Punch & Judy theatre on the beach in Weymouth, August 2013…
It is over a year now since we first visited Weymouth in Dorset – at the time of the Olympic Games, when the sailing events were staged there. I blogged about it at the time.
We decided to go back there this year to see what it would be like on a normal summer’s day, knowing this time it would be full of traffic and buckets and spades.
A better day than last year for the bucket and spade kiosks on the beach…
This time there were no pink-and-purple-clad gamesmakers to greet us at the railway station on our arrival from Poole, but we were looking forward to being able to cross over the bridge to see the part of Weymouth we had missed last time, as it had been open to Olympic sailing ticket-holders only.
The Town Bridge over Weymouth’s old harbour – it’s a lifting bridge built in 1930…
View from the bridge – looking back at Custom House Quay…
View from the bridge – Trinity Road on the far side…
Beyond the bridge the architecture struck me as Georgian (or maybe Regency), with lots of curved bow windows…
Architecture of Trinity Road, Weymouth…
More old windows… you can almost imagine a Jane Austen heroine coming along here to shop…
But it’s not all old-fashioned. I was very surprised to see the Condor Vitesse ferry in Weymouth – although I have seen it many times in Poole. Apparently it returned here to the recently refurbished ferry terminal in July this year…
The Condor ferry in Weymouth…
Another view of the magnificent Condor Vitesse catamaran…
But back to the architecture…
Brewer’s Quay in 2013…
Googling Brewer’s Quay, I find this has has had a chequered history of redevelopment and was closed from 2011 until April this year – missing its target of being reopened for last year’s Olympic opportunity. The building was a brewery in the 19th century and now houses an antiques emporium, a D-Day museum and other odds and ends. Development continues, I think…
Colourful window boxes and hanging baskets…
Hope congregational chapel – erected 1822, re-erected 1862…
An old warehouse converted for art and heritage…
Another colourful harbourside house…
Nautical but nice – the Old Coxswain’s Cottage…
The Old Stone Pier of Weymouth Harbour…
A view of Nothe Fort overlooking the old pier…
Nothe Fort was built in 1872 to protect nearby Portland Harbour, which was becoming a big Royal Navy base. Now it is a tourist attraction…
If you climb up the path you reach the entrance to Nothe Fort. We gave the family tourist attraction a miss this time…
We did walk through the gardens on the Nothe Fort peninsula, with views south towards Portland…
View over Portland Harbour…
Bright yellow broom or gorse…
I’m not sure if this is a Genista (broom) or Ulex (Gorse)…
Fuchsia in Nothe Gardens…
A maple or sycamore of some sort in Nothe Gardens…
I always love pine cones…
Bear’s breeches (Acanthus spinosa)…
On the way back to Weymouth town we stopped off for a light lunch…
Crab sandwich seemed appealing…
We discovered that a monkey’s fist is a nautical knot – and a lovely little cafe…
The Monkey’s Fist cafe is named after a rope knot used as a weight at the end of a line to make it heavier for throwing and a few were hanging as decorations in the cool little eatery. We had a very good crab sandwich…
A living sculpture in the town centre – Cardiff has a golden cowboy but Weymouth has a silver knight…
The flower beds along the Esplanade were sunny…
Fortune-teller Zara had set out her stall…
…and a seagull surveyed the beach
So that’s our whistle-stop tour of Weymouth – to my followers who live in Weymouth, sorry I didn’t have time to drop in for tea! But I love your town and I hope I did some of it justice…
The Squirrelbasket 
I was thinking of you two days ago, when going through the centre of Weymouth – thinking how you had found it empty last year and that it’s heading back to being busy again.Hopefully the Olympics weren’t a death knell for the town – even if they caused it a hiccup. Lovely pictures – you’ve captured the place well.
Thanks Esther – certainly Weymouth seemed busy enough when we were there!
Best wishes 🙂
I enjoyed reading your post about Weymouth you gave it a great write up! It is always interesting to see your home through other’s eyes. You captured some of my favourite locations. I always stop and admire that house with the window boxes everytime I pass. I have just finished writing a post on Brewes Quay that I will probably post next week. It is much busier here this year now the tourists have returned. Sorry you didn’t have time to drop in for tea!
Sarah x
I’ll look out for that post. Brewers Quay seems to have great (unfulfilled) potential. Loved the emporium!
Best wishes 🙂
It looks to be a nice seasidey kind of town – I always think these places are more interesting in the back streets where real people live rather than the showy front of house, as it were. My favourite photo is the last one of the seagull and the chimney pots – wonderful.
Thanks Elaine – more backstreets to come when I get around to posting my Swanage pictures!
Best wishes 🙂
Nice lot of photos there. Especially that picture of the Bear’s Breeches; what a funny name. That picture of the Brewers Quay reminds me of the Old Brewery building in Dorchester; I think they’ve pulled it down now. Like the cloud formation in View from Bridge (Customs House Quay)
Do you know, I hadn’t noticed the clouds on that one! They are quite brooding…
As for Dorchester, we didn’t stop there this time, but here’s a view from the train – I thought that bit with the chimney on the right was probably still the brewery?
Best wishes 🙂
Thank you. Yes it used to be, I believe they are or were turning it into a shopping centre.
Love the old harbour Pat. It is one of my favourite places (out of season though!)
Fabulous post, thank you.
Shaz
Thanks so much Shaz, and for the tweet.
I also think most seaside resorts are better out of season, but if everyone thought that they would never be out of season!
Best wishes 🙂
I didn’t realise there was so much delightful architecture in Weymouth. Thanks for enlightening me. BTW, that cat ferry looks enormous!
Thanks Finn. The ferry isn’t so big really, but it does rather dwarf the little jolly-boats!
Best wishes 🙂