The Isle of Portland is a prominatory on the Dorset coast jutting out south into the Channel. It is attached to the mainland by Chesil Beach and by a causeway (this strip is only 200 metres wide). Although it is a major prominatory on the south coast I have never been there and had no idea what it would look like. I knew that a lot of stone from there had been used in London in past centuries.

The Isle of Portland is visible from both east and west as it is a lot higher than the coastal area around Weymouth. It is about 6.5 km from north to south and 2.7 km at east to west at the widest point.

There is a car park near the war memorial (OS Map 194, Grid reference SY690731). From the war memorial there is a great view north and following the coast northwest. Part of the coast path goes in a loop around the island and I picked this up in the car park yesterday and went round the whole island.

I picked up the path and followed it between the Verne Citadel - Victorian fortifications overlooking Fortuneswell - and the High Angle Battery. The Verne is the highest point on the island; no height is given on the map but it is higher than locations marked as 103 or 102 m. The path turns south and you get views across Weymouth Bay to the cliffs between Osmington Mills and Lulworth. The cliff is not steep so you feel well away from the coast. There was not a lot of bird life other than carrion crows and jackdaws; maybe most were grounded with the wind.

The path skits an HM Young Offender Institution and then there is the noise and traffic of quarrying on the inland side. There seem to be a lot of both disused and actively used quarries. The path drops down close to sea level at Church Ope Cove and for a while the east coast looks interesting.

The cliffs at this point were not very high - roughly 30 metres. When the path was lower there was a welcome shelter from the North wind!

The path goes for another short spell inland along a road (the inevitable quarry on the other side) then returns to the coast at Freshwater Bay. The coast follows the line of the cliffs southward and it is noticable that the cliffs are petering out. I was surprised to see that there were three lighthouse structures within about a kilometre of the Bill; two are disused.

Approaching the Bill there were numerous structures like garden sheds - holiday homes or beach houses without a beach? At this point I got the full blast of the wind again. Portland Bill itself is an anticlimax.

Just rocks going down into the water. No wonder I had not seen photos of it! I imagine that the Isle of Portland has layers of rock titling from north to south. Many of the rocks in the area appeared to be flat.

So next, it was north into the face of the wind. After reaching the third lighthouse it was clear that the west cliffs looked a lot more interesting than those on the east side. They seemed much steeper and were rising. The path is easy walking just gently sloping upwards to the north. There were a number of great black-backed gulls but few birds seemed to be in the air.

The path passes west of Weston then the final stretch is near an area that was obviously once quarried. There are large blocks of limestone on the cliffside of the path and even stone arches over the path. Finally Fortuneswell comes into view again and you can return to the car park.

This was not the most spectacular coast walk I have done but you can easily get a feel for the Isle of Portland. Based on the OS Map I estimate the walk to be 12.5-13 km.