Weymouth Walk: Town Centre & Beach【4K】

Located in the county of Dorset, on England's south coast, and around 60 miles south of Bristol is the town of Weymouth.

Geographically Weymouth is situated on a sheltered bay where a natural harbour has formed by the mouth of the River Wey (hence the name). It received a borough charter from Henry III in 1252. In 1571 it was merged with the borough of Melcombe Regis on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour. Since then both towns have been known as just Weymouth.

In 1635 around 100 emigrants from Weymouth sailed to America aboard the 'Charity'. When they landed, they named the town after its port of origin, thus Weymouth, Massachusetts was founded.

Weymouth's origins as a tourist destination come from the late 18th century. In 1789 King George III visited during the summer in what was the first of fourteen such trips up until 1805. This led to a boom in tourism, not only to Weymouth but to several other coastal towns as 'taking the waters' became fashionable. A painted statue of George III was unveiled on The Esplanade in 1810 to celebrate his Golden Jubilee. Incidentally, just down the road is a completely separate Golden Jubilee monument - the Jubilee Clock seen around the 21-minute mark, which was unveiled in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's 50th year on the throne.

In 1857 the railway arrived to Weymouth, thus leading to a further tourism boom as the town was opened up to those who weren't rich enough for horse-drawn carriage travel. A few years later work began on fortifying the town. Between 1860 and 1872 Nothe Fort was built, which served to protect both Weymouth Harbour, and the then newly constructed Portland Harbour a few miles to the south on the Isle of Portland. Nothe Fort was abandoned in 1956, although it is open to this day in its current form as a museum.

In 1865 the Weymouth Harbour Tramway opened. This was a heavy rail line running entirely on the streets of the town between Weymouth Harbour and a junction to the north of Weymouth Station. These were in regular timetabled use up until 1987, with the last special train running in 1999.

During the Second World War, the famous bouncing bomb was first tested on Chesil Beach at the western end of Weymouth in 1942. These bombs would go on to play a crucial role in Operation Chastise the following year where two dams in Germany were breached, causing a flood in the Ruhr Valley. The RAF pilots behind the mission became known as the Dam Busters. Later on in the war, Weymouth became the departure point for tens of thousands of Allied troops bound for the Normandy beaches during the D-Day Landings.

In 2012 Weymouth hosted the sailing events for the London Olympics, despite it being located around 130 miles from London itself.

Today Weymouth is a popular tourist destination owing to both its beach that rivals Bournemouth and its adjacent historical harbour that rivals Poole. It is also a short train or bus ride away from the historical Roman town of Dorchester, as well as various towns along what is known as the Jurassic Coast, which spans most of Dorset and parts of Devon. The name is a reference to the coast's almost continuous rock formation covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretacious periods.

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Filmed: 14th July 2021

Link to the walk on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/uCCaumszwi3QrNbeA (mostly accurate)

Filmed on a Sony FDR-AX700 with a Zhiyun Crane 2 and a Sony ECM-XYST1M Stereo Microphone.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Weymouth Bay
0:12 Nothe Fort
0:25 Nothe Gardens
3:39 Path down to harbour
4:41 Weymouth Harbour
6:44 Nothe Parade
7:41 Cove Row
9:00 Trinity Road
10:53 Town Bridge
11:55 Custom House Quay
12:34 St Mary Street
17:24 The Esplanade
18:24 King George III Statue
18:30 The Esplanade
20:59 Queen Victoria Jubilee Clock
21:10 The Esplanade
24:08 Weymouth Cenotaph
24:15 The Esplanade