Radipole Lake
My birthday. I have a tradition of trying to do something a little out of the ordinary on the actual day and today I developed a plan to visit Weymouth - by train from Poole - go round the RSPB reserve at Radipole Lake, have lunch at the celebrated Crab House Cafe at nearby Wyke Regis, and to complete the day with a town walk to explore Weymouth.
Radipole Lake
Radipole Lake is a nature reserve almost in the centre of Weymouth and only 5 minutes walk from the railway station. Arriving at the excellent visitor centre you are presented with an area of open water surrounded by reed beds. The main lake is fed by the River Wey, from which Weymouth of course takes its name.
We struck out for the North Hide along a gravel path winding between bushes and crossing small waterways.
About a kilometer later, having been serenaded for much of the way by the beautiful sounds of assorted but generally invisible warblers, we reached the hide. We did manage to see a Reed Warbler on the way. During our short stay in the hide, we did not catch sight of the Hen Harrier or Kingfishers we had been told about at the visitor centre, but we did see some acrobatic Common Terns and various ducks and geese.
On the way back we followed the Buddleia Loop into a different part of the reserve. There were yellow Flag Irises in profusion at the edges of the narrow waterways.
Sightings at Radipole Lake
Just before we reached the North Hide, we were stopped in our tracks by some intense warbling which seemed to be coming from a nearby bush. After a while we spotted this Sedge Warbler sitting on a branch and letting rip. I was able to get close enough to take a reasonable picture. This was a delight because warblers generally are notorious for being heard but not seen.
The Crab House Cafe
The next stage of the day's entertainment involved a cheat - we walked back to the station and took a cab down to Wyke Regis for lunch at the Crab House Cafe. It is located just off the main road to Portland, just behind Chesil Beech in a wooden structure which could generously be described as unprepossessing.
However, the food is absolutely superb. The turbot steak in saffron cream with mussels was one of the very best dishes I have ever eaten - even the side order of chips was outstanding.
In due course we took another cab back to the Pavilion Theatre at the end of the beach to begin our exploration of the town.
Weymouth town
We loosely followed a route available from the Visit Weymouth website. We started by walking out to the end of the Pleasure Pier. It was not at all visually pleasing, but once we reached the end, the view across the bay towards Redcliff Point was delightful. The end of the south pier can be seen on the right.
We now retraced our steps to reach the end of the Esplanade and the long, curving sandy beach. The curve of the houses and hotels behind the beach was pleasing, especially as they were all of a similar height and apparent age. Pevsner asks "has any town a more spectacular seafront than Weymouth?"
We turned left however to follow the line of the harbour and walk along Custom House Quay, to soon pass the former Custom House itself. It is said that somewhere near here a trading vessel berthed in 1348 and brought the Black Death to England.
As we approached the Town Bridge we were surprised to discover that it is raised every couple of hours to allow boats in and out of the marina. Obvious really. It was built in 1930, the latest in a series of bridges at this point. There is even a webcam, if you want to follow events there.
We crossed the bridge and turned left along the quay (Trinity Road). There was a pretty collection of bow-windowed Georgian houses, which put us in mind of recent visit to Burano. Were they too to help sailors find their way home?
We turned into Trinity Street to see the Tudor House.
The plaque said that it dated from "about 1600", which means that it possibly wasn't a Tudor house at all (Elizabeth I died of course in 1603), or was only very briefly.
We returned to the quay and headed towards the Nothe Fort (seen below from the other bank), completed in 1872 and now a museum.
We climbed the hill behind the fort to reach the delightful Nothe Gardens, with lovely views towards Portland, with its harbour in the foreground.
At the end of the Nothe Gardens we reached Newton’s Cove, where there are further views of the groynes and breakwaters of Portland Harbour, the second largest man-made harbour in the world. They appear almost continuous, but in fact there are three ship channels. (So what is the largest such harbour? you ask. Jebel Ali in Dubai apparently.) Construction of the harbour began at about the same time as the work on Nothe Fort.
We now headed back towards Weymouth Harbour, passing the former Devenish's brewery, now known as Brewer's Quay. It has not been redeveloped as dwellings in the same way as the one in Dorchester, but perhaps it is only a matter of time.
We crossed the Town Bridge again and walked through the pedestrian shopping streets to reach the Esplanade and the statue of King George III. It was erected in 1809 to commemorate his 50th year as monarch (he came to the throne in 1760). The statue has only been painted since 1949.
According to Pevsner, George paid his first visit in 1789 and came regularly until 1805. Royal patronage helped the town to grow.
In introducing his "perambulation" around Weymouth, Pevsner says "One must of course begin at the statue of George III ..." Perhaps we should have.
Conditions: sunny, warm.
Distance: 5 or 6 miles in all.
Map: Explorer OL15 (Purbeck and South Dorset).
Rating: four stars.
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