My Jurassic Coast Challenge - A guest walk from Swanage, ‘in honour of my dad’, by Lisa Gray

Lisa explores why she’s walking the toughest Ultra Challenge along Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.

I am originally from St Albans, Hertfordshire and I relocated to Dorset in 2013, the year after my first daughter was born. I had strong family connections to the Isle of Purbeck, having visited on many family camping holidays when I was younger. We used to stay at Woodhyde campsite which is still in existence now (just a bit more modern than it was back in the day), located in between Harman’s Cross and Corfe Castle.

 One of the things that motivated my husband and I to move, was the thought of bringing up our children by the sea.  Our hope was to encourage them to love the outdoors and to be able to have many wonderful adventures. They are now nine and six, both having attended a fantastic nature nursery situated in a local country park, Durlston, which features in the walk below. Both of my girls enjoy going on walks, exploring nature and playing in the sea. I personally really love a walk in the countryside, and I often meet up with friends and go for a little stomp! Generally, these walks are no more than 10 km or so which leads me to my story…..

 This year marks 7 years since my dad sadly passed away from cancer. I wanted to do something in his memory, and to raise much needed funds for Cancer Research UK. The undulating coastline can sometimes be a daunting prospect and so, I have decided to take on a fundraising activity that will push me to my limits. The 58km Ultra Challenge is billed as the hardest section of any Ultra Challenge that the organisation offers. It takes place on 14th May 2022. The challenge begins at Corfe Castle, ventures across to Swanage, up the coastline to Worth Matravers and sweeps back down to Church Knowle for a quick pit-stop 25km in. You then incline all the way to the coast, reaching the spectacular Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. From there, the hills keep coming for a time as you follow the coastal path along, eventually reaching Weymouth.

  The challenge finishes at Lodmoor Country park. To build up my fitness for this challenge, I am following a recommended training plan shared by the event organisers. This means that I will need to walk regularly and build up my stamina over time. As I work, most of my long training walks will be at weekends and the walk I am sharing below, was my first to reach the half-marathon distance! The realisation that it was only a third of the distance I will be covering on the day, was a staggering one! It was a beautiful walk though, with gorgeous scenery and coastline. I really hope you enjoy it if you decide to explore it yourself. 

The route

Priests Way – Worth – Dancing Ledge – Durlston – Priests Way 

            This circular walk starts at the beginning of Priests Way, an ancient footpath that leads from Swanage to Worth. This track leads you all the way to the Square and Compass in Worth Matravers. It’s a lovely well-trodden route with easy-to-follow signage. Initially, you walk through fields on a pathway and through a farm. This leads you to the top of Spyway carpark. You continue to follow the path, through stunning fields. We set off at 7.30am and we saw a beautiful sunrise. The route takes you through a quarry and past the famous dinosaur footprints and leads you towards Worth. At the end of the field, you meet a road and turn left walking a short way down before reaching the Square and Compass. The toilets were open, so we had a quick stop before making our way down towards Winspit. 

You follow the road down past the duck pond and beautiful stone cottages and join a footpath which takes you all the way down to the sea. At the bottom of the path, you can either descend the rocks to Winspit (wonderful for a sea swim on a warmer day!) or stay on higher ground. We veered left and joined the coastal path, which gives a wonderful outlook over Winspit and towards Seacombe as you travel along the coastal path. We continued along this route, with uninterrupted views out to sea and enjoyed the wonderful scenery and dramatic coastline. We passed a bench where two friends were exchanging stories and having a cup of tea. 

We continued onwards until we found a good spot to settle for a cup of hot chocolate and a flapjack to give us an energy boost. After 15 minutes or so, we headed off in the same direction, following the coastal path which led us to Dancing Ledge, one of my favourite places on this stretch of coastline. This time we didn’t stop to explore, keen to keep making progress and we continued towards Durlston Country park, working our way towards the white lighthouse that we could see in the distance.  Once we got to the lighthouse, we made our way down the rocks towards the base of Tilly Whim Caves – another beautiful and rugged spot. 

We walked down an incline on the other side and headed towards the globe and up to Durlston Castle. From there, we crossed through the carpark and used the facilities at the visitor centre. There are benches here so we had a short rest and headed back, looping along the higher coastal path and walking back towards Dancing Ledge. Nearing 18km, we decided to turn back inland and make our way across the fields, re-joining the Priests Way before following the pathway back through the farm and down towards our starting point. Our half marathon was completed, there was stunning scenery, a good number of hills and plenty of lovely points to stop and enjoy the views! 

Walk Overview

13.2 miles

4 hours 10 mins

1481ft

Fields and Paths

Yes - woof!

Start Point

OS Grid ref SZ 019 785
Latitude: 50°36'25"N
Longitude: 1°58'28"W
Elevation: 149ft