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The Geography Department |
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White Nothe - from Ringstead to Swyre Head, Dorset April 2006
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5 April 2006
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Ringstead from the National Trust (free) car park with the view over to Portland in the centre. As this piece of sea has been selected for the sailing elements of the 2012 Olympics, I should imagine all such venues will be crowded out with spectators. The temperature is 1 deg. C in a biting wind! |
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800-P1040001.JPG 97KB
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800-P1040002.JPG 54KB
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800-P1040003.JPG 132KB |
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The Ringstead amphitheatre, with a depression containing ... |
... South Down Farm, within a possible landslip feature. |
Holworth House overlooks Ringstead and the beach. |
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800-P1040005.JPG 150KB |
800-P1040004.JPG 203KB
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800-P1040007.JPG 190KB |
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The South West Coast Path climbs above Ringstead along the cliff top above a coastline that is beset by landslides. Ringstead can still be seen as the path climbs to the east. |
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800-P1040009.JPG 124KB
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800-P1040010.JPG 81KB
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Black Head, cliffs towards the west and Weymouth. |
Mobile flows spill over the beach. |
A chalk outlier or remnant block emerges from vegetation above the Burning Cliffs. |
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800-P1040011.JPG 123KB |
800-P1040012.JPG 150KB
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800-P1040014.JPG 195KB |
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More blocks of chalk emerge as the climb to White Nothe, at about 150 metres, nears its end.
The remains of old landslides litter the shoreline as arcs |
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800-P1040019.JPG 117KB |
800-P1040021.JPG 169KB |
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White Nothe from the Coast Path; a mixture of crumbling chalk and thin grass cover. A beach has built up almost to the headland itself. |
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800-P1040029.JPG 141KB |
600-P1040026.JPG 152KB
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800-P1040027.JPG 158KB |
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White Nothe from 'The Warren' on the way down to 'Middle Bottom', with a detail of the debris being eroded from a cliff fall. |
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800-P1040031.JPG 135KB |
800-P1040032.JPG 191KB |
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More of the beach and erosion details to the east of White Nothe. |
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800-P1040035.JPG 141KB |
800-P1040036.JPG 149KB |
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At the western end of the beach there appears to be an isolated pillar of chalk, perhaps block-glide may be in evidence? |
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800-P1040037.JPG 137KB |
800-P1040039.JPG 195KB |
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'Middle Bottom' and White Nothe. |
Just off the beach the chalk debris is being broken up by wave action. |
Furrowed walkways lead down to 'Middle Bottom'. |
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800-P1040040.JPG 127KB |
800-P1040044.JPG 125KB
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800-P1040042.JPG 150KB
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A truly inspiring coastline, towards Durdle Door from Swyre Head. The variety of landforms on the Purbeck coast is staggering. |
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600-P1040069.JPG 161KB |
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Back to White Nothe and Weymouth beyond. |
Eastwards into an early-morning sun. |
Looking from Bat's Head eastwards to Swyre Head and then Durdle Door. |
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600-P1040045.JPG 156KB |
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600-P1040046.JPG 147KB |
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Swyre Head shows up to the east, with cliffs, beaches, stacks, arches and gullies! |
Gullies or rills have been etched in the chalk along the cliff top. |
The stack has two companions, not easy to see but detectable. |
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800-P1040052.JPG 203KB
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800-P1040053.JPG 212KB |
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Durdle Door and the beach that links it to Bat's Head. |
A detail from Bat's Head. Swyre Head just shows on the left. |
A detail of vertical chalk strata, planed off at beach level by the sea. |
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800-P1040068.JPG 131KB |
800-P1040054.JPG 163KB
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800-P1040071.JPG 198KB
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You actually descend to Bat's Head, with this impressive stretch of cliffs to the west. The detail on the right shows continuing erosion in the form of a wave-cut cave. |
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800-P1040056.JPG 158KB
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The left-hand pair of photos show a block of chalk that is detaching itself from the headland, and will, in time, provide a significant fall. |
Bat's Head down to the stack. |
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800-P1040060.JPG 189KB |
800-P1040048.JPG 170KB
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800-P1040049.JPG 201KB |
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Strand lines on the beach, and above the work of rabbits etching into a layer of material softer and more friable than the predominant chalk - possibly an ancient debris flow. |
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800-P1040059.JPG 126KB |
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800-P1040061.JPG 217KB |
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From Swyre Head to Bat's Head, with it cliffs, arch and stacks. |
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800-P1040067.JPG 144KB |
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800-P1040065.JPG 128KB |
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Bat's Hole is flanked by more views of the stack system (why is a bay?) and stumps beyond. The stumps are termed 'The Calf','The Cow', 'The Blind Cow' and 'The Bull'. I tend to think of them in glacial terms - as 'growlers'. |
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800-P1040066.JPG 197KB |
800-P1040064.JPG 201KB
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800-P1040063.JPG 197KB
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Scratchy bottom is currently filled with sheep!
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The good condition of gates and signs indicate the importance of the area in walking terms. |
Behind Ringstead Bay a herd of Friesians graze improved pasture - not a common sight nowadays. |
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800-P1040073.JPG 180KB |
800-P1040074.JPG 134KB
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800-P1040017.JPG 187KB
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A curious monument along the footpath back. |
A dry valley leads from the cliffs north to West Chaldon. |
The thin chalk soil. |
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800-P1040075.JPG 159KB |
800-P1040076.JPG 81KB
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800-P1040077.JPG 295KB |
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Back to Ringstead and the magnificent view over to the Isle of Portland. After three hours of pounding the temperature had got up to 8 deg.C! |
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800-P1040078.JPG 100KB |
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800-P1040079.JPG 82KB |
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