The Jurassic Coast of Dorset: worthy of a gold medal Next year, the eyes of the World will be on London

as it hosts the 2012 Olympics , but there is another corner of Britain, the Dorset coast, which will also have its part to play in the proceedings as the neighbouring communities of the sea side resort of Weymouth and the harbour town of Portland are set to host the sai ling events. Visitors to these towns should set aside some time to explore the part of the British coastline known as the Jurassic Coast, so called because of the age of the rocks which make up this coast and the wealth of fossils to be fo und there. The Jurassic Coast stretches for 153 Kilometers to the west and east of Weymouth, starting near Exmouth in East Devon, and continuing all the way to Old Harry Rocks on the Isle of Purbeck near Swanage, East Dorset. This coast, which tells the story of 180 million years of geological history, has been a Wor ld Heritage Site since 2001. The coast can be visited by private transport, by local public transport, or even on foot, since this entire stretch of coastline falls within the South West Coast Path. West of Weymouth Looking towards the west from Portland Bill, the distinctive headland that stret ches out to sea from Portland, the eye is drawn to the well-known stretch of the Dorset coast known as Chesil Beach, a long, narrow expanse of pebbles which gra dually decrease in size from east to west. The easternmost part of the beach is Chesil Bank, which rises to a height of 40 feet and encloses a lagoon called Th e Fleet, home to swans and waders. The picturesque village of Abbotsbury which adjoins the north-west end of The Fleet is home to a swannery where hundreds of mute swans breed in the lagoon. The swans did not always lead such a carefree e xistence: back in the day when the Abbey which gave the village its name was sti ll in use the swans were used by the monks as a source of food. Further west, heading towards Lyme Regis, the coast takes on something of a roll er-coaster appearance, with a series of rises and falls in the heights of the cl iff tops, the highest point of all being Golden Cap, at 617 feet the highest poi nt on the south coast. This is where we enter serious fossil-hunting territory. The cliffs on this stretch of coast are rich in fossils such as ammonites, and other finds have included crinoids, Ichthyosaurus bones and fish fossils. As i f this is not enough to tempt the budding palaeontologists among you, there is a n area of submerged forest just offshore, which occasionally becomes visible at very low tides, where traces of mammoth bones have been found. The charming sea side town of Lyme Regis, with its sandy beach backed by elegant Regency building s, holds a Fossil Festival every year, and there are fossil walks organised by a local expert in the field. Film buffs among you may remember the film The Fren ch Lieutenant s Woman starring Meryl Streep; the dramatic images of Streep clad in b lack and staring mournfully out to sea were filmed on The Cobb, part of the harb our wall in Lyme Regis. As the Jurassic Coast moves into Devon, the cliffs take on an increasingly red a ppearance, due to the combination of rock types which abound here, which include mudstone and sandstone, the rocks dating back to the Triassic period. The reso rt of Sidmouth has some particularly striking red cliffs towering over it. Sidm outh, which is known for its annual Folk Festival, is the first of three sedate resorts along the final section of the western part of the Jurassic Coast, along with Budleigh Salterton and Exmouth, so named because it lies at the mouth of t he River Exe, which further upstream flows through the cathedral city of Exeter. East of Weymouth It is to the east of Weymouth that the coastal geology of the Jurassic Coast rea lly starts to get interesting, particularly around the neighbouring wonders of D urdle Door and Lulworth Cove. Durdle Door is a spectacular limestone arch reach

ing out from the cliff top, while Lulworth Cove is a small but perfectly formed oyster-shaped bay which forms a lovely calm haven for visiting yachts. By the t ime we reach Lulworth Cove, the rock has started to take on a white hue, and at the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast at the tip of the Isle of Purbeck, the sea stacks known as Old Harry Rocks, reputedly named after a notorious privateer fr om nearby Poole called Harry Paye, are a pure white chalk. The Isle of Purbeck, by the way, is not really an island at all, but a rounded peninsula. So as this article demonstrates, there is much more for visitors to the 2012 Oly mpics sailing events to feast their eyes on than the sailing itself. It is hard to think of a more impressive backdrop to the events than the Jurassic Coast of Dorset. If you want to find out more about the Dorset coast, or the British coast in gen eral, why not check out my blog Postcards From The Edge http://postcards-pfte.bl ogspot.com/