Portland bill...UK

Portland Bill and the two lighthouses

2009-11-04T20:13:00.000Z

Portland Bill...not to be confused with the children's cartoon program of the same name is the southern most point of Portland and County of Dorset.

With this impressive 35m lighthouse sitting at the tip since it was built in 1906.
With modern GPS the lighthouse as I have mentioned before on this site is rarely used, although it does if needed as the fog here can be pretty bad at times.

With the history of shipwrecks off Portland we have, you can't take chances.
this is not the only lighthouse at Portland bill either, behind the point I am stood to take this picture sits the white lighthouse which is now a bird observatory, as shown below...

Portland bill here is known for the main red and white lighthouse you see here although there really is much more to Portland bill than two lighthouses. Portland bill itself is quite isolated from the main housing areas, which is great in some sense and in the summer it really does feel like a day out, away from the beaten track.

Portland Bill, always worth going to see, whatever time of the year.

Portland in still waters

2009-11-04T14:37:00.002Z

Portland looking serene in still waters under a grey sky, taken from the very far end of "hamm beach" that runs alongside the beach road causeway.

It is on these waters you find the windsurfing championships, any weekend or indeed some weekdays you will see windsurfers and kite-surfers out there, also soon to be the waters for sailing in the 2012 Olympics.

This was such a quiet beach when we were young, mum often took me and my two brothers down there in the summer and we often had the whole beach to ourselves, all day, not so now with the windsurfers and such.

The water here is shallow for quite a way out making it a very safe place for the kids to play, or it did, but the windsurfers add a new danger to consider, although most are considerate enough to not be so close to the shore so it is still safe as long as everyone is aware of those around them.

Portland looks great from this beach with nothing in front of it to interrupt the view.

Portland Bill, newground and those views!

2009-11-03T14:26:00.002Z

Portland as seen from Foords corner in Wyke on a lovely clear day can often stop you in your tracks, if only to take a picture. ;o)

If you go to Portland you will pass this point and being one road on and off the Island you can see why work traffic can be a hassle, if there is a hold up for example, or worse an accident, oil spill etc, as has happened this year several times.

The gradual slope of portland is pretty evident here, the highest point on the left being the long plateau known as "newground" from where you get thse other amazing views looking towards Wyke and Weymouth, towards the point I took this from in fact.

The lowest point on the right being Portland Bill where the lighthouse is situated. The island does have a slight angle towards North West from the bill along the centre line of the Island.

I like the look of Portland itself as well as the amazing views you get from Portland, it's a lovely lump of rock!

Don't you agree?

Portland bill gets a rinse...

2009-11-03T00:42:00.000Z

Portland's plants and trees had a good day today with the downpour that ensued about ..."oh" 20 seconds after I got back from the shop. Lucky me, missed it thankfully as it really came down for a while.

The clouds came over pretty quickly, darkened the sky and didn't hang about letting go with the rain.

Not too sure if there was any thunder as I didn't hear any but you can't rely on my hearing. :o)
Certainly didn't see any lightening.

With recent drop in temperature we can probably say farewell to the good weather, mind you it is November. and we have had some long warm spells this year.

Don't the clouds look great and moody?

Portland's fair

2009-10-29T19:16:00.000Z

Portland fair is here for the weekend, open for three days this year and in the half term holidays too.

The bonus being the weather has been good so it's dry too which also makes it safer for obvious reasons.

I do think personally the atmosphere has been a little lost from the change of site, admittedly when the fair was in chiswell it caused traffic issues, which on the whole the island accepted and dealt with it but back then it was a proper street fair.

Since the move that's a little magic that's been lost.

There are benefits for the move yet I think it's a huge change and an important one, atmosphere is a big reason for going. One big reason the islanders enjoyed it was because it was an opportunity to see everyone, I mean everyone knows everyone here, or they did much more a few years ago, nevertheless it was part of the charm.

A chance to natter with people we don't get to see in our busy or hectic lives, depending how you view it. :o)

The street was alive and lit up with the sounds of the fair while steam floated over the hot food stands, people with candyfloss and balloons, prizes in hands, smiles and red cheeks all round.

That to me was the fairground attraction.

Now a memory, nostalgia.

Portland's St Georges Centre

2009-10-27T01:24:00.000Z

The St Georges centre..in Reforne.

I think this was a school at one time, it now has several classes, hobby style classes, host jumble sales among other activities.

I can remember this being revamped 15 to 20 years ago, as I grew up (aged 10 onwards) opposite the centre. A lovely row of arches on this building, they made good post for dribbling a football round when you are a football mad teenager!

This along with the YMCA building next to it being revamped made a big difference to Reforne and the area looked better for it.

St Georges Church is situated just at the top of Reforne.

Portland Customs office!

2009-10-25T21:12:00.001Z

The old customs office which is still situated down "castletown" where the old naval base was.
Not sure what this is used for nowadays but it's a legacy of the place and too good a building to lose, so it must be in use.

This street used to be so busy with sailors, sometimes the army and there was so much activity in castletown if you were to go there now you would never believe it was once that way, the bars and pubs still there now were back then thronging with sailors...and locals girls too if I am to be honest!

I can imagine this customs building was never empty those days with the sailors on and off ships all the while.
This small customs building has probably needed really!

You can find really old pictures of the "Yanks troops" and more from D Day which launched from this port on the portlanders site, link above on the menu-bar.

Portland's biggest knob!

2009-10-22T14:28:00.002+01:00

The Nicodemus knob...

On the east side of Portland sits this stack, at a guess it's about 25-35 metres high, overlooking the Jurassic coast with a fantastic view of the sheer white chalk cliffs in the distance just before Lulworth cove.

I have to say, it's not recommended at all to climb on this, although people have done so it is dangerous and at least 500 to 600 metres from the nearest house and main road, with no ambulance access you certainly wouldn't want to fall off that!

This was I presume part of the cliff at one time, as the east side was quarried a long time ago, the old railway ran along this side under the cliffs just on the other side of the stack.

Partly what alarms me is the sheer amount of stone that's been taken from the outsides of the island, the cliffs are quite some way back from the seashore.

Portland must have been quite a bit bigger one time, shame to have lost that but then the stone from the east side here is what ended up at St Paul's cathedral, among many other grand buildings for the world to see.

I am not sure why this stack is called Nicodemus knob to be honest but it is a landmark for us, if it was to disappear it would look odd for us locals.

UPDATED: It seems there is a theory by Geoff Kirby as to the name and reason behind it, according to his theory, it was named after an Irish man who had been keen on the ladies! (check the part inside the red box)

Red October on Portlands chesil beach

2009-10-14T15:23:00.000+01:00

Fantastic weather and sunsets for October here on Portland, long may it continue, after a great September too.

The consistency has been great with only a couple of bad days in the last 6 or 7 weeks.
Chesil beach is never empty at the moment with people taking advantage of the sun. Plenty of groups on canoes out there recently, plenty of people fishing too.

Admittedly the nights have got colder, and it's not long till the clocks go back again so we lose the later sunsets and the brighter mornings start, the real end of the summer.

For now everyone is enjoying the weather and making the most of it, as the one truth with British weather is as we know...it won't last!

Portland skies, and rolling shadows

2009-10-08T15:56:00.000+01:00

Portland being coastal gets some very nice "moody looks" as in atmospheric moods, with the clouds casting some fantastic shadows and patches of light which roll along with the wind.

Looking forward to catching some thunder and lightning, if possible get some good pictures.

Yesterday was our first really wet day for a while, today it's lovely.
Good old British weather, turns on a sixpence, as they say.

It's amazing and humbling to think that all you need to do to see nature at it's best is to look!

We so easily forget that the sky is never the same twice...unless really hot and no clouds at all, even then, the sunrise and sunsets are all unique.
Alot to be said for the simple act of appreciation.

Portland and it's crazy traffic issues...

2009-10-07T19:07:00.000+01:00

Due to Portland's one way system we have seen some crazy traffic situations over the last few months and we had another today when there was an oil spill in Fortuneswell, apparently due to a bus leaking diesel which wouldn't surprise me seeing how often the damn things break down.

During the summer here there were a couple of accidents, as unfortunate as they are, the traffic build up was something we simply can't cope with here. Granted if there is an accident on the beach rd causeway there is little to be done.

We don't need another road there but we certainly do need some form of alternative route from victoria square up to tophill and vice versa, if only to be used in emergencies or by the emergency services and big vehicles.

There was always a way using the road that runs around from the port area up to the grove.
I think it is a shame that route was never considered for use when the port changed hands, if that had been done all those years ago it would've been so much better in these situations.

One time you could go through chiswell and up high street to the turning at Hambro road (as shown in the stone ship post on here), although that was dangerous seeing how thin high street is, but nevertheless it was stopped and not replaced with any alternative.

Had the Olympics been now, today, they would have avoided this crazy snarl up today...somehow!

It's nothing new I admit, we have always had to deal with the fact it's one way on, one way off with this Island and have always had the snarl ups, yet we have never done anything to change it.

Why not?

Portland bill, the place for walks in all weathers

2009-10-05T14:01:00.000+01:00

Chesil beach in October, as it usually is... blustery and choppy.

After what turned out to be a fantastic dry warm September, the first days of October arrive and how it changes so dramatically. Woke up to a wet greyish day today, a real Autumn day.
The plants, grass and trees will be pleased!

Only last week there were people swimming in the sunshine here!

We are very exposed to the weather here on Portland with the sea all around, which itself has it's good and bad points.

It can be bad on the very windy days, (unless you happen to have a kite!) when no matter where you are on Portland it gets hard just to stay on your feet. With the sea spray too it can be pretty messy, your windows both on your home and car shows how messy it can be.

Yet on the sunny days, being a sloped south facing Island it is perfect to have a walkabouts. You can easily walk the whole island in a day, using the coastal path to do the whole "circuit", but on the hot days you have to protect your skin, the back of your neck in particular, the south west has a higher rate of skin problems then the rest of the UK with our climate so do protect your skin.

Walking in all weathers is getting the maximum experience of what Portland has to offer, be careful on the windy days, take your time on the sunny days, most important, don't forget your camera!

Starting down here on the beach, walking up to the tophill part and taking the coastal path towards Portland bill, back up along the west coast path towards the highest point of Portland again.

Portland from sandsfoot castle

2009-09-30T15:16:00.001+01:00

Taking a walk into Weymouth from Portland I took the Rodwell trial, along the old railway path. That is after what seems like the endless beach road causeway.

The Rodwell trial itself has improved alot.
Great to see that it is all nice and clean, tarmac has been laid down to complete it and making it a walk worth talking anytime!

Stopping along the way to take a few snaps like this one, taken from near sandsfoot castle and the small sailing club next to it.
This will be a common sight to the world in 2012.

Quite cool weather-wise thankfully seeing as it was a good 5 mile walk each way.

The stone ship!

2009-09-22T14:01:00.000+01:00

Portland has various interesting stone work scattered around the island. Being the main trade Portland is known for it will come to no surprise to find these various pieces every so often.

The above carving is at the bottom of the high street and Hambro road, this was done by someone I've worked with over the years, an appropriate theme for Portland I think.

You can see the seahorses carved into the side of the stone. As far as I can recall this house belonged to the carvers mother at the time, his father was also a stonemason.

On the top of this wall on the other side the mason has added the road name, so you will spot this work has been done no matter which side you see the wall.

This will be here for many years to come and that is the real beauty of being a stone mason, your legacy lives on long after you have gone.

It is sadly a slowly dying trade.

Sunrays over Portlands chesil beach

2009-09-20T20:36:00.000+01:00

Portland's fantastic Autumn sunsets on Chesil beach never cease to take my breath away, with skies like this how can you fail to feel a little inspired?

While the days are getting shorter and the nights start to cool down, it's still warm and summer like at the moment, it's a bit of an Indian summer feel for me.

Today there seemed to be a lot of little flies and gnats about, it was humid today.

I have noticed there has been a lot more divers on Chesil beach in the last couple of weeks, the water has been warming up all summer so i can imagine it must be fairly nice in there at the moment.

Also the people fishing, day and night it seems to be increasing, the "string of lights" along the beach at night looks to be a good few miles long.

I enjoy this time of the year, it's past the summer but not quite really Autumn, the trees are going brown but the leaves are not yet falling, the sun's warmth still there too, the nights have yet to get crisp and chilly.

Autumn, a great time of the year and hopefully we will have a long warm spell before it really changes.

Light on the horizon

2009-09-15T15:54:00.000+01:00

September so far has been great with the one or two spells of moody clouds, in fact today it rained slightly here on Portland, but overall it has be really warm for us here.

Today with the benefit of the sea breeze here the clouds are moving fast, giving us the odd short spell of blue skies yet it feels like the first real autumn day, for me. The sort of day you start looking at the jacket by the door when you leave.

Autumn is definitely on the way with the tree leaves all going brown, red or yellowy, after all nature is always on time, even when it's wrong (as we like to ~~point out~~ moan about so often in UK)... :o)

For me Autumn is nature at its most colourful.

A shame we don't have many trees here on Portland.

Sunsets over Portland's "mere farm"

2009-09-13T20:31:00.000+01:00

Overlooking the Fleet and Portland harbour, the scene of the 2012 Olympic sailing, taken from the top of what is known as "the incline"...a steep path from the bottom directly toward the top, or top directly to the bottom.

Originally used with boxes on rails for transporting goods from the top directly down toward the water to be transported on boats.

As I sat up here I thought about the many generations of Portlanders who had also sat here in wonder at the sunsets we have over Chesil beach.

The foreground was known as the "mere farm" and has now as you can see been reclaimed and built on by the navy who are no longer here.

I don't myself have any photos of this scene before the navy changed the mere farm from what it was to the solid ground it is now.

The one thing that doesn't and won't change are the stunning sunsets we enjoy here.

Portland castle...

2009-09-10T21:37:00.000+01:00

Portland castle, from the waters edge.

The castle on Portland was built in the reign of Henry VIII, it has an interesting 450 year history, one of the best coast fortresses built of the time in the UK.

Probably a defence against Spanish or French attack, the two main "rivals" of that era.

A proper Tudor stronghold in the UK and it still has a Tudor kitchen which visitors can see, it's makes a decent day out for any family, a bit of a history lesson for the children, looking at the armour, the gun platform, an audio narration to keep it interesting, (no idea what that itself is like, being deaf).

It has also got an interesting garden these days, a bit different, contemporary you could say.

I have heard it was somehow involved in the first world war...
More recently it played an important role WW2 in D-Day preparations, which was launched from here in Portland harbour.

Here is one of the windows on the castle...

And looking at the castle from a little further away...

You can also sea a small collection of boats that are stored here and used in the harbour....brings the place up to date!

For families visiting Portland bill, Chesil beach, even...Weymouth, should take a chance to see the castle and a bit of our history.

Any thoughts? Have you visited it?

Portland-bill gets a new look...

2009-09-10T02:20:00.001+01:00

Here of course not the actual Island, so if you are reading this via RSS or email, you may want to check it out, I appreciate any of your opinions and thoughts regarding the new cleaner look.

The old template was not quite working well with certain things I wanted to add here, not to mention the blog needed a bit of an updated look anyway.

It was an important part of the overall improvements I want to make here.

One area I wanted to get sorted out was a neater post summaries template and a "static post" function as now seen above on the main home page... "featured" and thankfully this new one come up trumps, although a two column one would have been good, a sidebar does have some benefits.

Once I get the subdomain issues sorted out, I aim to do several related pages to add to this blog, for example, map.portland-bill could be just a map page.

You will notice that the general info and profile is at the bottom of the blog, I think it makes the actual content a bit more prominent, the content is what matters after all.
So any links to new pages would most likely end up near the bottom anyway.

You may see subtle changes here and there as I test, track, improve things overall, with the aim of making it as best I can for you the reader.

Update: Added share buttons below each post, now with one click you can share any post to your facebook, twitter and other social profile pages you use. Simply click the icon of the chosen site.

How do you like this look? Any thoughts on it?

Portland's businesses and shops

2009-09-08T14:07:00.006+01:00

Portland being small Island (of a sort) has always had a diverse range of shops and businesses to cater to the locals, at both tophill and underhill.

In the last ten to 15 years as we all know, regarding shops that has slowly decreased much like elsewhere in the UK with the rise of huge supermarkets to cater for everything under one roof at low prices, which has killed the trade for the small specialist shops, like the butchers, bakers etc.

Not to mention we will soon have a supermarket on the Island, hopefully this will not impact to much on existing shops like has already happened in most places.

Up until now we have had the co-op as the main supermarket and they have traded here for years, in several places on the Island, although they will have to deal with the new supermarket...it's healthy in one sense to have that competition as co-op is not cheap, when compared to all other supermarkets and they have had the monopoly here for so long.

The OAP's will jump for joy at least feel like they get much more for their pension should they use the new Tesco supermarket being built. I personally am glad it's to be a Tesco and not Adsa or such, with Tesco being a British brand.

As long as the jobs created go only to the locals it will be a boost to Portland and it's overall mood.

One thing I have noticed with many local businesses is they don't utilise the web as well as they could, some don't use it at all, which is a shame as the web gives all businesses a greater reach and a potential wider customer base not to mention there ARE people talking about these businesses online somewhere, whether they realise it or not.

Wouldn't any business owner rather know what was being said and have the opportunity to direct the conversation?

Even if businesses have a website, that alone is usually not enough, the "build it and they come" mentality is outdated and in truth doesn't usually work, it needs to be the central hub for your business.

So with that in mind and with the recent economy being a bit stale I decided to do my little bit on here to help local businesses, from next week, one day each week I have decided to pick a business at random on Portland and write about them, promote them, link to their website if they have one.

I have no preconceived preference for the type of business I will pick, should it be your business written about, lucky you. :o) I can should be bribed, persuaded, charmed, left alone to choose.

Having decided to make this site a long term commitment there are of course some running cost as well as the time spent writing, promoting, and growing the site itself, the readership.

So another area I would like to help is to sell small ad blocks on here, 125x125 sort of sized boxes.

With over 700 subscribers and having new people visit the blog on a daily basis I am sure businesses can see the value in having an limited ad on here, more so when this ad income would most certainly go back into growing the site and it's readership so as to provide more value for the businesses who have an ad.

I aim to have only three boxes and as they will be always in view upon immediate visit here, what's known as "above the fold" where no scrolling of the website is needed to see that ad and the ads show on every page on the blog including archived pages.

To be fair, I would like to say, a minimum of one month and a maximum of six months on each ad, for each business at any one time, this means other businesses also get the opportunity to benefit.

If having an ad for your business on here appeals, please feel free to contact me to discuss it further, simply email me in confidence using deafdad+portland @gmail.com (remove the space before @) please send the email with the subject line: Ad on portland-bill.com offer.

Any thoughts? Feel free to comment below...

For Portlanders and others who enjoy Portland Bill

2009-09-07T11:08:00.000+01:00

Those sharp eyed readers among you will have by now noticed the new domain change, unless you read it over on my personal blog.

Having decided to keep this going and improve it much as possible over time with the plans I have had for a while, which got me started on this in the first place, I thought I would let you know where it stands and where I would like to test changes.

I say test because what matters is it improves and that depends on you the reader and any feedback that arises, some will be indirectly, you may not notice if readers like to do a particular thing or not, I should with the stats telling me the overall picture.

What I can say is, I will take the feedback seriously and make changes where I should based on that feedback. If I make a change and it goes back to the previous after a while it means many didn't like it, if it stays, they did.

How you can help.

Indirectly, by using the blog itself, your actions will tell me what you use and how you use it. You may only see one or two changes at any one time, if so, using whatever it is that's changed, or not, will let me know what you think.

Directly...By all means if you like something a certain way, you can always let me know, if you don't like it, let me know too.

If I can't see much that's making a difference, or your preferences don't seem clear cut, I may take a chance and change the template ~ thus the whole look and layout of the blog itself.

I am not to impressed by bloggers own templates, the reactions are supposed to show under each post on this and yet they don't...and this is a bloggers own template!

I would be using a modified one for sure, there are plenty of good ones out there, and I already have and use a few good ones. ;o).

The advantages and disadvantages will have to be weighed up of course.

Whatever happens, I am glad to have got the domain and decided I will build on this, its getting readers, there is potential and I enjoy writing about and taking pictures of Portland.

I have some plans for improving the post themselves and ideas on new things to write about, hopefully you the readers will like them too.

Any thoughts? Feel free to comment below...

Portland bill, readying for the winter

2009-09-06T00:42:00.000+01:00

Portland bill, with that famous lighthouse and it's foghorn.

Something I never knew was the fact each foghorn on each lighthouse around the UK was a distinct and easily recognisable but unique sound, being deaf I do hear the foghorn itself but probably couldn't tell them apart like most of you.

Interesting concept of remembering the sound of different foghorns while at sea.

Something not really needed nowadays with modern technology and sat navigation.

Sad to say in a way, shame it's not common to hear now, that foghorn provokes some memories.

It's something this generation and the future generations won't be aware of, sometime this foghorn is likely to stop being used. Who knows?

The fact that today's generations won't lay in bed late at night and know it's foggy outside due to hearing this foghorn seems a little sad.

There must be lots of my generation and older around the UK with their own memories of their local foghorn bellowing on those stormy or foggy nights.

Portland bill would certainly be a different place without the lighthouse itself, which hopefully will never happen.

Looking at Portland itself and the shape of it as it sticks out from the coast you can appreciate how important this lighthouse was many moons ago.
Chesil beach has seen it's fair share of shipwrecks for the evidence of that.

These days, Portland bill is the perfect getaway for some summer fun and peaceful hot days with long warm nights for the locals, many of whom are owners of the beach huts out there, that's while all the holiday makers pack Weymouth beach out.

Now as the summer draws in and gives way to Autumn, Portland bill gets quieter again one more.

Time for the (all wooden) beach hut owners to deal with any problems spotted over the summer, prepare it for the harsh winters Portland bill has, battering winds and rain, not to mention the salt spray from the sea.

Time for the local businesses, the restaurant/gift shop hut, and Pulpit inn to count up the summer takings and hope that along with the coming autumn and winter trade with Christmas specials and the like gets them through to next spring, summer.

Whatever happens, the charm of Portland bill is there to stay. A shame that foghorn is not always going to be a part of it.

Autumn sunsets on chesil beach

2009-09-05T14:19:00.001+01:00

It's that time of the year again, beautiful sunsets on Portland's Chesil beach.

It's pretty amazing to see how the atmosphere changes the colour of the sky at different times of the year.
So many beautiful subtle shades of various colours.

A great time of the year to enjoy the sunsets.

Portland's St Georges church and graveyard.

2009-08-30T15:18:00.001+01:00

St Georges church and the graveyard situated at the top of Reforne and Weston road, and the bottom of Wide street.
From where I stand taking this shot there was once a pig farm, thank god that smell has long gone!
Some interesting old gravestones in this church yard and many dating back 150 odd years.

Many of the headstones are large, some carved with angels and such.
Something that seems to have stopped nowadays, nearly all headstones have to fit to certain sizes.

The church is often open to the public, should you come to Portland, I would recommend you go look at the graveyard and it's interesting carved headstones.

Portland's "Old hill"

2009-08-29T13:50:00.000+01:00

Old hill, among the trees, an old footpath that has continuously been used... I remember walking up as a very small child with my mum and brother in his old pram (old bouncy ones) and a big adder crossed the path, which give mum a bit of a shock.

This is probably the only real wood we have left here on Portland, in the summer it looks so lush and green...and very dark!