October half term we decided to take a couple of days in the van to Dorset. My father-in-law was visiting from America so we wanted him to come stay with us for a night. We found a lovely campsite called Portesham Dairy Farm Campsite which was situated in Portesham near the Jurassic Coast.
This campsite is now a firm favourite. Not only lovely pitches but there is a 24-hour vending station onsite with, from what I saw everything you could need and more. The ice-creams went down well with the children and the milk machine prevented me a trip to the shop in the morning. Incidentally the milk is from local dairy which is a lovely shopping local bonus. As is a lovely deli opposite the site called Ducks Farm Shop, which had all manor of lovely produce.
Also opposite was a wonderful pub with the best Halloween decorations I have ever seen in a pub - definitely one to come down for, and they even had a halloween themed dinner on the 31st. Great effort guys!. We spend both nights here as we loved it so much and was afforded a folk ukulele band practice which was a joy to watch. The pub was called the Kings Arms and had its own special brewed beer called King Knut which was delicious.
This was a flying visit this half term as my father-in-law was visiting from Texas, so now we have a caravan we could bring him along so he can get as much of the green green grass of home as he could. I had never been to Chesil Beach so the first day we did a big walk staring in Abbotsbury.
Abbotsbury is well known for its Swannery and Subtropical Gardens, however at this time of year we didn't go to those, noting that we can come back here another time. What I really wanted was a stomp out with the dog and get some sea air and lush views. So our walk took us from Abbotsbury up to the South Dorset Ridgeway path up to Abbotsbury Castle hill fort and a wonderful trig point that gives you a wonderful view of Chesil Beach and Portland Bill in its entirety.
You then make you way down towards Chesil Beach then walk along the vast shingle expanse until you reach the rather wonderful Chesil Beach Cafe. It was here we stopped for a late lunch and I had some wonderfully fresh seafood, what a fabulous place to stop after a brilliant eye-feasting walk. It is then another mile back inland to Abbotsbury where we had parked.
Our last full day was a promise for the children to go fossil hunting to our very special place in Charmouth. We love it here (see previous blog posts) and it really never dissapoints when hunting for fossils. The boys and I spent hours chiselling away while my Husband and Father-in-Law had a descent catch up whilst taking Digby for a walk.
We finished the day visiting West Bay and having lunch at the Watch House Cafe. After lunch we took a stroll to the beach. I must say I was very saddened to see the cliff erosion there from our previous visits. You can no longer make the steep climb up and over the cliff that we once did. It goes to show how fragile the earth is or how powerful nature can be at changing the landscape.
Another wonderfully short and sweet weekend in Dorset. Until next time.
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