WEST LULWORTH & LULWORTH COVE

 Whereas the Castle is in East Lulworth, the Cove is just down the road in West Lulworth.

Lulworth Cove was formed approximately 10,000 years ago by the awesome powers of a river and the sea. It continues to evolve behind a narrow Portland Stone entrance as the softer Purbeck, Wealden, Greensand and Chalk exposures are eroded, leaving an almost perfect shell shaped bay.

There is a large car park for the 'Grockles', who flock there in their thousands, and various shops and cafes.  But of an evening, after they've gone home, there is a pretty footpath down from the Castle Inn in West Lulworth to the cove. 

Thomas Hardy called it 'Lulwind', and used it as the site of the drowning of Sergeant Troy in 'Far From The Madding Crowd'.

Just up over the (steep) hill  from Lulworth Cove, is this - the Stair Hole. It's a collapsed system of sea arches and caves, and it's an excellent place to see the 'Dorset Crumple' - the visible strata of rock formations, pushed up as though something put a huge hand each end of Dorset and squeezed. 

and this is the Castle Inn in West Lulworth. I stayed here once, and the accommodation was excellent. The pub is also renowned for its' food.

My pretty wood-panelled room had a French door that gave access onto the flat roof of  the kitchen. Because the inn was built into a steep hillside, I could then just step off the roof onto the garden, and spend my evenings sitting at a bench reading, warmed by the late evening sunshine.