Lyme Regis, the "Pearl of Dorset"

Lyme Regis is a pretty town - just look at those beach huts! - and one that holds many childhood memories for me.  We often spent holidays in Axminster, Devon and Lyme Regis was one of our go places to visit. I remember spending time on the beach, and walking up and around the Cobb, but most of all I remember my visits to the shell shop and the butterfly shop, though for the latter it was I think more peering in the window. There was also the fossil shop but that held less interest for me - I mean, shells and butterflies or fossils - it was an easy choice...

With such fond memories, it's always nice to pop back when we're down that way if we can. This time it was a most-of-the-day trip from our base in Child Okeford, but previously we've arrived in Lyme around 8am in time for breakfast. That's the time I had the bright idea to get up early and leave home around 5am, I think MOH agreed because he didn't think it would happen, but it did (that time anyway)!

This time we parked in the middle of the town, breaking with tradition of parking up by the Cobb, and walked into town, spotting for the first time this derelict tower. Since we've been home I've discovered with the help of the internet, that it's the Fulling Tower and it's where cloth was fulled and sits behind the Weaver's Cottage. There's more on how cloth is fulled on this Dorset Life page, if you're interested.

Having walked past Dinosaurland Fossil Museum and headed towards the front and the Lyme Regis Museum, admiring the architecture on the way.  Reaching the sea front it was quickly apparent why Golden Cap got its name.

We were kept entertained by three squawking seagulls.  When I say entertained, I mean it in the least possible way as they were noisy chaps. This one though was quiet for long enough for me to take this photo which I quite like in black and white.

Lyme Regis definitely feels away from it all and to me just feels uncomplicated. It's part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage site and is surrounded by areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  I think it's quite proud of its "Pearl of Dorset" tag and is famous for its fossils, the historic old town where the streets narrow making it a mean feat for bus drivers to navigate successfully.  Plus there's also the Cobb which we visited and I shared photos from on Saturday - see Sun on Saturday: The Cobb at Lyme Regis and the beaches.

The old town dates back to the 14th century and it more than lives up to its regal name which was granted by Edward I in 1824. It's also probably the smallest town in the country to boast its own cinema, theatre and museum.

We spotted this large anchor on top of gun cliff - it's huge - and was donated by the Portland naval base as a testament to the town's involvement with all things marine over hundreds of years.  Behind the anchor there's a beacon which was used as part of the town's celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee back in 2012.

Walking along the front there's plenty of pretty buildings with so much detail.  The pink cottages were always going to be a favourite but look at the detail of the tiles and of the porch on the (blue) house next door.  

As we walked past the beautiful pastel beach huts, which I can't resist including again - we spotted what every good beach should have - a metal detector! I haven't seen anyone do this for ages, and it did make me smile and just goes to show we're all just looking for that one lucky break...  

The sun and the clouds make for a pretty impressive photo too! I like this view of the lanes nearest the approach to the Cobb, and even the lamp posts have had the fossil touch...

Retracing our steps back along the front we headed up towards the town, but first paused to snap this cannon which I shared yesterday as my Black and White photo.  The town has a nice higgledy-piggeledy feel to it, but don't be mistaken it's a fairly steep hill.

There were a mix of shops and sadly the fudge shops were shut so we left fudge-free, but there were plenty of other shops to admire. We stopped for lunch - a pasty and a coffee - but only afterwards did we spot the multi-coloured ones I've pictured below. The pink ones caught my eye - they were rather eye catching - and while i was tempted by the beetroot pastry, the fish-phobic in me was rather worried by the mackerel filling.  I'm sure it's lovely, but it was a step too far away from the traditional pasty for me.  What do you think?

Having reached the top of the hill, admiring the florists on the way and after a walk around the cliff top gardens we headed back through some fantastic alleyways and back to the car.  Setting the SatNav for Golden Cap we headed off to explore some more.