Length: 15.3 km

Duration: 5:24

Total ascent/descent: 783/-778 m

Max/min slope: 31%/-36%

Wayfinding: easy

Weather:

Dinner:

Overnight: Limestone Hotel

Inland Lulworth

From West Lulworth, we walked north first to gain some height first and reached what the Limehouse hotelier called “the internal ridgeway”. The signage on the way up also suggested that we were on a part of the Purbeck Way.

The ridgeway path was essentially an unpaved farm track. The fields were flat and expansive until near Daggers Gate. The path at this point became distinctly coastal again, following the contours of the more changeable and unstable cliffs.

White Nothe

White Nothe, white nose. There were some old handsome cottages for the coastguards in the past. I remembered them well from doing the Southwest Coast Walk years ago.

In fact, the White Nothe always held a mythical place in my mind because I didn’t do the undercliff Smuggler’s Way at the time. I was determined to try this time.

Smuggler’s Way

The Way for the smugglers was remarkably well maintained. I expected to have to turn back pretty quickly because the route was not marked as a footpath in the OS Maps. But it was so well trodden one could never deviate from it unintentionally. I didn’t follow it all the way to the Burning Cliff. Another time.

After first descending into the White Nothe undercliff was when one saw the straight, handsome namesake.

Coastal Walk

From White Nothe, we turned round and walked back to Lulworth Cove along the coastal path.