Our final walk of the week started at Osmington Mills behind the Smugglers Inn pub. Sunny but very windy again but this time the wind was off-shore with a temperature of 14C, much lower than when we started on the Isle of Portland.
It is a straightforward walk i.e follow the path keeping the sea on the right and you can't go wrong! At Ringstead the path goes inland for a while and past a number of very smart houses. Back on the coast we eventually reached Nothe Cliff where we had lunch sheltered from the wind at the back of the Old Coastguard cottages.
There were then 3 steep downs and 3 steep ups, firstly down into Middle Bottom, then Bat's Head and finally Scratchy Bottom before climbing up to view Durdle Door from above.
Durdle Door is impressive when viewed from afar but closer to we were aware that we were now back in civilisation as even on a late September Friday afternoon there were hoards of people crawling over it and a long line of people walking back to the hilltop car park. We had no choice but to join them as the original coastal path to Lulworth Cove was blocked off and has been diverted to a much wider stepped gravel path.
7.26 miles at an average speed of 2.8mph.
Back at April Springs we just had time to get changed before visiting Lulworth Castle. We had tickets for the last 15:30 entry, and seemed to be the only people there, but as the castle closed at 17:00 we didn't really have enough time to do it justice. Maybe when we pop back to do the Lulworth Cove to Kimmeridge leg we can see some more of the Castle.
An evening meal at the Castle Inn at West Lulworth completed our very enjoyable and satisfying first week of walking back on the SWCP. Lots of varied terrain, beautiful views, a variety of weather, good company and lots of laughs! Oh, and 56miles towards our target.