Durdle door info needed

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pragmatist

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Matty
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I am looking to drive the 4 hours to photograph Durdle door next Friday weather permitting. Can anyone offer me any advice on the best place to park bearing in mind it will be a first and last light jobbie.
Also is it obvious which way to head bearing in mind that i have never been here before and it will be dark or only just getting light when i arrive.
Is it best to head towards the Durdle door caravan park??
Cheers,
Matt
 
straycat said:
never heard of this before what is it please?
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This may help



Location: Durdle Door near Lulworth
Rock Type: Limestone

Age: Jurassic 140 million years old

Features of Note: Natural rock arch, ripple marks and Fossil Forest remnants.



he geology in detail

Hard layers of Portland Limestone have been folded on this part of the coast so that they appear almost vertical and these form the seaward edge of the small promontory here that includes the arch known as Durdle Door. The type of rock is known as an Oolitic Limestone and is made up of tiny balls of calcium carbonate and is famously quarried on Portland. On parts of the vertical face of the landward side of the arch there are preserved ripple marks, formed where the water was shallow enough so that the sea bed was disturbed by the waves. There are also holes that would have once contained fossil wood.

http://www.jurassiccoast.com/380/th...hts-226/durdle-door-the-natural-arch-618.html
 
I've never been, so can't offer any advice. However, i often look at this guys photostream on Flickr, as his landscape photography just blows me away. He's got a lot of images of Durdle Door, may help to provide a bit of inspiration:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/antonyspencer/page4/
 
Bear in mind that both are pay and display, so it's not going to be cheap. You can park for free outside the town, but it's not for the feint of heart. The walk from Lulworth Cove is pretty epic. Take the Caravan Park - it's a public car park, so don't be put off.

Graham
 
Cheers for the advice, I kow it's a much photographed location but it has to be done. I heard that East of the door coastal path is MOD and out of bounds so just wanted to double check. May try for Man o war as well.
 
Man o' war is the other side of the same outcrop so no reason not to do both.

The walk from Lulworth is about a mile up a long steep hill so unless you happen to enjoy that sort of thing (it is a nice walk though) the caravan park is a better bet. That said, Lulworth is nice so parking there isn't necessarily a bad thing. You do have to pay for parking but it isn't that expensive.
 
blue max said:
The walk from Lulworth Cove is pretty epic.
Graham
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Tell me about it. I took Willie L out there last weekend when he came down from Edinburgh, and then showed him an embarrassing display of monumental lack of fitness by having to stop multiple times before cardiac arrest set in!:eek:;):D

And that was only to the top of the hill without going down to the door (and then back up!). I think it's safe to say I'm not built for hillwalking.;)
 
As said before the walk up the hill is really steep and a hard slog from Lulworth Cove,

If you decide to visit Durdle door its easier to goto the caravan park just follow the road past the shop to the very end.
not sure how much parking costs now though
Hope you get some nice photos
 
As the others have said go to the caravan park.

I'm not aware of any MOD land close to the door - certainly you can walk east over the hill to Lulworth (about 1.25 miles I think), there is a path heading West over the fields which you can also take.

Far as car parking goes yes it is P&D, but its not unusual to see people park on the verge on the public road around the entrance to the car park and then walk through the caravan park to access the door. In fact if you look at google maps you can see cars parked out there.

Not sure if parking charges are seasonal or all year round.
 
It's worth getting an OS map of the area - it's sheet OL 15 that covers the area concerned, about £8 from WHS or similar. Covers the coast from Bridport to Poole.
 
Very steep steps and cliff edge with no railing, so be careful if it's dark. The view from lulworth back towards durdle is good too.
 
pragmatist said:
Cheers for the advice, I kow it's a much photographed location but it has to be done. I heard that East of the door coastal path is MOD and out of bounds so just wanted to double check. May try for Man o war as well.
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Think active tank ranges!
 
For durdle door i always park at the top of the hill down to the caravan park as the pay and display is pretty expensive. It takes about 10 minutes to walk from there but will save you about 4 quid or so for a couple of hours.

For lulworth i normally park at the bottom of the hill that leads up to durdle door opposite the church.

A great walk is from lulworth to durdle door, if you walk up the road towards stair hole and carry on past it until you find a little mud track on your left running behing some houses. this leads to a hilltop track from which you can scramble down the hill to st oswalds bay, then man o war and then up the steps to durdle door.

its pretty knackering, but its a great walk.

Ewan
 
Ewan Hitchcoe said:
For durdle door i always park at the top of the hill down to the caravan park as the pay and display is pretty expensive. It takes about 10 minutes to walk from there but will save you about 4 quid or so for a couple of hours.

For lulworth i normally park at the bottom of the hill that leads up to durdle door opposite the church.

A great walk is from lulworth to durdle door, if you walk up the road towards stair hole and carry on past it until you find a little mud track on your left running behing some houses. this leads to a hilltop track from which you can scramble down the hill to st oswalds bay, then man o war and then up the steps to durdle door.

its pretty knackering, but its a great walk.

Ewan
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So where is the best place to head to photograph the door from the beach?
 
pragmatist said:
So where is the best place to head to photograph the door from the beach?
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Head down the hill, through the caravan park till you get to the carpark. Once you get there you can't really miss the door. Walk down the hill and some steps and your there. Plenty of good angles and positions to shoot from. There's also butter rock, which is a limestone stack along the beach to the west.
 
Overdue another visit here, i would use the caravan park too. Am i correct in saying image rights/copyright belong to the estate?
 
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