Isle of Portland

Description:

The Isle of Portland  is 4 miles long and 1.75 miles wide, situated 5 miles south of the resort of Weymouth and is the southernmost point of the county of Dorset. It is connected to the mainland by Chesil Beach, a tombolo (a spit joining an island to the mainland) which runs 18 miles north-west to West Bay. The A354 road bridge connects it to Weymouth and together they form Weymouth & Portland Borough Council.

Portland  is situated at the half-way point ofThe Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site  running some 95 miles along the Dorset and East Devon coast, renowned for its geology, landforms and fossils. The South West Coast Path  runs along the coast and at 630 miles is the UK's longest national trail.

Portland  limestone has been quarried over the centuries and was used by notable architect and Member of Parliament for Weymouth, Sir Christopher Wren in the building of St Paul's Cathedral and after The Great Fire of 1666 over 6 million tons of white Portland limestone was used to rebuild destroyed parts of London. After World War 1 the Crown opened a quarry to provide stone for the building of the Cenotaph in Whitehall as well the headstones for hundreds of thousands of military graves from two World Wars.  

On its northern shore Portland  has a large deep artificial harbour which was used as a Royal Navy base during both World Wars, closing at the end of the Cold War in1995. The harbour is now a small civilian port and popular recreation area. At Osprey Quay  the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy will host the sailing events for the 2012 Olympic Games . At 39 to 66 feet Portland Harbour is one of the deepest man-made harbours in the world and at 2,125 acres it is also one of the largest. The harbour is protected by breakwaters constructed in the nineteenth century with stone quarried by prisoners from the Verne Prison on the island.

In 1539 Henry VIII ordered the construction of Portland Castle  as a defence against attach from the French. The castle, which is under the administration of English Heritage is one of the best preserved of the period and is open to the public.

The Weymouth and Portland Railway was laid in 1865 running from Melcombe Regis to Chiswell  but was closed one hundred years later after the Beeching cuts in 1965.

Portland  is separated into two areas, Underhill in the north which includes the settlements of Fortuneswell, Castletown and Chiswell  with Tophill to the south which includes the settlements of Easton, Weston, Southwell, Wakeham  and the Grove. It was an urban district from 1894 until becoming Weymouth & Portland Borough Council  in 1974 as a consequence of the Local Government Act of 1972.

Not to be confused with The Isle of Portland, Portland Bill  is a narrow promontory of Portland stone which forms the most southerly part of Tophill. It has three lighthouses, the most current of which became computer-controlled in 1996. Built nearby the Portland Bill Lighthouse  is a visitors centre providing information and guided tours as well as the Lobster Pot restaurant. Two earlier lighthouses are located further inland, one of which is an observatory used by ornithologists to record bird migration.

Due to its isolated coastal location, The Isle of Portland  has an extensive range of flora and fauna with the coastline and disused quarries being designated SSSI's (Sites of Special Scientific Interest).

The south coast, including Weymouth and Portland  has the sunniest climate in the UK with the borough averaging over 2000 hours annually in four of the last nine years.

The A354 road bridge is the only way off the tied island. It connects to Weymouth and the A35 trunk road at Dorchester. To relieve congestion between Weymouth and Portland, Jurassic Coast Railways are hoping to construct a light railway along the route of the former Weymouth & Portland railway line in time for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Local buses are operated by FirstGroup  with services from Portland  to Weymouth town centre, which serves as a hub for south Dorset bus routes to Dorchester  and local villages. Weymouth  is connected to Towns & Villages along The Jurassic Coast  by the Jurassic Coast Bus Service, which runs the entire route from Exeter to Poole, through Sidforth, Beer, Seaton, Lyme Regis, Charmouth, Bridport, Abbotsbury, Weymouth, Wool  and Wareham.

Trains go from Weymouth  to London and Bristol and ferries from Weymouth go to St Malo in France and the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey.

In 2000 the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy  was built at Osprey Quay  and in 2005 it was chosen to host the sailing events of the 2012 Olympic Games. Included and currently under construction is a 600-berth marina and additional facilities.