Moonfleet Hotel and the chesil bank
Holidaying in England is an adventure full of discovering old friends and half-remembered places and events. Imagine our excitement when we stopped at Moonfleet Hotel in West Dorset, a reminder of stories of smugglers and boats on shingles like they were told by J. Meade Falkner. The hotel looks a bit rundown from the outside and we proceeded quickly to the beach.We were right on the Fleet, a shallow tidal lagoon which runs for many kilometres along the coast.
The Fleet is a sanctuary for swans and many other birds. The Chesil Bank which shapes the lagoon can be seen in the background. Beyond that lies the English Channel.
The shingles (pebbles) in West Dorset are still relatively small. The size of the shingles varies from pea-sized at the north-west end of the Fleet to the size of oranges at the south-east end by Portland. Smugglers judged where they were along the coast by the size of those shingles. In the dead of night this must have been helpful.
Boats are dragged across the Chesil Beach, sometimes little tractors are used.
We travelled all the way down to Portland.
Our picnic near Portland shows some of the bigger pebbles.
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