We had a very nice breakfast overlooking Chesil beach and the Olympic Rings, then it was time to get ready to catch the bus to Weymouth. Although the sun is out it is still a bit chilly so we picked up our gloves and hats from the car then walked to the bus stop. Weymouth is a bit further away than it looks so the bus ride took about half an hour, but we were still in Weymouth before 10:00 so we set off in search of the tourist information which according to the signs is housed in the Pavilion Theatre. Unfortunately when we got there they didn’t seem to be aware that they were tourist information and despite having some town maps and visit Dorset booklets didn’t really seem to know anything that was in the local area, although they did say that Nothe Fort cafe did nice lunches! After picking up a map of the area we decided to walk up in to Nothe Fort which is actually the other side of the river / inlet from where we were. Apparently Weymouth is one of Britain’s oldest seaside resorts, made popular by King George III in the 1790s. It is a natural bay with fine sand and calm waters, a magnet for holiday makers. We walked along the quay stopping at the customs house, now a cafe, originally the building was a merchants house but later became home to the customs officer whose job was to oversee trade and collect taxes on behalf of the government. To avoid taxes gangs smuggled goods into Weymouth, predominantly spirits, sugar, salt, lace, silk, velvet, coffee and coco beans. Most of the contraband came from Europe and the Channel islands, or popular goods such as French brandy, American tobacco, Indian tea and gin from the Netherlands. Smuggling was so common by the 18th century it was almost seen as a pastime! From here we walked to the town bridge which is a lifting bascule bridge (the same as Tower Bridge in London), the current bridge opened in 1930 but there has been a bridge here since 1597. It is grade II listed and opens every two hours during daylight hours 363 days a year. We had just missed it opening so we continued on our walk along the south coast path towards Northe fort. Built between 1860 and 1872 to protect Portland and Weymouth harbours it became an important Naval base, the fort was built with bomb-proof casemates and deep magazines. The fort was abandoned in 1956 and turned into a museum in the 1970s. We walked up the hill to the fort but decided we didn’t need to go in as the major selling point is the view but we had such a magnificent view from the top of the hill it didn’t seem worth it! After sitting taking in the view for a while we set off back down the hill to the town bridge again to rejoin our walk. We arrived back at the town bridge about 10 minutes before the bridge was due to lift so we decided to wait and watch it, then set off to walk along the side of Weymouth marina. There is obviously a lot of money in Weymouth as most of the motorboats and yachts moored up were quite sizeable! Weymouth is the only town to have hosted the start of the Tall ships race three times, with the first race being held in 1956. Following the route through the town we arrived at the statue of King George III who was prescribed a visit to the seaside after an attack of porphyria in 1788, his younger brother, the Duke of Gloucester had a house on the seafront, he enjoyed his visit so much returned 13 times over the next 15 years. He stayed at Gloucester lodge which is now a hotel but was the very large house, the King brought it from his brother and it became a royal residence meaning that when he came to stay the British Empire was run from Weymouth! We walked along the esplanade to the Jubilee Clock tower, this was built in 1887 to commemorate the 50th year of the reign of Queen Victoria. The clock originally stood on the beech but expansion of the promenade and road widening have meant that it is now in the middle of the road. We walked all the way to the bandstand then turned round and walked back, past one of the oldest ice cream parlours in Britain, Rossi’s was established in 1937 by Italian businessman Fioravanti Figliolini, the shop has been family owned ever since and the shop is currently run by the 3rd generation of this family. Despite the fact that ice cream is freshly made on site each day we decided it was a little bit chilly so we didn’t bother having one, instead we decided to head off and get a late lunch round by the bridge where there is a pub overlooking the river which was very pleasant as we sat inside but in the sun. After this we walked round a bit more then headed back to the bus to go back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before heading up to the bar again this evening.
