6.5km along the coast and 9.7 inland
Lulworh Ranges walk part 2 – the remainder of section 67 of the South West Coastal Path guide
At least the weather was very different from yesterday – the wind had generally dropped and although it was still cold, we had to scrape ice off the car before starting, the sun shone most of the time.
We drove to the carpark in Tyneham (voluntary contribution suggested as £2 which goes to help maintain the village) and walked back down the track that leads to Worbarrow Bay – today looking tranquil with a calm blue sea.
At first it is a fairly easy path along the bay, but it soon steepens, and the grassy slope was very slippery following yesterday’s rain. There is an Iron-age fort on the top, Flowers Burrow, and magnificent views both along the coast, which is no doubt why the iron-age folk built a fort here.
From there, there is a fairly steep slope down, but as we were now on the chalk, it was much drier and less slippery. After a pleasant stretch along the ridge, with almost vertical chalk cliffs only a few meters to the left, the coast path leaves the ridge and descends to Mupe Bay. This is quite a steep descent, with rough steps, but then leads to a level, but muddy section. There is a path down to the beach and several kayakers had made the journey from Lulworth.
From here the geology is visible, with folds in the rocks in a similar way to the better-known cliffs around Lulworth cove. The path continues and we found the steps down to Lulworth Cove, there are a couple of informal routes down, but the steps seemed a safer option, although the bottom section was slippery.
Lulworth Cove is a classic example of an almost circular inlet, formed as the outer harder rock was eroded – it forms a perfect natural harbour that has been used for centuries. Although along the Range walks, we regularly met friendly people of all ages, when we got to the cove it was busy, as were the cafes etc that were allowed to open up the main road.
We walked through the village and took a route with a steady climb back to the Ranges – then followed the ridge and the steep decent and assent to Flowers Burrow. To avoid the steep, slippery decent to Worbarrow Bay, we followed the ridge path towards Whitefield Carpark, and then took a track back down to Tyneham. This was a much safer route and gave us lovely views as the sun was just going down.
A quick look at Tyneham village, sadly looking rather neglected at present, the covered parts were closed due to Covid19 restrictions, which is a pity as it is important to maintain the historic site. We got back to the car at just about sunset at 4pm.
