Weather: Sunny intervals, shower
at end of day.
Distance: 19 km (11.8
miles) Total Distance: miles
What a day - not so much with the actual walking but the
getting there and back! I used public transport so that Margaret and the family
could have a break from trekking round after me. I took the early train from
Weymouth to Wareham and then a bus to Worth Matravers. It was then a walk down
through the country lanes to the place where I had stopped walking the previous day.
There were good views back along the cliffs where I had
walked the previous couple of days. I
was getting sad that this was the last day of cliff walking for a long time and
determined to enjoy it. There was one
big climb down towards St Abans Head and then a very pleasant stroll to
Durleston Head. I passed one couple who
would stop to give me a life when I was hitching the following day. The path kept mainly to the cliff top but
occasionally dropped down to the sea at old quarry workings. At the Swanage end
of this section the path went through Durlston Park, busy with visitors and a
mix of cliff path around lighthouses and woodland walks.
On the way into Swanage the path went across open ground
and down to the headland and then back along a road, rather than the beach into
Swanage. I thought Swanage was the end of the cliffs but the other side of the
town there was indeed the last of the hills. I stopped for a batch and cup of tea and
then headed for the last climb. In the
guidebook, the official path went inland around New Swanage and then up the
hill to Ballard Down, but after taking this route for a while I read in the
book that the path along the beach was usually OK so I backtracked and took
that instead.
The last hill of the week
was a fair climb but the views from the headland were spectacular both
backwards from where I had come and towards Poole. On the way down into Studland it started to
spot with rain, the only rain I saw all week.
There did not appear to be a path along the beach at Stutland so it was
a stroll through a pleasant village dotted with National Trust places. I had
walked fast all the way from Swanage but had missed the bus back to Swanage by
some 15 minutes and had to wait another 45 minutes for the next one. I tried
hitching but without any luck.
Once I reached
Swanage it was another fair wait for a bus back to Wareham so I started walking
out of the town and hitching. After about half an hour a car stopped driven by
Hilderberg. I sat in the back with her baby daughter. Also in the car was
Trevor who had only recently met Hilderberg the day before and was on his way
to catch a bus home to Guilford. Both were Hilderberg and Trevor's brother were
divorced and so the conversation revolved around acrimonious relationships.
Trevor spent his time taking pictures of "the beautiful Devon scenery" and
Corfe Castle out or actually through the car window - I hate to think what they
turned out like.
As we approached Wareham the traffic came to a
standstill and we only edged forward.
There turned out to be a major gas leak just outside Wareham station
thus closing the station. Trevor and I
got dropped off and stood in the bus queue for a wile before realizing that we
were not likely to go anywhere fast and we both strolled off in opposite
directions. I made the rash decision to
try to hitch to Wool the next station towards Weymouth - rash because it was at
least five miles away and if I had been patient a bus would have arrived to get
me onto the same train I eventually caught anyway. The main road was busy and dangerous and I
had no luck hitching. I eventually cut
off the main road to take the slightly longer and safer back road only to find
there was hardly any traffic at all. I
eventually got a lift from a fellow environmental scientist though I never got
to find out who he worked for.
As the time was now passing and it was 6 o'clock I
phoned Cardiff to ask mum to call the flat in Weymouth to tell Margaret that I
was safe but would be late! I got to the
flat at 7.15pm after a good walk but frustrated by the travelling aspect.
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