let England Shake, a Mercury prize-winning album. On the final stretch, signs reference a cliff fall in 2020, and the path is frequently redirected for safety.
West Bay, originally called Bridport Harbour, was renamed by the railway company to attract tourists. The railway is gone, its station now hosting a restaurant in railway carriages, but West Bay, with its chip stalls and views back towards Lyme, is a fitting end—a town out of time.
