Jurassic Coast walking weekend: Follow in the footsteps of smugglers…

Start time: 15:00 (est end time: 19:00)
Walk Leader: David O
Moderate: 7.1m / 11.4km (ascent: 360m / 1183ft)

Join us for one or more walks during our weekend break to the Jurassic Coast.

This walk begins with beautiful views of Ringstead Bay, Weymouth Bay and the Isle of Portland. From here we head downhill to the seaside and have a nice little stroll along the beach while enjoying the sights and sounds of the Jurassic Coast.
We then follow the South West Coastal Path to Osmington Mills, walking the same route that smugglers took in years gone by while sneaking contraband into the country.

Apparently they used to congregate in 17th century pub The Smugglers Inn, the garden of which we’ll be walking through!

We walk inland to the pretty little village of Osmington. We’ll pass through the grounds of the beautiful St Osmund’s Church, parts of which date back to the 13th century. There will be time to admire the beautiful nearby cottages, with their thatches roofs and ivy-covered walls, before we continue our journey.

We go up and down a nearby hill, up another hill, and then back to Ringstead Bay, where the walk finishes. Beautiful views guaranteed all the way!

A meal out will be arranged on Saturday evening for anyone who’d like to join us. The location will depend how many people sign up, so if you’re interested, please register on our Meet Up page to give us an idea of the numbers.

If you are planning on joining us for the whole weekend, please arrange your own overnight accommodation if you need to. There are plenty of places to stay in nearby towns Weymouth and Dorchester, as well as in all the villages and countryside around them. There are many hotel and B&B websites to help you choose somewhere. Air BNB, hotels.com and Trivago are just a few examples.

What to bring - checklist
An advisory, non-exhaustive list of what to bring on a walk:

🔵 Please bring a packed lunch for this walk. 🥪
🔵 A sturdy pair of walking boots that you have already walked in (essential). 🥾
🔵 Lots of water (essential). Advice: Two 1.5l bottles of water. 💧
🔵 A decent pair of walking socks (or maybe two socks on each foot) - to prevent blisters. 🧦
🔵 Sun cream (weather pending). 🧴
🔵 Rain jacket (weather pending). 🌧️
🔵 Small packet of pocket-sized tissues. 🤧
🔵 Multi-sized packet of plasters - in case of blisters, bramble cuts etc. 🩹
🔵 Backpack for your belongings. 🎒
🔵 Savlon - for any minor insect bites that may occur. 👍

Parking and meeting point details

Please pay careful attention to the parking and meeting point details. It’s in a slightly out of the way place to avoid the very high charges for the car parks closest to Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door.

The address of the car park we are meeting at is: National Trust Car Park - Ringstead Bay, Unnamed Road, DT2 8NQ. If you put that into Google Maps, the correct car park where we will be meeting should come up.

Cost: £6 for all-day parking, or £6.20 using the JustPark app. Location number on the app is: 80664. Parking is free for National Trust members.

How to get there:
When driving south-west on the A353, turn left where you see the white sign towards ‘Ringstead’ and the brown sign towards ‘Beach Cafe’. This is the ‘unnamed road’, which our car park is at the end of. The road comes just after the sharp bend to the right on the main road and before you reach Osmington.
Do not turn right at any point once on the ‘unnamed road’. Just keep driving until you reach the National Trust car park at the end of the road. Do not go down the toll road to the right, which charges £6 for using it. That takes you to a separate car park at the bottom of the hill that is not our meeting point.