Walking from Cogden Beach to West Bexington: A Chesil Beach Adventure
- Martin Hesp
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
There are times when you can spend far too much time behind a steering wheel. It happened to me the other day when several appointments took me to deepest darkest Dorset…
As I began the drive home - along what must be one of the most dramatic coastal roads in England (the B3157) - I caught a glimpse of the car park close to Cogden Beach and before I knew it I was enjoying a good walk along the shore.
Finding Cogden Beach on the Dorset Coast
To find this particular corner of our glorious littoral you need to travel along the scenic coast road that climbs east out of Burton Bradstock to eventually reach Abbotsbury. Just a mile along the B3157 you will see the National Trust car park, that seems to be there for no other purpose than to give motorists a glorious view.
However, a paved path descends a quarter of a mile through trust-owned land down to Cogden Beach. You could, if you wish, begin a seaside stroll further west at Burton Beach, which is the coastal end of the village of that name – then scrunch your way along Hive Beach - before reaching the spot where I descended to the sea, but you will only see more of the same if you do…
Walking Along Chesil Beach
What I did was walk down from the car park and turn left to stride along the shoreline to West Bexington. This is more arduous than it sounds - as anyone who has ever attempted to walk the length of nearby Chesil Beach (of which this is the most western part) will tell you, the loose gravel that creates this shoreline consists does not lend itself to the human gait. Your feet sink in the same way they would in soft sand, so that walking one mile in it requires the same exertion has marching three on a normal surface. What you find yourself doing is walking in a peculiar flat-footed kind of way because the normal action of planting down your ankle first then exchanging your weight forwards using the length of your foot is guaranteed to sink each footstep deeper.
(If you're enjoying this article take a look at solme of our other West Country walks posts here)
The Peculiar Art of Walking on Shingle
The flat-footed style is an inelegant stomp which will make you look either like some kind of rustic simpleton or a weird spawn of Frankenstein.
My companion and I experimented with various kinds of foot-placement as we made our way the two miles to West Bexington and eventually came out on the side of the hip-swinging, mincing gait you sometimes seen employed by a pantomime dame. Don’t worry about looking daft - you’re unlikely to be spotted by anyone. Not many people stroll east along Cogden Beach, probably because it is so exhausting.
Why This Dorset Walk Is Worth It
Well worthwhile, though, because it is one of those big long ozone-filled beaches that is guaranteed somehow to invigorate the inner areas of one’s dusty soul, especially after a long winter.
The joy of this walk is partly thanks to the fact that the most amazing artworks made of flotsam and jetsam are to be found along the shore. Who builds them, and why, I have no idea. I was just glad that they’d taken the trouble to do so. The little beach sculptures are fun.
West Bexington and a Notable Restaurant
Anyway, eventually we reach West Bexington which has featured in this series before when we visited the much-celebrated Club House. I say “much-celebrated” because the place has won not only two AA rosettes but a huge reputation.
The young head chef, Will Hickton, is a talented chap who is passionate about using the freshest local produce at the restaurant, which is part of a triumvirate that includes the Hive Beach Café in Burton Bradstock and The Watch House. Will’s lobster bisque was one of the best soups I’d consumed in a long time. We also enjoyed a gargantuan sea-bass, a sharing platter brought to us on a large wooden board with a few beautifully cooked chips and other sides such as a watercress salad and a creamy slaw. We cleared every last morsel and I heartily recommend the place.
History, Smugglers and the Landscape
Some years ago the National Trust purchased land along this coast to preserve the integrity of the entire length of Chesil Beach, and now leases the inland areas such as the acres around the wonderful Tamarisk Farm (which has also featured in these pages before) and much of the area is now designated as the West Bexington Nature Reserve.
The seaside hamlet looks modern, being basically a single street lined with villas, but the place is actually rich in history. The Domesday Book refers to a village called Bessintone and down the centuries there was a lot of smuggling hereabouts.
One local who defied the excise-men was farmer Isaac Gulliver who lived above the coast here close to the Eggardon Hill. Apparently his farm was used as a logistics centre for industrial scale smuggling activities.
The Return Along the Coast Path
If you’re driving along up on the road you do not get the full atmosphere of just how lonely and empty this stretch of coast is, but down behind the reed-beds you can certainly see why the smugglers of old liked the place for their arcane goings on.
The coast path weaves its way west behind the reed-filled lakes or meres and eventually brings you back to the concrete track that leads down from the trust car park. It’s not the longest or even the most dramatic coastal walk in our region, but it is breathtaking in its own way – and a great deal more magnificent than any shoreline some countries can boast.
Fact File: Cogden Beach to West Bexington Walk
Fact FileBasic walk: from Cogden Beach east of Burton Bradstock to West Bexington along the shore, returning via the coast path. Distance and going: four miles – difficult going thanks to beach gravel on way out, easy coming back.
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