title A Walk to Portland Bill, Portland, Dorset - 16th April 2025 intro Sean and Nosher head out for an epic walk almost all the way around the Isle of Portland, starting from Hannah's house in Easton with a first stop at Tout Quarry Sculputre Park followed by the Jailhouse Café, which is actually inside The Verne Category-C prison, where we have bacon baps to keep us going. From there, we walk out to the coast path past Nicodemus Knob - a relic from quarrying days which shows where the original top of the land used to be - and the Young Offenders' Institute, and then on to Southwell, via the High Angle Battery, some very dramatic quarries and piles of Portland stone. We rejoin regular roads for a bit, then wander through some sort of shed city before reaching the lighthouse on Portland Bill. After a while, Hannah phones Sean and ends up giving us a lift back, but by then we'd done around 35,000 steps. Later, as if we hadn't done enough walking, Sean drives us to Weymouth for another - albeit shorter - walk to the breakwater and back, but at least there's a chance for a well-earned beer at the Royal Oak by the river. imgp1685 The view out of the bedroom window imgp1687 The graveyard of St. George's Church, Reforne imgp1688 Sean wanders around in the graveyard imgp1689 Fragments of gravestones in a bomb crater imgp1694 The rugged cliffs of Portland imgp1696 Sean on the clifftop imgp1701 A pile of flat rocks imgp1702 A carved owl in Tout Quarry Sculpture Park imgp1703 A sculpture of the Roy Dog in Tout Quarry imgp1704 Sean stands by a ringing bowl sculpture imgp1707 A stone Viking ship imgp1708 More carved rocks in Tout Quarry imgp1713 A view of Fortuneswell from near the Heights Hotel imgp1714 The stacked terraced houses of Fotuneswell imgp1715 The Olympic Rings of Portland imgp1716 Portland Cenotaph imgp1717 Sean stomps up some stone steps imgp1719 An unfinished and derelict hotel imgp1720 RFA Argus, A135, in port imgp1721 We head into the Verne Prison imgp1723 Derelict houses in The Verne imgp1724 Sean mills around by the Jailhouse Café imgp1725 Sean leans on the stocks imgp1727 More derelict buildings imgp1729 A giant dry moat around the old Citadel imgp1730 There's a weird picture of Cliff Richard on a gate imgp1731 Sean heads off imgp1735 The tunnels of the High Angle Battery imgp1736 Sean in the tunnels imgp1737 A restored 9" heavy gun imgp1741 We explore the battery imgp1743 Graffiti tunnels imgp1746 Nicodemus Knob in East Cliff imgp1748 We walk around the perimeter of the YOI imgp1751 One of many curious ventilation towers imgp1752 The Young Offenders institute looks like Dartmoor imgp1753 A view of the Purbecks from East Cliff imgp1756 Another active quarry imgp1760 Piles of freshly-quarried Portland stone imgp1762 A tower watches a pile of stone imgp1763 Wandering around the strange quarry landscape imgp1764 More piles of giant stone cubes imgp1766 There's a random block of pink Russian granite imgp1767 Yet another quarry imgp1768 Horses on the road at Southwell imgp1769 A nice carpet of daisies imgp1770 The former lighthouse off Portland Bill Road imgp1771 A shed on the clifftop imgp1772 We walk through the curious Shed City imgp1773 A view of a rocky beach imgp1779 Sean points to a ladder, cut into the cliff imgp1781 The Portland Bill Lighthouse imgp1784 Sean heads up to some cottages imgp1785 Sean leans on a fishing boat imgp1786 One of several fishing-boat cranes on the cliff imgp1787 Fishermen's sheds on the cliff imgp1788 Possibly the crane-operator's cottages imgp1791 The lighthouse from the other side imgp1792 Pulpit Rock on Portland Bill imgp1795 There's an ammonite outline in the rocks imgp1803 Portland Bill Lighthouse imgp1806 There's a very rusty K6 phonebox imgp1807 Weymouth's marina imgp1808 The Sailor's Return pub, site of the folk night imgp1810 Looking up the river at Weymouth imgp1811 Sean wanders through the crowds imgp1812 Another pub - the Ship Inn imgp1813 Fishing boats tied up along the shore imgp1816 The river widens just before it reaches the sea imgp1820 The beach, with a view to the Purbeck hills imgp1822 Sean looks out from the promenade look-out imgp1823 There's a sailing lesson going on imgp1824 The Osmington White Horse in the distance imgp1826 A quay-side bollard is painted like welly boots imgp1827 The ferry rows across the river imgp1830 A nice knitted minion pillar cover imgp1836 The Weymouth bascule bridge is raised for yachts imgp1841 Sean's on his phone outside our pub stop imgp1842 Crowds outside the Royal Oak imgp1844 Old dough mixers outside Sergeant Bun Bakery imgp1846 Hannah struggles after eating a bit of chilli