Dorset walk 1: Portland // Favourite types of wall
- Tim Brown
- Mar 11
- 4 min read
When I first visited the Isle of Portland, I remember seeing signs saying ‘Keep Portland Weird’. I liked that. Weird is good. But ‘Keep Portland Weird’ was actually co-opted by the locals, as the phrase originated in that other Portland, the one in Oregon, USA (it’s a great place, I’ve been, definitely one of the best cities in the USA, although what constitutes weird in the USA these days is almost impossible to define, given the whole country is so fucked up). This Portland, the big lump of rock that sits off the coast of Dorset, connected by the enormous stretch of shingle that is Chesil Beach, isn’t really that weird, it’s just a bit rough round the edges and, OK, maybe a little quirky. I like it.
Before I first came here, all I really knew about it was that Gary Glitter lived in the old prison that sits on top of the island. A quick Google search says he was released three years ago (only to get arrested again and chucked back into a different prison almost immediately).
Portland is a great place for walking and taking photos. This time, my plan was to stick to the east of the island, hugging the coast as much as possible. This proved impossible at times though, because the bastard port authority has fenced off a big section of it. Being a bit of a wuss I didn’t fancy breaking in, although it would have been easy enough at one point.
My goal was Church Ope Cove, but more on that in a moment. Because first there was the quite wonderfully decaying block of old naval flats to enjoy. Or what’s left of the block anyway. It looked pretty much this way when I was last here, and there appear to be no immediate plans to make something of it, or to finally knock the entire monstrosity down. Dorset Council still refuses to do anything with it, and it looks like the developer who owns it wants fuck all to do with it either. It just sits there, dominating Castletown, almost encouraging local kids with fuck all else to do to break in and climb it. It does make for great photos though, if you like decaying concrete buildings. Which I do.
Church Ope Cove is further along the coast. I went there once before, on a beautifully sunny day, which of course was lovely. Today though, it was cold and grey, with a permanent sea mist enveloping the entire island. This made for much better photos, albeit far trickier to capture.
I reached the cove by walking through the rocky East Weares, beneath the crumbling cliffs, after first circling the prison and then the Young Offender Institution - both looking suitably imposing and bleak in the mist.
Now, there are a few things that make Church Ope Cove so good.
First, it has the biggest pebbles and stones I’ve ever seen on a beach, so it’s probably a hideous place for sunbathing and swimming.
Better than that though, it has two of my favourite things, together in one place: beach huts and dry stone walls.
If I had a favourite wall type, then dry stone walls would definitely be in my top three. Obviously, I don’t have such a list. As much as I love lists, that would be sad. All I’m saying is that if I did, dry stone walls would definitely make my top three.
Actually, the top two come to think of it. Which is what I am doing now, annoyingly. Probably, an old brick wall would be my other favourite. There, I’m glad that’s settled. And yes, beach huts are definitely my favourite type of hut. No question.
Anyway, that’s definitely enough from me. Here are my favourite photos from the day, including a couple of shots of a horse. See, I do wildlife photography too. Not that the horse was particularly wild, it was really quite friendly and very photogenic.
We've done that walk - we walked up from the lighthouse back towards Church Ope Cove.. it was a clear day.. no eery mist.. we were way too knackered by this point to go onto the actual cove,.. thanks for providing us with a photo... ☺️