beaches

Where We Eat, Walk & Unwind in West Bay

Susan Cottage, Places to eat and drink, Things to do, West Bay , , 0 Comment
Pink House from the pier
We often stay at West Bay Cottage ourselves. Here are some of the things we get up to time and time again on nice and easy days. All just a short stroll away:

  • Sit on the front garden bench with a coffee in the morning sun.
  • Walk to the end of the Jurassic Pier and breathe in the sea air.
  • Pop into the West Bay Discovery Centre to uncover a little of West Bay’s story. They have changing exhibitions alongside the permanent displays so it’s worth going back whenever there is something new.
  • Stroll around the harbour and look at the boats and all the busy fishing and crabbing activity.
  • Visit Watch House Café on East Beach for breakfast or lunch. Sit outside with views across the bay.
  • Walk up and down East Pier and probably take another photo of the cliffs (to add to the hundreds I’ve already taken!).
  • Visit Sladers Yard and admire the beautiful furniture, art, and craftsmanship.
  • Eat at Rubicon Kitchen harbourside shack. It’s a wonderful lunchtime spot for fresh fish by the harbour.
  • Relax on East Beach beside the golden cliffs, sitting on the sand with a book and the sound of the sea.
  • Paddleboard from East Beach when the sea is calm (though this is very occasional!).
  • Pick up some pasties from the Cornish Bakery for an easy lunch.
  • Treat myself (or more likely my daughter) to Le Bon Shoppe socks from Sea Purslane. They’re addictive!
  • Walk along West Beach, listen to the waves rolling over the pebbles. Choose an interesting stone or two to leave in the front garden.
  • Decide on an ice cream flavour from Baboo Gelato. Eat it sitting by the harbour or in the cottage’s back garden, trying not to attract seagulls.
  • Have a go on the rope swing in the play area. It says it has an age limit of 99 so it’s practically mandatory.
  • Wander around the Customs House vintage emporium – mostly tat, but worth a browse if you’ve got time on your hands.
  • Circle the Welcome Hub looking at all the motorbikes, especially on a sunny Sunday. This one is much more my husband’s thing.
  • Stop for cake and tea, or earlier for breakfast, at West Bay Tea Rooms. Or drop in for an emergency takeaway slice of carrot cake for revising daughter!
  • Sit outside on the riverside terrace at The George for an early evening drink.
  • Book into The West Bay Hotel for a very good Sunday roast. Or Seagulls Restaurant, another fave.
  • For a special occasion, splurge a little on supper in an old railway carriage at Platform Restaurant.
  • Pick up burgers and cheesecake from Platform, or pizza from The Palour Pizzeria, for a takeaway back at the cottage.
  • End the day watching the sunset over the sea. A perfect way to slow down and relax.

Drop your own local tips in the comments – we’d love to hear them 🙂

If you fancy doing your own thing in West Bay and you haven’t yet booked accommodation we’d like to welcome you to West Bay Cottage. Take a look inside the cottage, or head to our Book With Us page for availability, the rates and how to book.

Beachcombing

Susan Things to do, West Bay , , 0 Comment
Beachcombing in Dorset

One of our favourite beach pastimes is to look out for interesting bits and bobs when wandering along the shoreline. Shells, sea glass (if we are lucky), pebbles that catch the eye. Once we took a metal detector onto West Beach. Our expectations where dashed when all we found was a lump of old chain, some rusty nuts and bolts and a couple of squashed coins!

We especially like to look for stones with a hole in them, known as ‘hag stones’. In folklore these stones are said to have protective powers. In Dorset they have been used for many years to protect people against witchcraft. Fishermen, well into the mid 19th century, tied them to the bows of their boats to protect against bad luck, accidents and the inability to catch fish. This is mentioned in a book about Dorset, published in 1906. An Abbotsbury fisherman relates that in his youth, when a particular boat caught no fish when neighbouring boats were catching plenty, it was thought that the boat was “witched” because the stone had “not been placed, or not properly placed, or not placed soon enough, on the boat”. To dispel the bewitchment, “a mackerel stuck with pins was placed in the stern hatch.” To this day hag stones are sometimes still hung on local fishing boats.

It wasn’t just fishermen who believed in the charm of the stones either. People used to hang hag stones on key chains or on the end of their beds to protect from nightmares. It was believed that if you looked though the hole you could see through to the ‘faerie realm’, or put a curse on your enemy. The stones are also known as holey (or holy) stones although it is not clear if this is because they have a hole through them, or ‘holy’ from being a source of protection against evil.

We have taken the hag stones we have found home, threaded them on a length of string and hung them in the garden. Next time you find yourself on a beach with time for a little beachcombing, why not keep your eyes open and you may soon find some beach treasure to take home. A simple reminder of your happy holiday.