With blue (ish) skies & a temperature of 20 degrees C, I thought we’d have one last jolly to a beach before we have to come home from our jolly to Dorset. As I couldn’t be bothered driving too far & after consulting my trusty OS map, I spotted a little bay situated between Weymouth & Lulworth on the A353.

Heading through the village of Upton, we headed up hill on a narrow, windy (& windy) road onto the ridgeway at the top, where we followed a little sign to a ‘Beach Cafe’. After a mile or so of road bumps we pulled into the Ringstead Bay car park & following a sharp intake of breath, & a few mutterings, paid the £6 parking fee.

Just up from Durdle Dor/Lulworth Cove, Ringstead Bay I must say, was just lovely & quiet with just a few families & dog walkers around. The beach itself is pebbly in nature, although there are patches of course sand which made paddling bare foot in the sea a bit less traumatic. After a bit of throwing the rugby ball about with Harry, (& after daughter mentioning for the hundredth time she was starving) I decided to fire-up the Honey Stove for a spot of lunch. Harry immediately got to task chopping up some dried beech wood (that I brought from home) & began fashioning a few tinder sticks. Despite the breeze, he lit the stove with no trouble at all & within minutes the aroma of bacon was wafting around the bay…

Warning: The following video may cause excessive salivation & sudden hunger pangs

Now as we soon discovered, this wasn’t thin & flimsy mass-produced junk that the supermarkets pass-off as bacon, no, my friends, this was the proper stuff, the real deal & the dogs what-its. This was thick, chunky, decent rashers that rendered & then crisped to perfection, which when enclosed within fresh, sliced bread, was a treat to the buds of taste.

With views out over Portland & Weymouth, Ringstead Bay is a great spot for a cook-up & one where we will definitely visit again.

BTW we bought the bacon in Felicity’s Farm Shop on the A35 near Bridport & it was made by these guys: