West Weares

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This area contains part of the South-West Coastal Path as it runs along the edge of precipitous cliffs.

St George's Church is just outside the lower right-hand corner of the map.

Much of this area was filled with municipal rubbish and then consolidated in the 1970s.

A small industrial estate has been built on this compacted rubbish.

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Please use this table to navigate around this page WEST WEARES CLIFFS A CLOSED TRAMWAY TUNNEL A CURIOUS CARVING ANOTHER OF MY HOBBIES

WEST WEARES CLIFF-TOP PATHS [1]

Two views of the magnificently rugged cliffs along West Weares.

Along this part of the South-West Coastal Path are stone bridges. Tramways on the bridges bought rubble and waste from the quarries to a point where it could be tipped over the edge of the cliffs. It is extremely dangerous to climb onto these arches. Yes! That's me up there but I'm just a silly old fool - there is no excuse for you to copy me!

There is another section of the South-West Coastal Path on West Weares that shows the effects of old railway tracks used to transport stone. The indentations due to the tracks is clearly seen above.

There are many deep ravines running away from the cliff edge into Tout and Bowers Quarries. These were the routes for the tramway system that transported stone out of the quarries either for waste to be tipped over the cliffs or useful stone to be transported to Priory Corner where the “Merchants Railway” would take it down to Castletown and to the waiting ships which would take it all over the world.

A CLOSED TRAMWAY TUNNEL [3]

There is an old tramway tunnel on this section of the coastal walk. The entrance is partially blocked with rubble but it can be entered with care. This is the view inside. It can be seen that the tunnel was substantially built with stone blocks. It is now blocked where it would have run through to Bowers Quarry.

A CURIOUS CARVING [4]

A carved cylinder of Portland stone abandoned near the cliff-edge close to Bowers Quarry. What was it intended to be used for and why was it left here? The above picture was taken in 1990 and the lower pictures were taken in 2016.

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ANOTHER OF MY HOBBIES

Age of 75 I started a new hobby - writing and publishing books. These are available as paperbacks from Amazon - please click here for details. Their overall star rating from readers is

Keywords West Weares Portland Dorset