West Bay’s iconic golden East Cliffs are chiefly made up of Bridport Sands- rocks that formed from layers of sand in the shallow tropical Jurassic seas around 175 million years ago. Each metre of cliff took 20,000 years to form- and at about 43 metres high that means that when Read more…
Recently, discovering this image we were prompted to get out the West Bay Regatta Programmes donated to us by John Hawkins. We were intrigued to find out what a Cigar and Umbrella Swimming Race involved! That then led us to doing further research about the Regatta. The first mention we Read more…
The area just outside the ropes at the entrance to the Discovery Centre may look untidy to some, but to our wildlife it is a haven and a welcome place to retreat away from the surrounding car parks and roads. The growing conditions are challenging with sandy soil that quickly Read more…
West Bay Discovery Centre is celebrating its third birthday today (1st August). In those three years we’ve welcomed 35,000 visitors, hopefully informing and inspiring many of them to explore all that’s best about Bridport, West Bay and the surrounding area. We’ve gained recognition as the Best New Dorset Tourism Business (although, of course, Read more…
Wow, we have made it into the National Papers! Many thanks to Karen who recommended us. We particularly loved the comment about our super helpful volunteers they are all amazing! Reproduced from The Guardian see below: West Bay Discovery Centre is so close to the beach you can hear the surf Read more…
West Bay Discovery Centre is reopening to visitors on Tuesday 18th May with a pop up exhibition called‘ Turning the Tide’. Open Tuesday to Sunday with free entry, visitors can drop-in from 11am to 4pm. Turning the Tide looks at the history of plastic and the problem with single-use plastics. Read more…
Sightings of seals along the Jurassic Coast are becoming a more common occurrence. If you find a seal on a beach, please watch it from a distance. If the seal reacts to your presence you are too close. Do not approach the animal. Seals regularly haul out on our coasts – it Read more…
The first day of Spring was officially Saturday 20th March 2021.Spring is the best time to spot birds building nests, daffodils and celandines emerging and bees buzzing. Here are some of the signs of Spring we have noticed around West Bay. Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) the flowers always appear before the Read more…
Born in 1891 and from a wealthy family, Mary Stock’s family acquired one of the houses in Pier Terrace at West Bay in 1900. From her teenage years she rebelled against restricted women’s clothes. Unlike her male cousins she had to face the discomfort and constriction of clothes. The contrast Read more…
William Barnes the Dorset poet was born 200 years ago on the 22nd February 1801. He wrote over 800 poems, some in Dorset dialect. His poems were admired by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and he is thought to have influenced Thomas Hardy. His best known poem is Linden Lea set to Read more…