Make Time For Lyme! (Lyme Regis)

Member Name: flutel

Product:	Lyme Regis
Date:	15/08/09 (115 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Charming, lots to do, good shops, clean beach and sea.

Disadvantages: None - apart from I don't live nearer

I have visited Lyme Regis in sunshine and in storms but it always, always retains its exquisite charms. I think, testament to this, is the fact that my daughter, now 18 still clamours to visit the town whenever we are in the vicinity for a holiday. I have the first photo of her there when she was just two months old. The perspective I will give is that of a day visitor.

Getting there
-----------------

Lyme Regis is in Dorset, near the towns of Axminster and Bridport. It consists of a town which dips steeply to the sea with a road going through this up and down experience. I usually travel by car from the direction of Bridport and take the first turning off the main road that is signposted to Lyme. Fairly close to the town centre, on the left is a big car park which costs just £1 for a day ticket (until 6pm). What a bargain - and it saves you from the stress of having to drive through the town on the busy narrow road. The car park also has public toilets. From the word go, you feel looked after in this town. As long as you do not have mobility issues, a walk down to the town is a pleasant experience. The walk back up later is not too bad either. There is also a park and ride availability (but I think the car park is a better option) and regular buses. The 31 service goes from Axminster through Lyme to Bridport.

The Look of the Town
---------------------------

Lyme Regis is a very attractive town consisting of many old buildings from some different eras - including that of Jane Austen's time. This makes the shopping here quite a delightful activity. If you are like me you can retreat into your own little period drama fantasy as you potter about (does not work in Tesco though). Some of the houses on the sea front are painted in lovely colours (like pink) and have thatched roofs. It is very picturesque. The main walkway along the seafront is called 'Marine Parade'. There are shops, cafes and some period cottages that can be rented there.
There are plenty of clean public toilets I the town and on the sea front.

Shops
--------

One of the first shops you come to on the walk down to the town is 'The Fossil Shop'. My daughter is always in like a shot, marveling at the dinosaur fossil displays and picking out fossil treasures to buy. There is a great deal of fun to be had just by picking up chunks of quartz, selecting necklaces with shells/ fossils on them, looking at insects trapped inside blocks of amber through the looking glasses carefully. positioned for you to peer through. Prices here seem to be very reasonable - especially when you consider that much of the stuff is millions and millions of years old.

The great thing about this shop also, is that it inspires my daughter to hunt for her own natural wonders on the beach. I felt very happy the next day, watching her poke about under the cliffs finding her own fossils and seeing her place them carefully into her bag (she had previously removed all the usual make up and tat to do this).

There are also a couple of other fossil and stone shops in the town.

Very close to 'The Fossil Shop' (virtually next door) is a cheap shop where you can buy just about anything you forgot to bring for your day out. There are beach chairs, inflatables, body boards, camping stuff, flip flops, umbrellas, sun cream etc etc. I love this shop. I bought a picnic rug, some camping cutlery and a water carrier (approx £11).

Again very close, is a tiny gallery where you can look at some really inspiring sea side themed art. The pieces there are very affordable and range from some handcrafted mermaid type dolls ("Oh, I love seeing these!" my daughter exclaims as we go in), beautiful enamel work and fused glass pieces which cost around £10. I always leave vowing to do more painting.

Other shops include Boots, a Tesco Express and a Coop. There are a couple of delis selling organic produce with one or two things that vegans would find useful. We were able to craft a picnic from shopping there. They looked popular as there were queues.

Other shops that Lyme Regis did not go short of were bakeries. There are a lot of rather delicious looking cakes and pastries on display.

If you like sweet stuff there are a couple of fudge shops. I found a cute but expensive shop selling mainly Cath Kidston wares which had a mark up of around a third higher than in other shops in Dorset. It put me off but the shop was stuffed with women.

There are one or two clothes shops and hardware shops as well as the seafront shops selling the obligatory buckets and spades.
There is also quite a large antiques shop on the seafront which was a good browse.

The Beach and the Sea
-----------------------------

Closer to the town, the beach consists of pebbles and groynes and a clean sea that lots of people were swimming and playing with boats in. Moving away from the town, some of the beach areas were sandy. In fact one area was hosting a 'Family Olympics' which I think consisted of some running.

The Cobb
------------

This is the bit where you get to play 'The French Lieutenants Woman' whilst walking along the curling rock man-made promontory which protects the town against the battering the sea can give. The Cobb was made famous in the film which featured Meryl Streep looking windswept and torturously beautiful walking along. It has also features in a Jane Austen adaptation. I can picture a young lady in a long, empire line frock twisting her ankle as she walks down somme of the steps down from The Cobb.

It consists of huge chunks of rock cemented and stapled together. It is not flat to walk on but is at an angle - and has no railings. Many a parent will have felt queasy sensations whilst walking a child along there. I still felt those immobilizing fear-cramps as I watched my bouncy 18 yr old speeding ahead.

She made me smile when she observed, "Footwear not to be worn on the cobb - those trainers with wheels on!" I immediately pictured someone's precious offspring doing a spectacular wheel-skid into the sea.

On the Cobb, you can get great views of the town and the coastline and watch people in their little boats.

Places to Eat and Drink
-----------------------------

There are lots - ranging from chip shops (several and quite nice) to quite nice eateries along Marine Parade including some pub meals. There are plenteous places to have coffee and cream teas. My favourite is 'The Harbour' which is on a little raised paved area just as the sea front starts. You climb steps to it and there are tables outside or in. In the past, I have had some cream teas there and they were delicious (I'm fussy about scones). It is a delightful place to sit on a warm day. One or two wasps were annoying but they were everywhere in the heat.

Once, whilst I was there, a Town Crier came and did some of his bell ringing and shouting. Some pesky teenage girls were next to him. Whilst he was in full flow, one of them grabbed his arse firmly and then they both ran away. When the Crier had finished, he turned around and said to me, "Was that you?" Ah, happy seaside memories.

Other things to do
-----------------------

Lyme Regis has a little museum and a little cinema with only one screen but they do the Orange Wednesday promotion! There is also a small amusement arcade along Marine Parade. There is a lovely almost vertical park which rises up from Marine Parade. It is formally laid out and has some crazy golf going on there.

To Conclude
----------------

It is lovely and makes for a great day out shopping, being on the beach, eating, walking. What are you waiting for? Go and visit it!

Summary: A fabulous seaside resort and town in Dorset. I love it.