Ownership
A previous owner, who ran the Shack café for 18 months, decided to sell the beach by auction, which proved successful in 2012. [lower-alpha 1] . The purchasers of the beach, Lee and Karen Maidment, announced at the time their intention to maintain the beach as a local facility. [4]
Planning permission was granted for eight beach huts to be built here, lapsing in mid-2012. [4]
Crowdfunded accessway repair
A landslip resulted in the removal of the steps to the beach in February 2013. With no footpath access to the beach, local Green Party member Clare Sutton organised a petition via Change.org seeking to prompt the Borough Council to work with the County Council, local landowners and businesses to find a solution. [5] Launched on 22 March 2014 it took over 1,700 signatures by 7 April. [6] The council's Head of Infrastructure had responded that no funding was available to stabilise the coastline and that it would cost a significant amount of money to rebuild the steps. [7] Sutton and party members organised a public meeting in August 2014 and appealed to the local community to form a pressure group to reopen the steps. The Friends of Castle Cove Beach was formed, with the group becoming a charity three years later. The charity functioned by being inclusive and non-political, and by involving all the communities connected to the beach. They set up a Facebook page which attracted 1,200 supporters, ran social and fundraising events, and started a monthly newsletter. In 2018, the charity leased a strip of land leading to the beach, gained planning permission and started trying to fundraise £35,000. In April 2019, new stairs were installed, through this means. It was opened by Brian Wilkins, who had been using the beach since 1938. [8]
Triple SSSi
The whole of the North shore of Portland Harbour was made a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1987. In Castle Cove the SSSi is between the closed Underbarn footpath and the mean tide water mark. There are 27 restrictions attached to the SSSi, such as creating a track through it. These restrictions are called a ORNEC (Operations Requiring Natural England's Consent).
Dorset is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south-east, the English Channel to the south, and Devon to the west. The largest settlement is Bournemouth, and the county town is Dorchester.
The Isle of Portland is a tied island, 6 kilometres (4 mi) long by 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) wide, in the English Channel. The southern tip, Portland Bill, lies 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier beach called Chesil Beach joins Portland with mainland England. The A354 road passes down the Portland end of the beach and then over the Fleet Lagoon by bridge to the mainland. The population of Portland is 13,417.
The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for 630 miles (1,014 km), running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more challenging trails. The total height climbed has been calculated to be 114,931 ft (35,031 m), almost four times the height of Mount Everest. It has been voted 'Britain's Best Walking route' twice in a row by readers of The Ramblers' Walk magazine, and regularly features in lists of the world's best walks.
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its 520-hectare (1,300-acre) surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains one of the largest in the world today. It is naturally sheltered by Portland to the south, Chesil Beach to the west and mainland Dorset to the north. It consists of four breakwaters: two southern and two northern. These have a total length of 4.57 km (2.84 mi) and enclose approximately 1,000 ha of water.
Sandsfoot Castle, also known historically as Weymouth Castle, is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Weymouth, Dorset. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the Weymouth Bay anchorage. The stone castle had an octagonal gun platform, linked to a residential blockhouse, and was completed by 1542 at a cost of £3,887. Earthwork defences were built around the landward side of the castle, probably in 1623. Sandsfoot saw service during the English Civil War, when it was held by Parliament and Royalists in turn during the conflict. It survived the interregnum but, following Charles II's restoration to the throne, the fortress was withdrawn from military use in 1665.
The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is a centre for the sport of sailing on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. The academy building is located in Osprey Quay on the northern tip of the island, and the waters of Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay, adjacent to the site, are the main areas used for sailing. Local, national and international sailing events have been held at the site since it was opened in 2000, and in 2005 WPNSA was selected to host the sailing events at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Weymouth Bay is a sheltered bay on the south coast of England, in Dorset. It is protected from erosion by Chesil Beach and the Isle of Portland, and includes several beaches, notably Weymouth Beach, a gently curving arc of golden sand which stretches from the resort of Weymouth. Weymouth Bay is situated approximately halfway along the UNESCO Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.
Castletown is a small village in Underhill on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. It is located close to Fortuneswell, on the shores of Portland Harbour, and includes a sandy beach, as well as one of Portland's notable highlights; Portland Castle, while the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is also located nearby.
The Weymouth Pavilion, formerly the Ritz, is a theatre in Weymouth, Dorset. The complex contains a 988-seat theatre, 600 (maximum) capacity ballroom known as the Ocean Room, the Piano Bar restaurant, Ritz Cafe and other function and meeting rooms.
Newton's Cove is a small cove, 0.5 kilometres (0.3 mi) south of Weymouth, Dorset, England. Overlooking Portland Harbour, the cove is close to Nothe Gardens and the Nothe Fort.
Rufus Castle, also known as Bow and Arrow Castle, is a partially ruined castle overlooking Church Ope Cove on Portland, England. Its name derives from King William II, known as William Rufus, for whom the original castle was built.
Weymouth is a sea-side town and civil parish in the Dorset district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, on the English Channel coast of England. Situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, 7 miles (11 km) south of the county town of Dorchester, Weymouth had a population of 53,427 in 2021. It is the third-largest settlement in Dorset after Bournemouth and Poole. The greater Weymouth urban area has a population of 72,802.
The Rodwell Trail is a short-distance footpath that runs from Wyke Regis to the town centre of Weymouth in Dorset – a distance of 2¼ miles. The trail, opened in 2000, travels along the former route of the Weymouth and Portland Railway. The section from near Sandsfoot Castle to Ferry Bridge is part of the South West Coast Path. The route follows part of the Jurassic Coast, and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. It is named after a neighbourhood of Weymouth which it passes through.
Brewers Quay is a converted Victorian brewery on the south side of Hope Square near the Old Harbour in Weymouth, Dorset, southern England. Much of the complex dates from 1903–04, when it was built as the Hope Brewery for John Groves & Sons Ltd. It was later taken over by Devenish Brewery in 1960 and opened in 1990 as an indoor shopping complex with around twenty specialty shops together with heritage and science exhibits, until it closed in 2010. From 2013-17, the building housed an antiques emporium. It currently awaits redevelopment.
Nothe Gardens is a public garden, located in Weymouth, Dorset, England. Positioned on the Nothe Peninsula overlooking both Weymouth and Portland harbours, the informal gardens are often acclaimed to be the most beautiful the borough has to offer.
The Jurassic Skyline tower was an observation tower on Weymouth Pier in Weymouth, Dorset, England. It was situated next to Weymouth Beach and the Weymouth Pavilion, where it overlooked Weymouth town, the beach, the Pavilion, the Old Harbour, Nothe Gardens, the Nothe Fort, and Portland Harbour. It opened on 22 June 2012.
The Portland Cenotaph is a war memorial located on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is situated at New Ground, looking down to Underhill of the island and overlooking Chesil Beach, as it stands in front of Portland Heights Hotel. The monument is dedicated to the local soldiers who died during both the First and Second World Wars. It has been a Grade II Listed Monument since May 1993.
Chiswell Earthworks is a land sculpture, located on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is found above Chesil Beach's most southerly part Chesil Cove, at the end of the promenade sea wall, towards West Weares. It was created by John Maine RA, between 1986 and 1993.
The Tudor House Museum, often simply known as Tudor House, is an early 17th-century building, which remains a museum and one of the UK's best preserved Tudor buildings. It is in Weymouth, Dorset, close to Brewers Quay and Weymouth Harbour. The house has been a Grade II Listed building since December 1953.
NCI Portland Bill is a National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) lookout station on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. The station is situated 50 metres above sea level on the cliff edge, half a mile north of the tip of Portland Bill. It is located close to the Old Higher Lighthouse.
