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The Geography Department |
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Durdle Door, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset April 2006
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April 4 2007 |
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Dungy Head and St Oswald's Bay, and in the foreground Man O' War Bay. The detail shots are for the beach formations and the chalk bedding exposures |
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More of the same, but the emphasis here is on the steep-bedded reefs that come ashore at the beach. |
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Another closer look at the reef. |
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The wide and bright pathway's) and the refreshment caravan - still there. |
Durdle Door in mid afternoon, with a beach full of admirers. |
Towards Bat's Head - see last year's shots. |
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A parting trio of photographs of St Oswald's and Man O' War Bays. |
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April 2006
Durdle Door - access and tourism pressures
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The car park at Newlands Farm caravan park is part of the Lulworth Estate and so tickets can be used in the main Lulworth Cove car park, and vice versa .. so at least its expensive but flexible. A steep but all-weather path leads down to Durdle Door. |
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800-P1040118.JPG 142KB |
2304-P1040117.JPG 665KB
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800-P1040123.JPG 130KB |
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Signs are substantial and well-maintained. note the laid stone surface of the path at this point. |
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800-P1040189.JPG 212KB |
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A overview of the chalk coastline and its Downs-like approaches. The pathways are very clear, as is the Isle of Portland on the horizon. Durdle Door is featured centre, where beach access is engineered for both sides of the promontory. |
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800-P1040121.JPG 198KB
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800-P1040120.JPG 156KB |
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Three views of the 'motorway' footpath and the refreshment trailer .. always with its attendant tractor. This is pretty incongruous actually inside the World Heritage site and just a few yards from Durdle Door. On the other hand, many visitors are sightseers, including parties of youths (above) and there is a demand for its services. |
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800-P1040124.JPG 143KB |
800-P1040122.JPG 196KB
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800-P1040188.JPG 177KB |
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To the east of Durdle Door
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Approaching Durdle Door from Dungy Head; on the left looking back to the east - and on the right over Man O' War Bay to Durdle Door and Swyre Head then Bat's Head. |
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800-P1040190.JPG 124KB |
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The condition of the high cliffs in St Oswald's Bay varies, with the chalk showing some stability and a fair covering of vegetation, but with some slips in the chalk on the beach, and some caves etched out too ... and more extensive landslips in the clays and sands of the Wealden Beds beyond, just short of Dungy Head. |
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800-P1040192.JPG 182KB |
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The reef emerging from Durdle Door into Man O' War Bay indicates the nature of this concordant coastline, with the strata inclined almost vertically before being planed off by the sea - as seen on the right. |
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More of Man O' War Bay, St Oswald's Bay, Dungy Head and Hambury Tout. |
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Dungy Head and St Oswald's Bay, and in the foreground Man O' War Bay. |
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800-P1040135.JPG 163KB |
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Access to the beach in Man O' War Bay is via stone steps from a col half way down from the cliff top to Durdle Door. |
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The vertical bedding and the eroded cliff in Man O' War Bay show well from the cliff top. |
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Durdle Door feature
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The natural arch that is Durdle Door shows up against the Sun; vertical bedding in Man O' War Bay, and the pathway to the beach at Durdle Dore. |
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A multitude of views of Durdle Door, the sea arch. To access the beach there is now a well-kept footpath, with stone step supports to negotiate the treacherous clay slopes. The Wealden Beds here are either mobile or friable according to season. |
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Durdle Door to Swyre Head and Bat's Head
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Towards the west, from the access path to Durdle Door. On the left is an overview of the chalk cliffs, with the promontory of Bat's Head and the higher cliff of Swyre Head - again seen in the centre, but this time from the beach. Bat's Head comes complete with an arch and stack .. and stumps, although they can't be seen in this shot. (see White Nothe page) |
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More photos of the view to the east, and the line of cliffs etched into the chalk by wave action. |
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The caves go back a couple of metres and follow a bedding plane weakness in the chalk. Flints are exposed in great numbers. |
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800-P1040162.JPG 198KB |
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These three photos feature the wave-cut notch in the chalk .. not always easy to see against a white background! The right-hand photo has it seen more clearly, plus a stack and arch as well! |
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The wide shingle beach dips steeply at the water's edge .. and provides ample ammunition to throw against the chalk cliffs. The centre photo is of steep dipping chalk strata and the planing off of the outcrop on the beach. |
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The photos above and below show the beach from Durdle Door to Swyre and Bat's Heads with fallen blocks of chalk, its shingle beach with sharply dipping seaward end, and the impressive stack and arch.
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The chalk cliff has been fretted by gully erosion .. see White Nothe page. |
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