A photography trip to Dorset – Shaftesbury, Portland Bill & Lyme Regis

The problem with working from home in a small village in central Somerset, is that we are in danger of going a bit stir crazy! Over the last couple of years Chris and I have made more of an effort to use our weekends to go exploring nearby. So far this year, we’ve cranked it up a notch and have gone further afield to Dartmoor in Devon a couple of times, and our last day-trip was to Dorset…

Shaftesbury. It sounds like a place you’ve visited before, doesn’t it? I thought so, but it turned out I haven’t! We watched the old Hovis bread advert in the car park, and then found the famous Gold Hill (now affectionately known as Hovis Hill) where it was filmed. It was really funny because within the two days of deciding to go there, it cropped up on our Instagram feeds four times.
We accidentally fell into a summer holiday in a beautiful town. I hardly needed my cardigan, let alone a coat and it was wonderful to feel the sun on my skin for the first time this year. We were also fortunate with our timing, as although there were loads of people on the hill when we arrived; they more-or-less all left and we were able to take our photos without too many people getting the background! We took outfit shots of a beautiful vintage dress I’ve recently bought (I’ll be posting that blog soon) and I had to get over the embarrassment of posing about in front of everyone eating outside the cafe at the top of the hill. Oh well  – if they’re regulars, they must be used to it!

You might think the town ends where the cobbles do. However, keep going North West and you find yourself in a landscaped park perfect for jogging or dog-walking, or sitting amongst the roses to gaze at the quintessentially English view. The flower beds looked awkward and coarse devoid of blooms despite the sunshine. Ordinarily you wouldn’t expect anything better of them for February – I’m hoping we can go back in real summer. It felt like the sky was also not quite prepared, as a pinkish haze prevented us from seeing far into the distance. Another reason I’d like to return, so I can see what it usually looks like from there.

After a disappointing detour to Nine Stones stone circle, which we could see from the road, but couldn’t park anywhere close for fear of being fined, we went on our way to Portland Bill. Did you watch it as a child? I didn’t, or the lighthouse would probably have been more significant to me! The foghorn emitting from it though was SO loud, but luckily, below cliff-level, with protection from the fossil-peppered rocks and nearer the sound of crashing waves, it faded.

Another dress; another photoshoot in front of another Insta-famous location: Pulpit Rock. (Again blog post coming soon!)

You can see from the photos that the purple haze didn’t clear. That foghorn was needed!
It was fun scrambling over the rocks and I was amazed by the number of pre-historic shell imprints and giant ammonites easily visible. Neither of us dared to scramble to the top of Pulpit Rock, though several people did!

Seaside decay is so beautiful.

As the sun rapidly neared the horizon, we drove to The Cobb at Lyme Regis. We’d hoped to do another outfit shoot there, but we did lose the light, and the harbour wall where we’d planned to take the pictures, was so covered in seagull shit that it wouldn’t have made for pretty photos! Instead we enjoyed a leisurely stroll across the beach and watched the purple haze change to pink haze as the sun set.

So that was the end of our photography. In the dark we walked along the promenade the other side of the bay, and then came back again in our hunt for fish and chips. Word of warning: All the fish and chip shops closed at six. Even though it was Saturday. Even though it was half term week. Ridiculous! We ended up having a lovely meal in the Cobb Arms.

We’re definitely going to return to Lyme Regis for more photography – there was an awful lot of scope for more. Apparently Kate Winslet is down there at the moment making a film called The Ammonite. Chris and I suspect it will be all about Mary Anning, an important palaeontologist and fossil collector from Lyme Regis.

Anyway, we had a wonderful day and I can’t wait for our next adventure!
Here’s the vlog from my YouTube channel that includes our day out:

Linking with #sharealllinkup at Not Dressed as Lamb.