Exploring England #3
Think of beaches and images of never-ending sand, wide blue skies and brilliant sunshine come to mind. But Chesil Beach, on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset is anything but sandy.
The beach, formed at the end of the last ice age, is 28 km long, up to 12 metres high and completely composed of pebbles. The size of the pebbles varies from one end of the beach to the other. At West Bay in the north the pebbles are tiny while south at Portland they are much larger. It’s said that fishermen landing on the coast at night can pinpoint their location according to the size of the stones on the beach.
Fleet Lagoon runs parallel to the ocean behind Chesil Beach between Portland and Abbotsbury. The lagoon is tidal and at low tide there’s just a puddle of brackish water left. A boardwalk across the tidal flats is decorated with wooden carvings of local wildlife.
After the bridge crossing, the pebbles begin. It’s an arduous climb to the top of the mound and the slope on the other side, down to the water’s edge, is just as steep.
The beach may be vast, but each of its parts is tiny.
Isn’t nature fascinating with the endless array of possibilities that she has to play with with. I’m rather taken with the idea that local fishermen can tell where they are by the size of the pebbles!
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I thought that was intriguing. There was definitely a difference from one end to the other.
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Have you read On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan? A very interesting book. The author admitted to taking some pebbles of the beach while he was writing it, which led to a lot of complaints in the media! He eventually had to return them.
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I haven’t but I did read about it. I must look it up on my Kindle. There are actually signs there saying not to take the pebbles because it’s no longer replenishing itself. I guess if everyone did, there would be no beach left.
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Good for the calf muscles! It has been a while since I clambered over Chesil Beach! Have you been on the spit at Blakeney Point in North Norfolk? And there is one near Lymington at Milford-on-Sea where you can walk to Hurst Castle. We took a little ferry boat over instead. Good post for the challenge and I am enjoying seeing your travels in England 🙂
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It’s always good to get some exercise while on holidays. We haven’t been to either of those places – so much more to see in UK. I’m glad you’re enjoying my posts Jude, because I’m still in the first week and there are four more weeks of posts to go!
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When I think of England I don’t think about large beaches but apparently I have been wrong
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This beach is certainly large!
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Never thought of large beaches here. Variety of pebbles is interesting. I am enjoying learning about England from your posts.
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I guess we tend to think of England as a small country but some of the landscapes are vast.
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I love the little wood-carved wildlife on the boardwalk. It’s no easy feat walking on pebble beaches like this. I did it one day in Iceland, with a fierce wind blowing, and it felt like the pebbles were grabbing my feet with every step. It’s interesting how the size of the pebbles varies from one end of the beach to the other. 🙂
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It was tough going up and down. Good exercise to burn off all the delicious food I ate!
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I can imagine! 🙂
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https://dorsetwalkerblog.wordpress.com/friar-waddon-to-bridport-via-abbotsbury/
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lovely!
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Thanks. It was a great place to visit.
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Those pebbles look like they would be hard to walk on! Especially uphill!
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You wouldn’t want to go barefoot.
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No, you are right. I wouldn’t. Did you try it? 🙂
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No way! I had my walking boots on.
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LOL!!! 🙂
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Wow that’s quite a different sort of beach to what I envisaged! 😀 Great moody shots!
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It’s not the sort of beach we’re used to, that’s for sure.
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I absolutely love those pebbles. I wonder how many go missing every year and end up in gardens…
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I suspect very few disappear from the beach. It’s England’s only natural World Heritage site so it’s well protected.
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I do love our beaches here in the U.K. I think monkey would enjoy dinosaur fossil hunting here.
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He certainly would have some fun.
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Amazing those pebbles. It “funny” that traces after the ice age are yet visible in many places on the earth. I lived 19½ years in a place where they were visible also. If You do not mind, my post is here:
Ice age ended here.
I loved also nice woodcarvings of Your post. Carvings are always my favorite. Happy weekend.
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The wood carvings were all the way along the bridge. I’ll check out your post.
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Wonderful place and gorgeous photos. No sun-baking on this beach however I feel.
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Miriam, you’d be surprised. When the sun is shining, English people will sunbake anywhere. 🙂
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Yeah I bet.
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I’ve heard the term rocky shores, but this is really rocky. No walking barefoot there.:-)
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There’s no sand between your toes on this beach.
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Love the word brackish 🙂 🙂 Very descriptive! And I really like the carvings on the boardwalk too. Not my territory, I’m afraid, but it always looks fascinating. Good choice for the challenge.
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The water is a mixture of sea water and fresh water from the streams that flow into it. Apparently it’s perfect for water birds.
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Not dissimilar to the river/lagoon situation in the Ria Formosa. 🙂
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I love pebble beaches. Good foot reflexology! Nice shots.
Peta
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True! I had my shoes on though. 🙂
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Good posts, beautiful blog.
Congratulations.
Welcome to see my creations:
http://paintdigi.wordpress.com
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Thank you!
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You’r welcome 🍁
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Those pebbles are beautiful, I can imagine walking on that beach would be good for building muscles!
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Definitely. We didn’t walk far, we were too busy admiring the scenery!
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I can understand that 🙂
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I’ve heard Chesil Beach mentioned many times (also in poetry I think?) but of course have never been. I’m enjoying joining you on your tour of this part of the coast.
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Maybe you should plan a Dorset holiday. In the meantime, I’m glad you’re coming with me!
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It’s great to be able to enjoy other parts of the country from the comfort of my own home. 🙂 Yes, a Dorset trip will have to be organised.
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Yikes, that would be hard going.
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Worth the effort though.
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