Day 57 – Weymouth to Poole

 

 Date: Saturday 23^rd October 2010   Distance: Miles 40.29

 

A storm was raging at 3 am but we got up to sunshine and a bit of cloud. After a huge breakfast we set off just before 10 am, leaving the town and heading across the road to Little Moor. There were lovely sea-views back to the west but the sky was black. The highest point was 140 metres and then it was 2 and half mile to Broadmayne, West Kington and then we picked up the cycle-way and undulating hills.

 

Rural and wooded we came to Moreton and stopped at old schoolhouse, now a tea shop. Learnt that Laurence of Arabia had lived near here and was buried in the local churchyard. We visited the church during a deluge of rain. It was exquisite. Instead of the normal stained glass it had beautiful intricately etched plain glass windows.

 

We found Laurence’s grave further down the road in the smallest cemetery ever and learnt some of his history. He had died from a motorcycle crash and his later years had been spent testing faster rescue boats to improve safety of life at sea.

 

Following the railway line mostly, we reached Wool and then a pretty town called Wareham on the River Frome. Apparently the town is walled but we never noticed while we were there. A tiny farmers market here resulted in us buying some unusual cheese. It was crunchy and we were told it was from the crystallised calcium in the cow’s milk! It had a very strong after taste.

 

We had lunch in a non-touristy pub and we enjoyed the beer and food which was the cheapest yet- £4.45 for curry and £3 for a Hot baguette. The beer was from Ringwood brewery. This is the first place we have seen dog food being given to a customer’s dog as well as water.

 

A Tourist information brochure showing the cycle path was well worth the 40p it cost as we would never have gone off road otherwise, (OS map hadn’t got it marked as cycleable) So the rest of the way to Poole was mostly cross country with a bit of walking , taking us on bridleways through forest and across fields (flat) with views of the sea and Brownsea Island. Towards Studland we found ourselves at an oil well instead of the path but we soon found the road we had missed. We could hear the steam train at Swanage but then headed back for Poole having already done more miles than expected. A chain ferry took us back to the further end of  Poole and we headed back to the Station. It was quite a few miles back but worth it to have seen around the Studland area, except we thought the train fare was a bit steep for a 20minute train ride to Weymouth (£11 each!) There were 2 carriages with room for 3 bikes each.

 

After packing the bike in the car we had dinner and had an early night.

 

Sunday:We left in the car for Lullworth Cove. It was a gorgeous day but windy and cold. Well worth a visit before heading home.