Location advice please around Weymouth

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I have a spare weekend coming up with my partner being away and I would like to capture some landscape coastal shots. Having got the map out, the area around Weymouth is probably as near as anywhere to get to from Milton Keynes.

I hope to get some sunset pics on Saturday and Sunrise pics on Sunday so am looking for any suggestions. I have seen pics from and of Portland Bill lighthouse and also around Chesil Beach and I will probably base myself in Weymouth so both of these have potential as long as the weather is ok.

I tend to have a scout around on foot anyway from just after lunchtime and will make sure I look up the local tidal info, any other tips would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.
Jas :thumbs:
 
That whole coastline is superb. You can climb the Isle of Portland for amazing views of Chesil Beach. Heading out East you go towards Purbeck which is one of my favourite parts of the country. It includes stunning places such as Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door and just inland is Corfe Castle - a ruined castle from the English Civil War atop a hill looking out over the pretty village of Corfe.

On the west side you have Chesil Beach obviously and the Jurassic Coast heading into Devon - a world heritage site.

Have a look at this site. It offers a photographic tour of the whole of the south west coast path from Poole right round to Minehead, including South Dorset.

http://www.swcp.org.uk/tour/html/SouthHaven.html
 
I definitely recommend Portland. Great crashing waves and huge rocks round by the lighthouse.

Also, for sunsets I recommend visiting the Cove House Inn at Chiswell, Portland (just as you enter Portland) Its a great view of the sun going down.

The Nothe Fort area in Weymouth will give you a lovely view of Weymouth seafront and the sunrise.

Weymouth harbour -old and new are good too.

Abbotsbury area

If you have time, the road to Swanage for the Studland chain ferry to Poole has some great views and especially Poole harbour around the expensive Sandbanks area.

You'll need plenty of loose change for parking though -its really expensive.

Hope you get some good shots.

derek
 
spencer said:
Kimmeridge bay is also a cracking place for sunsets!!

Spence
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:agree: If you time it so the tide is out, you get lots of lovely shelving rock formations (sorry, don't know the technical term).
 
Thanks all for the replies so far.

That's a very good link Smarty.

Min - I can picture the place you mean as it was in one of the magazines recently where three or four people took landscapes and used the rocks as foreground. I'll have to dig out the magazine to find the location.

Just keep fingers crossed for not having any rain and hopefully some luck with the tides being out, something I will research very carefully :rules:
 
There is also a RSPB reserve at Radipole lake just inland from the seafront/harbour and a reed marsh reserve over on the east side at Loddimore went there yesterday and got blown all over the place.
 
Osmington mills, just west of Weymouth will be good for sunset this time of year. We're about halfway between the solstice and equinox at the moment so the sun will be setting and rising about 10 degrees south of east and west, if that makes any sense? About 20 past and twenty-too if south is 6 on a clock?

If you can be arsed, google earth is very good for spotting locations if you know which direction the sun is going to set it and the tide times.

The bay the other side of Durdle door is much overlooked cos of it's prettier cousin and should be good for sunrise about now. Just be very aware of the long, long trek back up to the car lol. I'm sure there are people on here who will testify to that (Min?)

Portland bill is ideal for both and very close to weymouth but a bit overdone, westwards there is Westbay, Eype, Burton bradstock and syme regis. all good but a bit of a trek when the sunrises at 7:45!

Hope all that helps?

I'd be tempted to join you if the weather looked better!
 
It all depends what you want pictures of!

Ringstead has a good reef, where at the right tide and wind conditions you can get some pretty good pictures.

Tout quarry on Portland has sculptures dotted around a redundant quarry which makes for an interesting photographic mission - find them all or find particular carvings.

I will second the Cove House Inn - good beer as well as good sunsets. Can get noisy in the evening though which isn't necessarily a problem.

If you fancy walking, Bats head sticks out into the sea and will offer good pictures of lone beach and the cliffs. You can also get quite concerned about personal safety out there.

If you fancy Sea Cliffs and caves, Winspit near Worth Matravers and Dancing Ledge are a shortish walk from the car parks in Worth and Langton Matravers respectively.

There is the steam railway at Norden, which runs to Swanage though I don't know quite what they are running in the way of locomotion at this time of year.

The Dorset Heat at Winfrith and the back of Sandbanks is rather fun.

There are more ancient sites in South Dorset than you can shake a forest of sticks at - just look at an OS map! Maiden Castle is great for Sun Rise and Sunset; Ninestones stone circle is/was atmospheric if you like that sort of thing but a trifle difficult to park near as it is on the side of the A35 to the west of Winterbourne Abbas.

West Dorset around Bridport and Beaminster is great in low light as well; lots of hills & Valleys.

Must dash to work now. If I remember any more places, I will update this post!!

Ben
 
Well I've been going to Weymouth for 18 years (Mother lives there) and never knew there was a Nature Reserve at Winfrith. Looks good - I'll be visiting that next time. Always used to visit The Countryman pub in East Knighton but I've heard its been sold so not sure what its like now.

I can recommend the Red Lion at Winfrith for meals if you do venture that way.

Incidentally Ben, where is Bats Head? Wouldn't mind a visit on my next trip there.
 
Jas said:
Min - I can picture the place you mean as it was in one of the magazines recently where three or four people took landscapes and used the rocks as foreground. I'll have to dig out the magazine to find the location.
Click to expand...

This was taken at Kimmeridge (the tide was on it's way in):

Kimmeridge-1.jpg
 
It all depends what you want pictures of!
Click to expand...

Ben, definitely coastal landscape. Just had a new 10-20 sigma delivered this week and have been desperate to get out and try and my instinct tells me those are the kind of pics I would like. Don't have any coastal pics of the UK to date.

Min, a beautiful light in that picture, Kimmeridge Bay was exactly the location from the magazine shoot last year.

Went out and bought an OS Map of the area so can only keep my fingers crossed for the weather.
 
Jas said:
Ben, definitely coastal landscape.
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Well then Dancing Ledge will be good, also Peveril point for sweeps around Swanage bay to Ballard Down, and on a good day the needles at the Isle of Wight.

The Dorset Heath looking north from the top of the ridge by Corfe Castle can be impressive at sunset - it is inland but rather 'different' to a typical British landscape. And the view includes the whole of Poole Harbour, which is undeniably coastal!!

DerekP said:
Incidentally Ben, where is Bats Head? Wouldn't mind a visit on my next trip there.
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Bat's head is the next headland west from Durdle Dor. It is chalk, as opposed to the limestone of Durdle Dor, and has an arch through which you can swim if the tide is right and you are brave/stupid.

You can walk there from East Chaldon (or Chaldon Herring to give it its proper name) Park on the edge of the village green or in the Smugglers Inn car park- but make sure you visit the Smugglers first and after if that is what you are going to do the landlords are tetchy - up Chydyok Road and keep going until you get to the cliff edge - about 2 miles)

Ben
 
All,
:clap: many thanks for all of your input, it really helped me focus in on a couple of areas as I decided to stay around Lulworth (at Lulworth Cove) as Weymouth was just a little too far to travel from MK.

I appreciate that Lulworth and Durdle Door have been captured and seen many times, but still glad I went to see them.

The aim for sunrise Sat morning was Mupe Bay and rocks. Despite being up to the top very early before sunrise (0630), the gate to allow me to access Mupe was still locked from the army firing range and I was not brave / stupid enough to jump over despite the fact it should have been open :rules: . It meant I had to stay around Lulworth Cove for sunrise and didn't get anything of the sea / rocks for the kind of shots I wanted.

Also, for the first time ever, managed to smash a lens, a five DAY old Sigma 10-20 on the steep hill at Lulworth Cove :bang: . Managed to nudge over my tripod with the lens landing on some concrete steps. Bizarrely, it didn't smash the lens at the front, but broke off at the back.

Got to Mupe later on, and I will return another day as I think a sunrise will be excellent on the right day. Went to Bat's Head / Hole for sunset at the beach, the light was better towards Durdle Door so inevitably, like quite a few others, took a few pics there. I managed to get a few I really liked which is what counts on any trip. I really felt I learned a lot too, especially on longer exposures with the sea.

This was my first attempt at the UK coast and I aim to go again in March, definitely bitten by the beauty and ruggedness of the area.

I'll post a few pics in the landscape section late tonight.
 
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