Chesil Beach (sometimes called Chesil Bank) is a 18 mile (29km) long, 200 metre wide and 18 metre high shingletombolo in Dorset, southern England. The beach is part of the Jurassic CoastWorld Heritage Site. This tombolo connects the Isle of Portland, a limestoneisland in the English channel to Abbotsbury, though it continues westwards to West Bay near Bridport, and it is the largest tombolo in England. The beach is steep showing a clear storm beach. Pebbles on the beach are graded, getting courser nearer Portland, and fishermen familiar with the beach claim to be able to tell their location from pebble size alone. The pebbles are mainly flint and chert from the Cretaceous rocks which make up this stretch of the Heritage Coast.
The origin of the beach has been argued over for some time, originally believed to be from the Budleigh Salterton pebble beds to the west and later from Portland to the south east. The differences between the pebbles on the beach and nearby sources is now put down to the Flandrianisotactic sea level rise.
The beach provides shelter from the prevailing winds and waves for the towns of Weymouth and Fortuneswell, which otherwise would probably not exist.
From West Bay to Cliff End the beach is piled up against the cliff. At Cliff End a hollow forms behind the beach and at Abbotsbury a stretch of muddy saline (or brackish) water called The Fleet, which is often incorrectly referred to as a lagoon, begins. The fleet is home to many wading birds and Abbotsbury Swannery, and fossils can be found in the mud.
The beach and the fleet, because of their proximity to the naval base on Portland, and the low population density of nearby areas was used for machine gun training and bouncing bomb testing in World War II.
Photographs
A fossil from the far western end of Chesil Beach
South West Coast Path - showing shingle grading (http://www.swcp.org.uk/Tour/ChesilBeach.html)
Fleet Transport Magazine is pleased to announce the Irish Haulier of the Year Awards 2008 programme.
Established to honour excellence in operation or services to the transport industry the 'Fleet' Haulier of the Year Awards takes over from the successful Road Transport Awards formerly run by the IRHA.
Ireland's first and foremost passenger transport publication, Fleet Bus and Coach is once again honouring both coach manufacturers and operators at its bi-annual Awards programme.
Fleet, in the county of Hampshire, is a picturesque town about 40 miles southwest of London and is the administrative and commercial centre of Hart District Council.
Fleet got its' name, around 1324 (the Accounts of the Crondall Hundred), from the stream (La Flete) that ran into the Fleet Pond (220 acres) when it was known as 'The Flete Pond' in the 'Hundred of Crondall' and the 'Tithing of Crokeham' (now Crookham).
Fleet Pond Nature Reserve was 133 acres until the Brookly Wood was added in 1997 to extend it to 141 acres.
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