The ghost village and a steam train

A day of rollercoaster cliffs, an abandoned village, a panoramic ridgeway and a trip on a steam railway.

Day 4.

Lulworth Cove to Corfe Castle (and Swanage)

Heading up to the top of Bindon Hill from Lulworth Cove, it wasn't long before we entered the Lulworth Ranges. Being an active military firing range it is only possible to walk this section of the South West Coast Path when the red flags are not flying. Luckily for us, this was one of the days the range walks were open to the public.

After a short stretch along the top of the hill, there were a few seriously steep downs and back ups once we rejoined the cliff edge path. A couple of miles short of Kimmeridge Bay we took the path inland to the abandoned village of Tyneham.

Tyneham is within the firing range land so it is also only possible to visit when the ranges are open. The village was requisitioned by the army in 1943 to help with the war and was never returned to the people that used to live there. Consequently, the church, school, farm buildings, cottages, post office, laundry and all the other buildings you'd expect to find in a 1940s Dorset village were left frozen in time and for nature to reclaim. It is a fascinating ghost village and with the aid of plenty of old photographs it brings alive the history of the place.

From Tyneham we climbed back up to the ridgeway and made faster progress on easier terrain. The views up on the ridge were amazing on all sides. Although we were no longer actually on the South West Coast Path, this detour significantly aided our progress to make it in time to the end of today's walk.

The reason the end of the walk was somewhat time-critical was because we had decided to get to Corfe Castle and catch the last steam train down to Swanage, our final destination and the stop for the night.

We've slightly cheated a little bit here by having a gap in the walk and having missed out some of the coast path, but it just means there will be a reason to come back and complete the bits that we didn't do this time. Not that there needs to be much incentive to come back!

Tomorrow is the final day and we return to the South West Coast Path to take us to its eastern end point.