The red-and-white banded lighthouse at the tip of Portland, warning ships off one of the fiercest tidal races on the south coast
Portland Bill is the southern tip of Portland, the long limestone peninsula hanging off the Dorset coast, and the red-and-white banded lighthouse there has guided shipping since 1906. It warns passing boats of the Portland Race, a stretch of wild, broken water where the tides pile up around the point — dangerous to small craft, and impressive to watch from the rocks when there’s a swell running. The tower still works, run by Trinity House, who look after the lighthouses of England and Wales, and there’s a visitor centre with climbs to the lamp on open days. It’s a fine place for a walk out along the South West Coast Path, with the old stone daymark and the fishermen’s rock ledges close by, and Portland Castle, one of Henry VIII’s coastal forts built to guard the harbour, back on the sheltered northern side of the island.
