Isle of Portland March 2023 - SW coast path starting at The Eight Kings pub walking towards Portland

Walking south from the Eight Kings pub you reach a gathering station for the sewage system in Portland. The path begins here as you turn left behind the station and this leads you out to the coast.

station for the sewage system

coast path sign

stone quarry crane

As you trace the coast path you can observe the disused Longstone Ope Quarries and eventually a large cave with a blow hole known as Cave Hole. Made up of a series of caves it is known for its associations with smuggling and multiple ship wrecks.

portland stone texture

quarry mound

portland stone stacked

cave hole

The walk then leads you through land mostly owned by the Crown Estate up to Portland Bill. As you loop round you can see a Ministry of Defence site used for ‘magnetic assessment and electronic calibration.’ This facility is part of the West Raised Beach, formed in the Pleistocene Epoch around 200,000 years ago.

portland bill

view west from portland bill

little hut

Walking towards Sweet Hill you can see a dull and very grey Southwell business park, amongst fields of horses. Turning right just before the business park positions you on the route that takes you back to Southwell.

southwell business park

This walk explored just the south tip of Portland. The island is an exquisite miscellany, and there is much to be discovered. Best known for the iconic stone used in buildings all over the world, the island has an atmosphere that is unusual, intriguing and tense. Portland has taken on various identities; a Roman settlement, a world heritage site, an island cursed by rabbits. Most recently it attracted significant attention due to controversy surrounding the docking of the Bibby Stockholm.