Isle of Portland Revisited - A Look Beyond the Obvious - see also Island 37

I have visited the Isle of Portland (see Island 37) on several previous occasions but came back for a day of geocaching in August 2013, so decided to look for some of the less obvious attractions of the island.



Chiswell

Beautiful wildflower meadow on a roundabout in Chiswell

Community Garden in Chiswell

 - one of Portland's best kept secrets

 Gold Postbox at Weston
This was painted to commemorate the gold medal won by paralympian Helena Lucas in the single person keelboat at the 2012 Olympics

 Avalanche Memorial Church at Southwell

This church is not named after a rockfall but a ship called the SS Avalanche, which was wrecked off Portland Bill in 1877 and 106 people on their way to New Zealand were killed.  A public appeal was held to raise money for a memorial and this church was built and consecrated in 1879.  One of the houses opposite is called Avalanche Cottage, which I wouldn't have thought was a great idea when you come to apply for buildings insurance!

 Chiswell Earthworks
This work of art is supposed to represent the changing form of Chesil Beach.

 Phoenix Caissons - part of the D-Day Mulberry Harbours
View from Portland Castle

 St George's Church, Weston
This striking church was built between 1754 and 1766 to replace the dilapidated St Andrew's Church.  It was designed by Thomas Gilbert and is appropriately built of Portland stone. It is no longer in regular use but is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.   On the day I visited it was being used for an art exhibition.

 Portland's Largest Dinosaur?
Tout Quarry

 Owl Sculpture, Tout Quarry

 US D-Day Memorial, Victoria Park, Chiswell

Lundy Revisited - A look beyond the obvious - see also Island 44

Having spent a week on Lundy in 2001 and revisited for the day in 2009 I had been to the most obvious places, so for my 2013 day trip, I concentrated on looking for some of the less obvious places of interest:

Heligoland or Funnel Bird Trap

Named after the island in the southern North Sea, which belonged to Britain until the government of the day gave it to Germany in 1890 in return for Zanzibar in Africa.  Birds fly into the wide end and move towards the narrow end but find it difficult to get out.  They can then be caught for ringing and other checks.  The birds are not harmed by the trap.  This one is on the east coast of Lundy in the area of the old quarries and is owned by the Lundy Field Society.  The original trap was developed by Hugo Weigold on the island of Heligoland.

Rocket Pole Pond

Rocket poles were used for training for a system of rocket launched life-saving equipment.  They were used to fire a line to a stranded ship.  This could then be used to winch survivors ashore.  Neath the pole is a rectangular pond, which was created during test digging for granite at the time of the construction of the Old Light.  Apparently the pond contains carp, which appear to thrive, despite an apparent lack of food and it is not known who put them there.  

 The Old Sunday School
 - affectionately known as the Blue Bung - short for bungalow!

 Mouse Hole and Trap
 - you need to enlarge the photo to see these features in the rocks  properly

 Prepare to be underwhelmed - I think the plant with yellow flowers is the very rare Lundy Cabbage

 Remains of a Heinkel 111

This is one of two Heinkel's that crashed on Lundy in 1941.  This one is located about 200 metres south of the Halfway Wall just to the west of the main north-south path.  The other Heinkel is located to the south of the Earthquake on the west coast.  I presume that the area around the crash site was contaminated by fuel or heavy metals, which is why the vegetation hasn't grown back.

 Devil's Punchbowl
The origins of this bowl shaped piece of granite is not known.

 Ally Sloper Rock
Ally Sloper was a fictional late 19th and early 20th century comic strip character.  He had a big nose and his profile looked like this rock on the west coast of Lundy.

The Earthquake - on the west coast

This rift was thought to have been caused by the same earthquake that destroyed Lisbon in 1775.  However it is now thought that it was either caused by a much earlier earthquake or is weathered granite fissure or possibly the result of early mining activity.

The graves in the foreground are very early Christian graves

They have inscriptions on them but I couldn't make them out.

Devil's Limekiln
- a collapsed sea cave at the south end of the island

VC Quarry  

This plaque on the east coast of Lundy is in memory of John Pennington Harman, who was the son of Martin Coles Harman (owner of Lundy from 1925-54) and who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Kohima in Burma in 1944.

Unusual tree guard - vertical design

Unusual tree guard - horizontal design

Discarded millstone on the west coast

Benson's Cave below the Castle