Golden Cap

Golden Cap is situated on the South West Coastal Path between Charmouth and Seatown in Dorset, England. It is part of the UK's only natural world heritage site known as the Jurassic Coast. Golden Cap is the highest point in the area and well worth a climb to the top to see some stunning views. A couple of times I have been up there I have looked down on top of a coast guard helicopter that patrols the coastline occasionally; it was a weird experience for me to look down on a helicopter in flight.

The starting point I use for my walks to Golden Cap is from a National Trust car park at Stonebarrow Hill. The parking is free for National Trust members and a small fee is charged for non-members. Paths to Golden Cap are clearly marked but for anyone who may be interested in this walk, here is a starter; as you face towards the sea, walk left and down towards the sea.

It is well worth visiting the area at different times of year to see the different flora coming into flower. In spring, some fields are a carpet of yellow and later on, different shrubs start coming into flower. This part of the coastline is owned by the National Trust and they lease out the land to farmers. You will therefore at different times of the year pass cattle with calves and sheep with their lambs grazing in the fields. In one area near to a place called St. Gabriel's, occasionally, you will see some very friendly horses grazing.

This reminds me of a story, and perhaps also a warning about the weather. I was walking with my family on this coastline when a heavy sea mist suddenly descended on the hills. Through the mist, I could hear horses whinnying, but could not see them. This was quite an eerie experience and one which my future daughter-in-law did not much care for. 

It should also be noted that the cliffs are constantly moving and as a consequence, rock falls occur. It is quite safe as long as you follow what usually is a small diversion away from the cliff edge. The National Trust usually erect a small wooden barrier to keep people away from what was a well worn path.

If you like sunsets then this is the place for you. As you walk back from Golden Cap back towards the car park at Stonebarrow Hill, you are more or less facing west and in an ideal position to see some spectacular sunsets; weather permitting.

There is a circular walk you can do from Stonebarrow Hill via Golden Cap to Langdon Hill Wood, which also forms part of the estate. I recommend this circular walk in springtime when the bluebells and wild garlic are in full bloom. In fact I think I will use the Langdon Hill Circular Walk as a future post.

Please re-visit soon.

 

Lifeboat launch at Lyme Regis

I had just finished eating my fish and chips on a bench at The Cobb, Lyme Regis, Dorset, when all of a sudden, a klaxon sounded and a pre-recorded message came over the speakers from the adjacent lifeboat station, "Clear the area, the lifeboat is about to launch". Well, I've never seen a lifeboat launch before and as luck would have it, I had my camera with me which was already set up on a tripod ready to take some night shots of the town.

Where I was sitting overlooks the small harbour in The Cobb. Moored in the harbour were a number of small boats. The tide was out and consequently, the water was not very deep in the harbour; indeed you would be struggling to get your ankles wet in the harbour let alone launch a lifeboat. As I moved my tripod with the camera on top towards the edge of the walkway, I saw a number of cars hastily arrive and park close to the lifeboat station. I guessed that the occupants of the cars were the volunteer crew of the lifeboat. My guess was confirmed when I saw these guys run into the lifeboat station.

I was less than a fifty metres from the slipway outside the lifeboat station and turned my camera towards the bottom of the slipway. I then hastily took an exposure reading and set up the camera accordingly. Shortly after doing this, the lifeboat trundled out in what I can only describe as a cage and was being pushed towards the slipway by a tractor. There were crew members atop of the lifeboat, which had it's blue light flashing together with navigation lights on.

The tractor slowly pushed the lifeboat down the slipway and along the harbour bed towards the harbour entrance. The tractor, together with the lifeboat, picked it's way through the boats in the harbour and when they reached the harbour entrance, the lifeboat was discharged from the cage and went off into the night.

Unfortunately, because of the darkness, my shutter speed was so slow that the only thing that gives away the presence of the lifeboat are the streaks of coloured lights in the image. You will see a dashed blue line above the streaks of colour; I think that this must be from the blue flashing light on the lifeboat.

I had a chat with some of the guys at the lifeboat station and they told me that this launch was the real thing and not a practice. I was also told that it took just nine minutes for the crew to get from their homes and launch the lifeboat. I though that was pretty impressive.

After all the excitement I wondered what I could do to calm myself down a bit. I know, I thought to myself, I think I'll go to the.............