Exploring Scenic Dorset: Lulworth Cove and Beyond

Monday March 3, 2025

Despite being exhausted I slept badly last night and was awake from 1.30am. I think I was over-tired (what am I, two?), but I was also worrying about Cyclone Alfred and whether it will hit our part of the coast. According to the news I scrolled through, it’s on target to make landfall around Maroochydore so I lay awake worrying about Sarah and the house and the friend who is staying in our house even though I know there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it. They’re saying it will hit by Wednesday. I message Sarah to ask her to bring the pool lounges inside and remove the gauze I’ve put on the lemon and bay trees to stop them from being eaten by mutant locusts. She tells me to go back to sleep. I tell her to let Kym know where the torches are. She tells me she has it covered and to go back to sleep. I know she has got it covered, but still I lie awake.

Mike and Shirley were both gone by 6.45 am, but Jessie had the day off work so after scraping the ice off the car (-2 this morning) Grant and I ventured back down to the patisserie to bring back brekky for the three of us. I gave in to the siren call of the sausage roll – and was glad I did. This one easily scored a 9/10.

We finally got away at about 9.30, our first stop Lulworth Cove via the gorgeously thatched West Lulworth.

Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door

Lulworth Cove is a very pretty little seaside village with some stunning cliff scenery. Apparently it’s very popular in the warmer months with over 750,000 people visiting each year. We’re glad  to be here in the off-season.

We climbed to the top of the headland for the views out to see and of the South West Coast Path. Ever since reading an Inspector Lynley novel where he walked the path and, of course The Salt Path –Bill Bryson referred to it in one of his books too … probably Notes From A Small Island – I’ve had a fascination with it. Of walking that sort of distance. Not with a tent though (like they did in The Salt Path), I couldn’t be doing the tent thing. After seeing the steepness of the path though, I couldn’t imagine a time where I could ever walk any of it without leaving behind a lung or two.

Despite the cold, the sky is blue and we share an ice cream – pistachio and cherry.  The pistachio is good but – and I know it’s a big call – the cherry might just be the nicest ice cream I’ve ever had.

Back in the car we head to Durdle Door. I faff about saying it in Mike’s Dorset accent – it doesn’t have the same ring when said in my own Aussie twang. (Sadly also, my photos of it weren’t clear so you’ll need to squint to see it in the pics below).

Even though it sounds as though it belongs in Harry Potter, Durdle Door is a natural limestone arch. It’s also, like Lulworth Cove, owned by the Weld family as part of Lulworth Estate. They also own Lulworth castle (see below) and a heap more besides – 12,000 acres in total. More if you include the land that has been leased to the Ministry of Defence (MOD). I know the landholding is nothing compared to the size of landholdings in Australia, but this is a county and back home is… well, it’s bigger and emptier.

As an aside, the MOD controls over 11,000 acres down here (and is the fifth biggest landholder in Dorset) including the village of Tyneham. Tyneham, the “village that died for England” was taken over by the then War Office in WWII to be used for firing ranges. The resident were evacuated and promises made they could return once hostilities ceased. That never happened and it’s still an active firing range. It is, however, open to the public at particular times of the year when the guns are silent. Sadly today isn’t one of those days. I do, however, wonder whether this inspired the Midsomer Murders episode, “The Village That Rose From The Dead.”

Lulworth Castle

We’re walking around the park at Lulworth Castle when we hear the guns from the Lulworth ranges. I’d never heard machine gunfire before, but it’s unmistakeable and so at odds with the serenity of the place. It feels incongruous to be in a park where daffodils and birdsong exist at the same time as machine gun clatter. In the castle’s tearoom they tell us it’s actually a quiet day and you do get used to it.

Alrighty, a bit about Lulworth Castle which was built by Thomas Howard, 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon in the 17^th century as a hunting lodge. The fortified castle style of the building was for show only. Although he was one of those Howards and related to two of the wives Henry VIII beheaded – Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard – the most interesting thing I found about this dude was that he’d been described as being “very spiteful and a cauldron of misdirected energy”. Isn’t that just fabulous?

In any case, Humphrey Weld purchased it from Howard’s heir in 1641 and other than when it was seized by the Roundheads and used as a garrison in the Civil War, has been in the hands of the Weld family since.

Lunch was at the Countryman’s Inn in East Knighton. Grant had the lunch special – a burger, chips and a beer for £12. I opted for the tomato and basil soup.

Fursdon House

Our final stop for today’s trip was the Exe Valley Farm Shop at Thorverton, just a few miles from our destination, Fursdon House.

We bought some local cheeses – including a Devon blue – as well as some local butter (oh my) and some pate. We also had a coffee with our first scone for the trip. And yes, we went with the Devonshire way of clotted cream followed by jam. I make a mental note to reverse this order when we’re in Cornwall.

The scone is a good one (say a 7.5/10) and so big we could have (and should have) shared it.

Fursdon Cottage is as we remember it, but the next generation has taken over and it feels more … relaxed than it did when we were last here almost ten years ago. For a start there are more “do’s” in the house manual than “don’ts”. Last time we were here it felt a tad like, “make yourself at home, but if you don’t know how to do that, the list of how not to behave is in the book”. Anyways, I’m running out of words tonight, so will talk a bit more about the house next time. Maybe.

It’s Monday so most of the local pubs are closed – or closed for food. We head into Tiverton to the Fisherman’s Cot. Grant loved this pub last time we were here, but tonight it’s a tad so-so. Perhaps my lack of sleep is catching up with me.

In a reversal of lunch, Grant orders the tomato soup and a side of chips. I go for the Hunter Chicken which is pretty much what we’d call a parma (or parmi). It’s okay, but I’m not hungry so leave most of it.

And a recipe …

The recipe inspired by today’s travels must be tomato soup, and this is a cheatie one involving a tin and a blitzer.

Chop a banana shallot and gently fry it in a large frying pan or sauté pan for a couple of minutes. Tip in two tins of good tomatoes and a good whack of chopped basil (I keep pesto in the freezer and use a couple of cubes of this). Simmer for a few minutes and then blend with a stick blender or in a liquidiser. Season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with a few more basil leaves.

The stats…

Temperature: -2 – 11

Miles travelled: Approx 112 miles*

*Even though we work in kms in Australia, all signage in the UK is in miles, so that’s what I’m going with.

These posts are taken directly from my travel journal … you can find the series here.