Back To Lovely Lyme Regis

My final holiday of the year was to my favourite coastal town, Lyme Regis in Dorset. We have learnt over the years that September is a brilliant time to go, and happily we were again lucky with the weather, with only some threatening skies. As soon as I step on the beach I feel at home, and as we've been heading here for six years now I do have some favoured holiday habits. I like to walk Mia along The Cobb and the beach by 8 o'clock in the morning so it's still quiet apart from the screeching seagulls. I like to the visit the fresh fish shop at the seafront to buy dinner, before stopping at the bakery on the highstreet for warm croissants or fresh crusty bread for breakfast. All very lovely and lazy treats, I'm sure you can see why we keep returning! If you like a quieter seaside town I can't recommend it highly enough.

I am missing walking on those pebbles already! Now October is here the wind has already got colder, time to bundle up and get ready for the real Autumn to begin!

Thanks for popping by,

Katie

Early Morning Lyme Regis

'A very strange stranger it must be, who does not see charms in the immediate environs of Lyme, to make him wish to know it better.'

Jane Austin, Persuasion.

I was overjoyed to find myself back in dear Lyme Regis last week. It's truly a place I will never tire of heading too, for as soon as I walk on those cobbles or sit on that curved, perilous Cobb (sea wall), I feel at home. We were exceedingly lucky with the weather as it tended to rain overnight and leave the days sunny, so I made the most of it and got up early to explore. Despite us always going off-season to avoid the summer holiday crowds and prices, it is still busy this time of year so this is a rare time to have it all to yourself! Mia is still a little nervous in busy places, so to avoid her being stepped on or bothered I always walked her as early as possible so we could both enjoy the views to their full potential! The above photo is taken in the Jane Austin gardens which sit above the seafront, a very pleasant escape from the hustle and bustle during the day, take a picnic lunch and enjoy gazing across the front.

I had the entire Cobb to myself many of the walks, and I always picture The French Lieutenants woman stood gazing out to sea, her cloak being whipped by the breeze! The amazingly perilous steps in the above photo are called 'Granny's Teeth', I can't say I saw anyone attempting to ascent or descend them during my stay! Neither was I willing to give it a try! I never fail to be amazed by the unique design of The Cobb, the earliest drawings which match this design of wall date to 1539 - truly amazing! One stormy morning I saw waves breaking right over the end, it is surely a unique piece of British heritage! 

Just past The Cobb lies Monmouth Beach which is luckily dog friendly, so Mia could tear after the seagulls to her hearts content! She wasn't so keen on the water (after accidentally taking a dip in West Whittering!) so stayed cautiously away from the waves, gazing at them in a rather thoughtful manner instead - I would love to know what is going through her mind when she see's all these new places!

Hope this might encourage some early alarm clocks if you ever stay in Lyme, it's truly worth it!

Back with some more seaside capers very soon!

Katie

Jolly Holiday In Lyme Regis Pt.2

Hello again! Thank you for your lovely comments on my first instalment of my Lyme Regis holiday, I'm glad it did this glorious town justice and encouraged a few future visits! I did end up taking my old faithful Olympus XA3 with me, and luckily as these few photos show, it was still working perfectly! I was keeping it mostly for family album shots but as these show, things still DO look better on film, particularly the blues! This little whippet was just taking in the view...(or actually, refusing to head down the perilous Cobb Steps!) and I just couldn't resist! This was the weather we had almost every day, can't believe how lucky we were!

A cheeky snap of Andrew  actually RELAXING ON HOLIDAY (although he would probably say he was dreaming up his next photography lecture!) Behold the stylish grumpy cat t shirt too, one of my favourite Etsy purchases! The next day Seasalt's weather chart was predicting slightly less glorious weather, so the best plan of action? SHOPPING of course! And off to Bridport we went! (Back on the Iphone photos now!)

Bridport is a brilliant market town only a few miles from Lyme Regis, full of fantastic independent book shops, cafe's, bakeries and the best antiques quarter I've been too! Near the main car park in town are the lanes full of different antique/vintage/upcycled shops crammed full of brilliant finds at reasonable (not south east!) prices! My favourite one is Bridport Antiques, which is where I found this lovely selection, I can't help loving these Amish Barn Stars even though they are all over the high street, this is the real deal! 

We had a return visit to D. Palmer Postcards and Cameras which I have blogged about before HERE, it is a true Aladdins cave of photographic and film paraphernalia, Andrew surprisingly never leaves empty handed! I bought the amazing mint coloured viewers in the second photo, as well as some wonderful vintage portraits I couldn't bear to leave behind. I really recommend a visit if you're in town, it's just a five minute walk from the antiques quarter and these sort of characterful shops need all our support! 

After a picnic lunch in the Bridport allotments we headed back in Lyme Regis where I headed to The Old Watch House Wet Fish Shop to pick something for dinner. The shop is right by The Cobb itself so you can't find fresher fish or a bigger selection in town, I had to take some photos as it was such a joy to be in a proper fishmongers! We resisted the 'Pint O' Prawns' and took home plenty of Mackerel instead.

One of the perks of going on holiday off-season is that you can actually find a seat in the local restaurants and cafes! One afternoon Andrew&I took our books and headed to Aroma which was only around the corner from our holiday home. We spent a happy few hours sampling a bit of everything! Frothy coffee's first, then a 'Lyme Fog' smoky pot of tea, then tasty bruschetta's for lunch! It was also a dairy free/gluten free paradise (perfect for awkward types like me!) but for those who fancy a traditional Dorset Cream Tea - I recommend you head here, only minutes from the beach too!

Something we were DETERMINED to tick off the holiday wish list this year was to go on one of Lyme Museums history tours, so we were thrilled to get places on the Mary Anning tour, and we even had lovely weather to enjoy it with! This amazing ammonite floor is outside the museum itself, I always admire it! The tour itself was great, our guide taught us lots of new information about Lyme Regis itself as well as Mary Anning's story and was a good workout to boot, the tour didn't shy away from the steepest hills!

The last place on the tour was the Lyme Regis Parish Church where Mary Anning is buried, and when I stepped inside I spotted this particularly interesting nautical themed stained glass window, I  loved the detail of the seagulls and the perfect rich blues of the sea. The church is situated in Uplyme so it has a fantastic view of the coastline and you can reach the coastal walkway easily from it's grounds.

And as we walked back into town for a restoring cup of tea and warm pasty (two words: Pasty Presto - yummm!), the sun came out blazing again!  Thank you as always for reading, hope this post brought some sunshine into an otherwise, rainy grey autumn day! Have a lovely weekend! Katie