CHAPMAN'S POOL - DORSET

It was a fine day the first time we went to visit Chapman's Pool on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, however, as we approached Corfe Castle the weather had changed, it was misty; suddenly from the grey gloom appeared the castle high above. It didn't bode well as we were due to meet Peter Payne of South Coast Sailplanes on the hill. This sea mist, haar or brume, engulfed the hill, I had seen it before at Folkestone in Kent. There was nothing to do but wait for it to clear and we did just that; brother David and me along with Peter; we just sat and talked, for a couple of hours it seemed. We never did fly that day.

Our next visit in mid-August, as you will see, was a more fruitful, beautiful day on the south coast of Dorset with a perfect west wind. David flew his aerobatic Raptor and then his F3F Shinto. What a lovely spot, and being mid-August there were plenty of walkers about, many them, strangely from Germany and the Netherlands, and none had seen model gliders before! The hill will take a bit of south and it is not a sheer drop to the beach, though rather steep it must be said. Landings can be made on the footpath or slope front (crow braking of course) or you could walk to the field behind the dry stone wall. Portland Bill can be seen on the horizon and of course the massive Dolomitic grey cliff of Houns Tout glares at you.  The lift was so smooth off the sea, no real thermals to speak of, unlike inland sites, with just the wind speed and direction governing achievable altitude except with the dynamic lift gained by a series of consecutive stall turns and loops.

To see a video shot at this picaresque location click the image right. Be warned, it is 615Mb so it may buffer unless you have high speed broadband.

For another simpler version click the link image here on the left for the YouTube version.

To get to Chapman's Pool head for Wareham in Dorset, Worth Matrvers or even Corfe Castle for that matter. You need to look for the Renscombe Road Car Park.

 (https://www.google.com/maps/@50.59456,-2.0600352,660m/data=!3m1!1e3)

It is a level walk of, say, 500 metres and well worth a visit on a fine day. If one is fit and adventurous one could even take  oneself  down the beach and cove below by the footpath for some fossil hunting.

[The camera used was a Sony Handycam with B-roll from a Mobius Action Camera. The footage was edited with Adobe Première Pro CC and Adobe Photoshop CS6. These web pages are created with MS FrontPage]