Take a Walk on the Wild side
25/07/12 17:45 Filed in:
News | Film
An animated Peregrine Falcon leads you along The Legacy Trail - a 13 mile trail through Weymouth to Portland Bill along the stunning Jurassic coast.
The trail is one of the Dorset town’s London 2012 Olympic legacies, offering visitors and local people a chance to explore the wild side of this stunning part of the country. The Peregrine, drawn by Nic Rawling of the Paper Cinema specially for the project, guides viewers through reedbeds, along Weymouth’s bucket and spade seafront to a hidden trail on the old railway line to Portland Harbour and the extraordinary Chesil beach.
From Underhill, it goes up the Merchants’ Incline, the track of a historic horse drawn tramway used to move Portland stone to the dock in the 19th century and into a fascinating maze of of old quarry workings, complete with 150 year old tunnels - and, if you can spot it, a fine example of a fossilised tree.
From the Quarries, the trail moves on to the Engine shed, where steam locos on the Portland line were refuelled and maintained, before moving down to the East Weares, a spectacular coastal section - complete with its own herd of wild native goats. Here you could easily see a pair of the island’s resident Peregrines with their young, calling to them from the clifftop.
The trail goes on, past cliffs of roped up climbers honing their skills for greater heights, to Church Ope cove where locals enjoy a dip in the sea or try their luck spear fishing for sea bass.
On flies the Peregrine, past long disused cranes used for loading the valuable stone onto waiting barges, until finally it reaches the Bill. Time for a visit to the lighthouse, a welcome bite to eat and a look round the visitor centre.
Have you explored the wild side yet ?Tags: Legacy Trail, Weymouth and Portland, Olympic, film