Today was predominantly a travel day.
We left Bath this morning at 8:45 AM heading south for the coast and the seaside resort of Lyme Regis.
A little less than three hours later, we arrived.
Our primary purpose for visiting this site, in addition to the fact that Jane stayed here in 1804, is that the village figures prominently in her 1818 novel Persuasion
Lyme Regis is a town on the northernmost shore of Lyme Bay off the English Channel. It is distinguished by a massive stone seawall called The Cobb that protects its harbor.
The Cobb is internationally known in literary circles as the place where Louisa Musgrove fell from the steps (known locally as “Granny’s Teeth”). Unfortunately, due to storm damage, the promenade atop the Cobb was closed to visitors until further notice, sparing us the potential nightmare of re-enactment.
We did relive the harrowing experience of Anne Elliot’s party on that fateful (fictional) day in a way: Jane’s own telling of the event was read aloud from the pages of Persuasion by our tour leader, Marion.
Afterwards, our group dispersed as we had two-and-a-half hours to explore the town on our own. I began to wander.
Lyme Regis is a very popular resort in the summer. The town’s shore has four pebble and sand beaches and a promenade that leads to the land’s end of the Cobb.
It is also famous as a fossil-hunting site due both to its location on the Jurassic Coast and to the pioneering work of native daughter Mary Anning, one of history’s most important fossil collectors and paleontologists. She found the first complete skeleton of a Plesiosaurus among others, putting this town on the geologists map, so to speak, thanks to her extensive and detailed work. (It will come as no surprise that there are several “Fossil Shops” located throughout the town if you’re in the market.)
Wandering up some stairs, I happened upon a third Jane reference: a stone and concrete overlook labeled as the Jane Austen Garden by two plaques set in the wall behind a bench. There was too little greenery to warrant the epithet “garden” and no verifiable connection to Jane herself. But I guess the emphatic labeling of the spot in her honor is reason enough to merit inclusion in a Jane Austen tour blog.
I came upon but passed on going into the Lyme Regis Museum. I chose, instead, to continue exploring the beachfront. Here, the broad, level promenade was replaced with a grouping of overlooks created out of curving walls, staircases and ramps with a mill stream bridged and channeled beneath as it flows to the sea.
Searching for a convenience store to pick up something to nosh on, I started walking up (literally) the road that had brought us down into town. As the climb steepened with no shop in sight, I decided to make a left into a cozy little neighborhood surrounding a war memorial. Continuing onward and inward, I found myself in what seemed to be a dead-end square surrounded mostly with artist galleries…and the Lyme Regis Brewery. With no plans and time to kill, I seized the opportunity and settled in for a half-pint of their Best (that was the name), a bag of crisps and the use of their free wi-fi.
When it was time to move on, the only viable exit seemed to be up a long, rising set of steps…which, indeed, proved to be true. Upon reaching the top, a car park, I saw our street level meeting point beyond the descending parking lots.
It began to drizzle, which had been expected all day. To remain dry while waiting for the motor coach, I joined two fellow Janeites at a second brewery for another half-pint while we waited for our appointed departure time for Winchester.
Once our motor coach exited Lyme Regis, the skies opened up in earnest and the predicted rain continued non-stop until we reached the outskirts of Winchester. Here we settled in for our final four nights in the UK.
On the Hotel Winchester: The rooms were nice. Very modern…but a bit on the dark side. The decor was decidedly black. Tile, shower walls, bed headboard: all black. Even the veneer of all the furniture was black lacquer. I kept loosing my wallet, phone and glasses–also all black–when I would set them down. Only the bed, covered with a bright white comforter, provided a contrasting surface for my essentials.
9,334S/4.5M
Dave In Austenland 