Fleet to Langton Herring

[puddleshark]

Grey sky, and a fresh westerly wind. Took a walk along the coast path, following the edges of the Fleet, the shallow lagoon lying behind the 18 mile shingle bank of Chesil Beach.



On the outskirts of Weymouth, past Chickerill, there's a long narrow potholed lane that passes the new church at Fleet (built in 1829, after the great storm of 1824 broke through the Chesil Bank, and destroyed the old church) before winding down towards the coast. Parked the car in a small lay-by beside a field gate, just before the lane reaches Moonfleet Manor, and set off through the fields to join the coast path.


A boardwalk across a boggy gully.


Moonfleet Manor Hotel. The main house is Georgian, but, judging from the extensions, the hotel may have been ambushed by the 1970s.


Moonfleet Manor offers a warm welcome to all "ramblers, pirates, children and pets". But looking at the crenellations on the front wall, I suspect the warm welcome it offers to pirates differs slightly from the warm welcome offered to ramblers, children and pets.

To one side of the coast path are fields, greening up with winter wheat, where skylarks are singing, and every now and then a pigeon-scarer fires, making me jump about a foot in the air.

To the other side of the coast path, the shallow waters of the lagoon. On the lagoon and along its margins; Brent geese, swans, oystercatchers. Across the lagoon, the great shingle bank of Chesil Beach.


Beyond the shingle bank, the sea not seen, but heard.








Herbury Island, a small headland jutting out into the Fleet, which becomes a sort-of-island in a wet winter when the fields are boggy. It used to be known locally as Donkey Island, because the beach donkeys from Weymouth were grazed there during the winter. (Do any beaches still have donkeys, I wonder?)


On the skyline, white-painted coastguard cottages at Langton Herring.



Parted company with the coast path temporarily, to head inland along a farm track which climbs towards the village of Langton Herring.


To one side, a strip of pine trees and holm oak, planted to provide cover for game.


A beacon on the high ground. Just in case the French attack. (Actually, it's probably used for Jubilees and Coronations).


The Fleet, and Chesil Beach, and the sea beyond.


The Elm Tree Inn, Langton Herring. Currently closed, though it's supposed to be re-opening in spring.

Behind it, the very odd church of St Peter's, which has the shortest church tower I've ever seen. Hardly qualifies as a tower at all. (But bearing in mind what happened to the old church at Fleet, maybe it's just keeping its head down.) Sat for a while on a bench in the tiny churchyard, sheltered from the chilly wind, and rewarded myself for having completed the outward leg of the journey with a chocolate bar, and a cup of coffee from a thermos.

Then onwards through Langton Herring, which is a strange tangledy village of narrow lanes that wind about, and up and down. It's mostly big modern villas and bungalows, though there are some pretty old cottages of the local yellow stone.



Onto Coastguard Road, a bridleway along the top of the headland towards the old Coastguard cottages.




Looking west.


From the high ground, you can see that Herbury Island really is an island. Almost.


Downhill towards the Fleet and Chesil Beach.


Time for another cup of coffee, huddled out of the wind against a boat hut wall.


The foreshore.


And the sun came out. The Met Office forecast had said no sun, none whatsoever, all day, so this was a gift.

Back onto the coast path, the westerly wind now at my back, heading back towards Moonfleet.




Looking inland.




The waymarkers so weathered and lichened as to be almost unreadable.

Comments

[bleodswean]

An impressive adventure!

[puddleshark]

A completely new walk to me! The landscape around the lagoon is so wonderful and alien, it was like going on an expedition to a completely different part of the country...

[kaishin108]

What a walk! so lovely and I was happy to read the sun came out for you.
I had to look up what a Shingle Bank was but now I know.How un-hospitable and hard to walk on.

[puddleshark]

I had never walked this path before. The landscape was just amazingly beautiful.

Yes, it is an absolute nightmare to walk along Chesil Beach, particularly at the Portland end, where the shingle is huge and ankle-turning. It's a bit better at the western end, where the shingle is pea-sized (but it still gets in your boots...)