Eight miles to the south of Dorchester is Weymouth, backed, as seen from the landward side, by the great promontory of Portland, lying like some stranded whale upon the waters. The quickest and easiest way to reach this "Budmouth" of the novels is by train, but by far the more interesting way is to walk or cycle. True, the rail motor has many "halts", at which one can alight, but those who do the sights of a place between the trains miss a hundred natural beauties and a thousand healthy pleasures granted to the pedestrian and the cyclist.
Leaving the county town by the Weymouth Road, and passing the "Rings" where Henchard and his wife met to discuss future arrangements, the first definite turning towards the right leads to Maiden Castle, where rise the steep and grassy tiers of the most stupendous prehistoric earthwork we possess, and one that was in existence for centuries before it was strengthened, and, for a short period, occupied probably by the Romans. A whole day is scarce sufficient in which to explore this great camp, with an area of 160 acres, that occupies the summit of a natural hill, and where the entrenchments and fortifications are of a most elaborate character.
Emerging from this prehistoric fortress, camp, and cattle-station at its western extremity, a short but hilly walk leads to the charming village of Upwey, nestling at the foot of a well-wooded hill where rises a spring of water, the source of the little River Wey. Upwey Church is a very interesting one of Perpendicular date. Some portions of the picturesque old mill here are introduced into the Trumpet-Major, but their locality has been moved to Sutton (Overcombe), a few miles away. Beyond the mill a sharp turn to the left joins the main road we left to reach Maiden Castle. Here, on the old vicinal way of the Romans, stands the "Ship" inn, the hostel wherein Dick Dewy and Fancy Day became definitely engaged after their accidental meeting by the King's statue at Budmouth. Close at hand is the Ridgeway, the place where the Overcombe folk waited all night to see the King arrive; and where the opening scene of the first act of The Dynasts is laid. Adjoining the Ridgeway is Bincombe Down, with its steep, grass-covered sides rising sheer from the straggling village below. Mr. Hardy writes: "The eye of any observer who cared for such things swept over the wave-washed town (Weymouth) and the bay beyond, and the Isle, with its pebble bank, lying on the sea to the left of these, like a great crouching animal tethered to the mainland".
On this hill the soldiers were encamped in readiness to repel Napoleon's threatened invasion, and here came the Mill party in the Trumpet-Major, to see the review, and to overhear the exclamations of the excited rustics: "There's King Jarge!" "That's Queen Sharlett!" "Princess Sophiar and Mellyer!" In the Melancholy Hussar Blagdon is depicted as the spot whereon Tina and Christoph were shot as deserters.
From Upwey a fine walk along the Waddon Valley, the scene of The Lacking Sense; past Corton Church, with its pre-Reformation stone altar, and the Jacobean farmhouse of Waddon; and through the charming hamlet of Coryates, leads to Portisham, or Po'sham, one of the most interesting of the villages that lie at the back of the Chesil Beach. On the outskirts of the village a little stone-roofed house, almost covered with creepers, was the home of Thomas Masterman Hardy, the Flag-captain of the Victory, in whose arms Nelson died. The house is still occupied by the descendants of the gallant seaman, one of three Dorset captains at Trafalgar, and many relics of their famous ancestor are preserved within the dwelling. It was to this house that Bob Loveday came to visit Captain Hardy when he thought of joining the crew of the Victory.
High above the village, on Blackdown or Blagdon Hill, stands the Hardy Monument that forms a conspicuous land- and sea-mark for many miles around.
Portisham is one of the most charming of Dorset's villages; the church having many points of interest that include a leaden roof and a very good tower; while grouped around it are old-fashioned thatched cottages, and ancient Tudor houses with the heavy dripstones and massive mullions so characteristic of their era. Portisham was the birthplace of Sir Andrew Riccard, "President of the East India and Turkey Companies". He left an only daughter, who became successively the wife of Lord Kensington and Lord Berkeley of Stratton.
WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND
Just beyond Portisham is Abbotsbury, where are some considerable remains of a monastic building founded originally, circa 1044, for secular canons, and converted, in later days, into a noble Benedictine Abbey, of which the tithe barn, a very beautiful example, still exists. The little chapel perched on the summit of St. Catherine's Hill is an architectural gem of the Perpendicular period, and one that should not be missed by anyone with antiquarian tastes. The village church is also a good piece of building, with a curious representation of the Trinity let into the wall of the tower, and a fine Jacobean pulpit. While here, a visit should be paid to Lord Ilchester's famous Swannery and Decoy.