Bridport opens my eyes to the glories of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast

I thought I knew Dorset well. Corfe Castle, Studland Bay, Wareham and Durdle Door are all familiar Sights just over the border from my home county of Hampshire. Had I really taken time to study a map, I would have realised I was wrong. There’s still almost a third of Dorset to explore west of Dorchester. And what an exquisite third it is.

This is the famous Jurassic Coast, where sandy beaches sit between and beneath gorgeous cliffs striated with a palette of earth tones to make an interior designer’s heart thrill. Inland, green hills, deep valleys and thatched villages are as picturesque as the Cotswolds, but emptier. It seems that, like me in the past, once most people get past Dorchester they’re pushing on to Devon and Cornwall. I visited in the height of the school holidays. While it was pleasantly busy, nothing was overly crowded and my American accent was the most foreign one I heard.

A friend of mine has recently moved back to her home county of Dorset, and I had the incredible luck to visit her on what was probably the single best weather weekend of the year thus far. Four days of unremitting sunshine. Warm enough to swim in the sea every day … and that’s coming from someone who grew up on Floridian beaches and generally likes water mild enough to support coral reefs. But it cooled down enough once the sun set to sleep comfortably. The vibe was beach bum casual, but with a surprising dash of sophistication.

Bridport, a mile and a half inland from the beach at West Bay, is the kind of place people are remembering wistfully when they complain about soulless, modern English towns, with their identi-kit global brands or … worse … empty shopfronts between charity stores and betting places. Counter to that norm, Bridport boasts two main streets packed with independent shops, no less than three artisan butchers (RJ Balson and Son is the oldest family-run business in the country, established 1515), an arts centre, a little cinema and a theatre, a thriving weekly market that includes artisans and antiques as well as food, and an impressive range of atmospheric pubs and restaurants. There’s even a family-owned department store, something I didn’t think existed any more. Other independent shops offer original art, cookware, art supplies, clothing and hats. The hat shop sponsors an annual hat festival, which my friend tells me is a serious party. The town is edged by playing fields and recreational spaces, including tennis courts, a community orchard (where you can help yourself to apples in season or hear lectures under the trees), and a bike and skate park for the kids. There’s even a small football ground for the local team. All this for a population of less than 14,000.

The architecture here is overwhelmingly late Georgian and Victorian, with pretty residential terraces spreading out from the T-shaped town centre. It sits in a bowl between hills, where the rivers Asker and Brit come together on their way to the English Channel. Just below their juncture sits a picturesque old mill, complete with working water wheel, now occupied by Palmer’s brewery … who have been making beer for the locals since 1794. 

Beer, however, has a hard fight to keep up with cider; Dorset is famous for the stuff. The Woodman Pub on South Street has a selection as various, and backed up with as much knowledge from the servers, as a fine wine bar in the heart of Burgundy. The Ropemakers pub on West Street (owned by Palmers) doesn’t have the cider selection but boasts the kind of interior the Disney Imagineers are going after when they design Pirates of the Caribbean sets. If the fascinating Asian fusion place Dorshi is anything to go by (inventive cocktails and haggis dumplings, anyone?), then the Bridporters are as blessed by their restaurants as their pubs.

Despite the “port” in its name, the town centre is not on the water. That privilege goes to West Bay, technically within the boundaries of Bridport and just a mile and a half from the town centre, but with a distinct holiday resort feel. A mix of pubs, cafes, apartment blocks and holiday accommodation huddle around a walled harbour and stretches a few hundred metres west before the multi-coloured cliffs of the Jurassic Coast rear up again. This may sound like a lot, but you can walk from one end to the other along the shore in less than 10 minutes.

There are three swimming beaches. The one closest to the harbour, food stalls and the public bathrooms tends to be full of families with children. The middle beach is wheelchair accessible with a dedicated ramp and a path across the sand to provide mobility on an otherwise impassible surface. And, quite gloriously, the third one along is the dedicated dog beach, where responsible owners frolic and swim with their best friends. (An unhappy Bruno swam for about five seconds … from my arms directly back to the beach.) Because of the way the tides flow, the dog beach is the sandiest and smoothest of the three, so even if you don’t have a pooch I’d recommend settling in to this one. 

At the back of the harbour is a dam, controlling the flow of the merged Brit and Asker and creating a
freshwater pond on which visitors play on paddle boards and row boats. Though there are a few architecturally jarring modern apartments next to the harbour, most of the scene is framed by old stone buildings and countryside. Though Bridport is close, it’s entirely screened from view by hills and trees. At the back of this water feature is the fabulous Rise cafe, serving up hearty breakfasts before rolling into a varied lunch and dinner menu. Their cocktail lounge and decks overlooking the water had a distinctly Californian feel about them.

There are plenty of excursions to be enjoyed in this part of the world, but the hot, sunny weather encouraged us to either spend our time at the beach, or under the umbrella with cool drinks in my friend’s garden. We did, however, hop on to Lyme Bay Rib Charter’s Golden Hour Cruise, which leaves West Bay at 4:30 and takes you up and down the coast for an hour, motoring in to the walled harbour at Lyme Regis at the mid point. Those of a romantic nature will instantly recognise “The Cob”, off of which Louisa Musgrove’s accident drove the plot of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and along which Meryl Streep’s “French Lieutenant’s Woman” walked and brooded. You don’t need a literary bent, however, to appreciate this pretty harbour and the picturesque town sloping down to it. In between the two towns is a run of exquisite cliffs, hills, valleys and pastures that inspired Thomas Hardy and, of course, played a major role in our understanding of fossils and pre-history.

Bridport is not, curiously, served by a train station. The X53 and X51 buses from Dorchester will get you there in about an hour, and must be candidates for the prettiest bus route in the country. I suspect, however, that lack of easy train transport is a reason why Bridport and West Bay were busy but not overly crowded, despite my school holiday timing. This is clearly Dorset for the more discerning traveller, and I can’t wait to go back.