Stories about Latour abound. But the most famous is the tale of his successful escape from the tax man. One cold winter's night when LaTour arrived at the pub, Carless offered him gin instead of his usual brandy -- a sign that all was not well. He then pointed to the great fireplace, which you can still see inside the pub. Realizing that the revenue officer was hiding inside, Latour declared that he had caught a chill and needed a fire to warm him. It was only minutes before the terrified officer revealed himself. The landlord offered the officer a glass of brandy and, laughing, sent him on his way.
Coast guard patrols continued along the path until the mid-19th century. In the 20th century, guards were replaced by geologists who paced the coast with equal vigor in a hunt for dinosaur bones, fossil fauna and ammonites. Great finds include the Dimorphodon macronyx, one of the earliest flying reptiles, and just last November, the bones of a 190 million-year-old species of ichthyosaur, a fish-lizard that looks like a cross between a crocodile and a swordfish.
On the Dorset coastal trail, refuel with English pub food at Smugglers Inn.
(Matt Writtle)
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The coast itself is also a geological phenomenon. Dorset's cliffs, now called the Jurassic Coast, are a near-continuous sequence of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rock, charting the history of almost the entire Mesozoic Era, more than 180 million years. The coast at Osmington Mills is one of the best places to see trace fossils, fossilized burrows and markings made by ancient marine animals when Dorset was submerged under tropical seas.
From Osmington Mills, the path becomes steep and, at times, severe. But the beauty of the coast made the three 2,000-foot climbs worth the journey: The view from each summit reveals one of Dorset's textbook geological displays. At Bat's Head, a small limestone arch has been carved by the sea. At Swyre Head, the curved bay houses a classic white chalk stack, an arch that eroded continually and ultimately collapsed. Finally, we reached the Durdle Door, a 30-foot limestone arch that juts out into the bay. The name "Durdle" is derived from the Old English "thirl," meaning "to pierce."
We were tempted to clamber down to the beach to rest. But walking down meant climbing back up, so we relaxed on a grassy hill instead and watched the sunlight dance on the waves on the rocky beach below. As the sun dipped near the horizon, we hurried the last half-mile to West Lulworth, where we planned to stay the night after our 12-mile trek.
The next day, we awoke early and feasted on a classic English breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage and beans on toast. (There is no food available on the seven-mile walk between West Lulworth and Kimmeridge.) Then we set out on the path, which begins at a steep set of stairs at the bottom of the village.
The stairs rise quickly and give a spectacular view of Lulworth Cove, a perfect horseshoe bay carved by the tides over thousands of years.
Before you proceed farther, check to make sure the path is open, because this is the land that the army requisitioned back in 1943. The path is marked every 100 yards with yellow markers, and you must stay within the boundaries.
Thankfully, the terrain was more moderate than the day before. And less than an hour later, we reached what's known as the Fossil Forest or Jurassic Jungle, a limestone ledge with late Jurassic soil and remains of rooted trees. If that sounds dull, picture it this way: It's a perfect map of the land in which dinosaurs thrived.
Geologists say that toward the end of the Jurassic period, sea levels dropped and a series of islands emerged, surrounded by saline lagoons and channels. Soils formed and a tropical forest of giant cypress and ferns flourished. The forest was then flooded under a shallow, saline lagoon. Thick mats of algae grew across the forest floor and around the base of the trees and fallen logs. Sediments stuck in the algae. Over time, they built up to form doughnut-shaped burrs, still visible today.
