Weymouth

Weymouth is on the south-west coast of England about 40 kilometres west of Bournemouth. It has a population of about 80,000.

Weymouth is one of the most popular seaside resorts in the south-west. The beach stretches for kilometres across a lovely bay and there are street cafes around the picturesque harbour, which is busy with fishing boats and pleasure craft.

There are lots of places of interest in the area including the Isle of Portland, with its lighthouse and quarries from which the famous Portland stone was cut for St. Paul's Cathedral; Chesil Beach, a unique beach 18 miles long with 180 billion pebbles; Nothe Fort; Dorchester, the county town and home of Thomas Hardy; Abbotsbury a small and unusual village close to Weymouth with an enormous swannery and stunning subtropical gardens; Lyme Regis, a beautiful coastal town with a famous harbour wall, and much, much more.

The town is on the "Jurassic Coastline", a 95-mile stretch of coastline awarded World Heritage Status by UNESCO, with exposed cliffs which let us look back 185 million years. This coastline is famous for fossils, and fossil-hunting is one of the many activities which we run during the summer.

Weymouth and Portland will be the site of the sailing events at the Olympic Games in 2012. The events will take place in the huge harbour between Weymouth and Portland. The harbour is sheltered by very long walls built many years ago to defend naval ships.