Weymouth Harbour Christmas Day Swim - 2012

It never ceases to amaze me what people will do for charity! Yesterday morning, hundreds of people - competitors and spectators alike - turned out for the annual Christmas Day harbour swim, organised by the Weymouth and Portland Lions Club.The swim used to be a serious event organised by the local swimming club (read more here) and 20 years ago when the Lions started running it as a charity event there were about 20 entrants. This year, there were 239! Most were swimming for charity (there were some medal races, too) and many took part in fancy dress.

After a very wet start to the day when we arrived at the harbour at 10.45am (the first race was at 11am) the skies had cleared and the sun was shining brightly. The registered swimmers, who were racing in batches of 50, lined up on the temporary pontoon on the shady side of the harbour, most of them looking very nonchalant and (probably) pretending not to be cold. The air temperature was about 12 degrees C and the water around 8 degrees. Two boats ferried bags of the swimmers' shoes and clothes across to the other side; several people's belongings in each bag – it must have been fun sorting those out afterwards!

Then they were off! Some diving in and powering across the harbour like they were in the local heated swimming pool. For others, the shock of the cold water halted them temporarily but, as far as I could tell, they all made it across to the other side and, apart from a few words of encouragement, the assistance of the canoe-based lifeguards were not required.

One by one they all made it across and emerged onto the other pontoon in glorious sunshine.

With registration fees from the competitors and collection buckets for the spectators, I hope the Lions Club managed to raise a good amount for their work over the coming months. If I find out I'll update this post.


Thinking of fundraising, I was very moved yesterday when I watched the BBC documentary of Martha Payne and her family's trip to Malawi. Martha gained fame when she started a blog called Never Seconds when she posted a photograph of her rather meagre school dinner. The blog went viral and Martha realised that she could use the blog to raise funds for charity. To-date, through the blog, Martha has raise over £125,000 for a charity called 'Mary's Meals'. You can watch it (in the UK) for the few days on iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ndyy3

Merry Christmas!

A very Merry Christmas to all our family, friends and anyone else who stumbles across this blog. This is our first Christmas in Weymouth and we've thoroughly enjoyed our first few months here. Looking forward to welcoming our visitors in 2013!

Santa Chase-the-Pudding

Around 120 assorted Santas, elves and even a Christmas cracker turned out to take part in the annual 'Chase the Pudding' 5km Santa Fun-Run on Sunday 16th December on Weymouth beach. Dozens of entrants, of all ages, human and canine, dressed up and joined in. There was an initial warm-up by Jodie from 'Healthy Habit' before the runners set off along the beach.

All proceeds from sponsorship and collections on the day - about £2,000 in all - went to the British Heart Foundation.

The weather was extremely kind - particularly as December has been very, very wet - and there were only a few spits and spots of rain during the warm-up and, as you can see in the last picture, the sun even managed to come out for a while.

After the race the competitors were invited back to Weymouth Pavilion near the race start for a mince pie and mulled wine.

Next... the Christmas Day harbour swim and no, we're not taking part in that, either!

Magical Moonlight

Hello readers! I'm really rather conscious of the fact that I haven't posted here for a while.

I've been very busy with work and have also been battling with a continuous cough for several weeks which wore me out but has, at last, finally stopped.

I've quite a few posts waiting in the wings, so I hope to get writing and posting this weekend.

In the meantime, this picture was taken last night at around 7.15pm from the hill behind our house looking east over Newton's Cove. You can just see Jupiter, too, above and to the right of the moon at about one o'clock. The orange glow on the horizon is a tanker or trawler. There are usually two or three anchored out in the bay.

Beach Motocross

Sunday 14th October.

Today's post is written by Ian, who is a fan of motor sports, rather than me, who isn't!

Over a beautiful October weekend Weymouth played host to the annual beach Motocross event. This event which is organised by the Weymouth and Portland Lions Club and the Purbeck Motorcycle Club attracts over 250 top riders from all over England.

On Sunday afternoon, I followed my ears as they led me to the beach where the races were already in progress. A stretch of about a quarter of a mile of Weymouth’s sandy beach at low tide had been converted into a about a mile long Motocross course with a long straight along the waterside with the rest of the circuit comprising turns, 'Bomb Holes', 'Dare Devil' jumps and some chicanes.

Six races were run in the categories of Expert, Senior and Junior (15+) and several top women riders took part – although it was impossible to tell this when they were in all their protective gear. The bikers' leathers and helmets were in all colours which made the sight of the bikes queuing to take their places at the start a colourful affair. The noise of the racing hit you like a wall of sound and there were some fantastic sights as the bikes set off from the start line along the fast straight where the bigger 500cc bikes can hit 90 mph. There were plenty of thrills and a few spills – but no serious injuries thank goodness.

The seafront promenade was packed with the estimated 15,000 people watching and it was a fabulous experience. There was also a beer festival over the weekend – but I passed on that – for this year anyway.

A trip to Bridport, Osmington Mills and the Smugglers Inn

Saturday 23rd September dawned clear and bright with the promise of a fine day. With a forecast of heavy rain and gales for the next few days we grabbed our chance to make the most of the fine weather and went out for the day.

A trip along the coast road to Bridport saw us browsing the Saturday flea market there followed by a sandwich lunch sitting on a bench in the community orchard behind the pretty parish church.The market, marking out the T-shape of the main streets - South, East and West streets - is an eclectic mix of tools and gadgets, jewellery and clothes, cutlery and furniture, along with the more usual 'modern' market stalls selling slippers, tea towels and fresh produce. There are a few independent shops here, including a lovely lighting shop and a good old-fashioned hardware store, as well as some of the more common market-town shops.

On the way back we stopped to admire the view across Abbotsbury swannery and along Chesil beach towards Portland then drove down a long windy lane to the Moonfleet Manor Hotel and Restaurant. Always on the lookout for a good place to eat I asked to see the menu. At £49.95 for a three-course a la carte meal for non-residents I doubt we’ll be eating there too often!

A quick stop at home and then out again to Osmington Mills, seven miles by road east along the coast. This is down another very long and windy lane to the coast where the infamous ‘Smugglers Inn’ is based. At one time it was originally known as the Crown Inn and was home to the leader of one of the most notorious gang of smugglers. He apparently imported brandy that was so disgusting that none of the locals would drink it! In the 1920s to 70s it was known as the Picnic Inn, presumably so-named to attract the charabanc trade on day trips from Weymouth and Dorchester.

Later, in another wise marketing move, it was renamed the Smugglers Inn and the pub, now owned by the Hall and Woodhouse chain, still attracts holidaymakers and is busy all year round with walkers as the South West Coast Path runs through its garden.

After sampling some of the guest beer, we set off for a short walk down the path for a mile or so to Ringstead.

There we walked down to the beach and watched a cormorant fishing, a lady learning to paddle a canoe and a group of three young women setting out what would probably be a rather chilly late afternoon picnic.