of the Rodwell Trail see:www.dorsetwalks.com/rodwelltrail of Trail theRodwell abouthistory the natural more For this area. Robin plantsthatgrowin andLittle Vetch Bithyinian therare also lookoutfor andblackabdomen, yellow Spider withitsdistinctive Wasp a you mightfind reeds Inamongstthe flit about. baskinthesunshineandCommonBlueButterfly Lizard itssupper. for searching mightalsoseeaMouse You Blue. CommaandHolly Admiral, includingRed summer, speciesofbutterflycanbeseenonthewingin Past BuxtonRoadBridgemany and Badgerswillcomeoutintheevenings MammalssuchasFoxes calling. canbeheard Blackcaps whileupinthecanopy hop aboutinthedampundergrowth Common Frogs onthebanks. grow Ferns Tongue and Heart’s South of Wyke Tunnel is a damper area where Pendulous Sedge Pendulous where isadamperarea Tunnel Wyke South of NATURAL HISTORY NATURAL Weymouth Station The Rodwell Trail is a haven for wildlife and forms a green lung agreen andforms wildlife for isahaven Trail The Rodwell linking Ferrybridge with the RSPB Radipole Lake wildlife reserve. reserve. wildlife linking Ferrybridge withtheRSPBRadipoleLake N A Abbotsbury Road I Old Castle Road At Abbotsbury Road end you can see Hedge Sparrows Abbotsbury canseeHedgeSparrows Roadendyou At B Ilchester Road J Parr Way and Blackbirds in the hedges along with Garden inthehedgesalongwithGarden and Blackbirds on, Pipistrelle Batsflyingabout. Pipistrelle on, C Salisbury Road K Rylands Lane Spiders at the side of the Trail. Listen out for Listenoutfor Trail. Spiders atthesideof START dusk you may see a Serotine Bat, orlater Bat, seeaSerotine may dusk you At calling. BushCrickets Green the Great D Newstead Road L Douglas Road Prince of Wales Rd Dundee/Dover Rd summer Common In Haltarea. Wyke inthe especially wildlife, speciesof different openwithmany is more Trail Haltsthe Wyke and Sandsfoot Between and Merganzers. Grebes Slavonian Northernas Great Diver, such birds Harbour toseetheoverwintering Portland excellent spottolookoutover isan CastleGardens In winterSandsfoot E M F Wyke Road N Osprey Road G Buxton Road O Whitehead Drive ACCESS POINTS ACCESS H Clearmont Road P Ferrybridge Knightsdale Wyke Tunnel Road WWII Gun Enplacement Viewing Point Littlefield Crossing by Westham Halt ASDA Wyke Tunnel along Weymouth’s greentrail Weymouth’s along trip andahistoric Enjoy Share ‘mess’. andpicksupyour Dogs - - Walkers Cyclists - Code Trail Rodwell theFerrybridge Inn. from the oppositesideofroad willfindtheentranceon Ferrybridge andyou over Weymouth, Beach carparkturnlefttowards Chesil From Abbotsbury Roadentrance. theunderpassto Bridge through Westham turnrightover the Backwater, along underSwannerygo Bridge, SwanneryFrom carpark Castle. ofSandsfoot the gardens isalsoacaféandtoiletin There Weymouth. tocentral Trail) (south endoftheRodwell Ferrybridge between frequently Buses travel eitherend. walkfrom justa6-7minute close by, are Car parkswithpublictoiletsandrefreshments ispart ofNationalCycleRoute26. Trail Rodwell exceptatFerrybridge andRylandsLane. steep, points are butaccess Wheelchair friendly 1to101. allagesfrom suitablefor onthelevel, each way for 3.4kmitisa1hourwalk Stretching ofSpecialScientificInterest. Coast andanarea theJurassic follows part andfor CoastPathand the IsleofPortland oftheway West withlinkstotheSouth Railway toPortland Weymouth thecourseofold It follows Harbour. entersPortland reserve withitsnature theFleetLagoon where Ferrybridge, and Weymouth andcyclistsbetween walkers linkfor isagreen Trail The Rodwell Rodwell Station Rodwell Station www.rodwelltrail.org.uk www.sandsfootcastle.org.uk www.sandsfootcastle.org.uk www.rodwelltrail.org.uk Make certainMake undercontrol you keeps owner your Moderate speedandsoundbellnearwalkers. your Bin or take home your litter and listen for cyclists. litterandlisten for homeyour Bin ortake The Weymouth and Portland Railway The Rodwell Trail follows the track of the old railway built in 1865 to carry passengers and Portland stone between Weymouth and Portland. It was extended in 1878 into the Royal Navy Dockyards and later in 1891 to serve Whitehead’s torpedo factory at Wyke Regis complete with its own siding and a 1,000 foot pier with its own narrow gauge railway track out into Portland Harbour. The line was a mixed gauge worked jointly by the London & South Western Railway and the Great Western Railway until Sandsfoot Castle RODWELL TRAIL P 1874 when the last broad gauge train ran and the line was converted to Chesil BeachCentre FRIENDS of Portland Bill Portland standard gauge. In 1870 the first intermediate station at Rodwell was PORTLAND HARBOUR WEYMOUTH Sandsfoot Castle Sandsfoot opened and then improved in 1908 with the provision of passing loop, Sandsfoot RSPB RadipoleLake Halt Tudor House Tudor Cafe & WC P new up platform and signal box. The use of the line was improved P Castle Portland in 1909 by the addition of new halts at Westham and Wyke Regis PORTLAND and in 1932 with a stop at Sandsfoot Castle Halt. The railway SANDSFOOT Nothe Fort continued to serve the community until 9th April 1965 CASTLE P when the very last goods train ran over the branch. Castle Rufus Sailing Museum Portland Whiteheads Torpedo Factory Club History from the Rodwell Trail cliff top garden overlooking Portland Harbour. Portland overlooking cliff topgarden ruinedcastleset in a Vlll’s andvisitHenry railway toPortland Weymouth orcyclealongtheold Walk FROM RAIL TO TRAIL SANDSFOOT CASTLE SANDSFOOT RODWELL TRAIL& The southern section of the Rodwell Trail runs alongside Portland Harbour one of the great construction projects undertaken by Victorian engineers to enclose the anchorage of Portland Roads to make the finest deep water harbour in Europe. This Portland Harbour was achieved by placing 6,000,000 tons of Portland stone on the sea bed from the Island of Portland east and north towards Weymouth for a distance of 1½ miles. The Wyke Regis Halt foundation stone was dropped into the sea by Prince Albert on the 5th July 1849 and the completion stone laid by his son Edward, the Prince of Wales, on the 29th July 1872. The completed breakwaters consisted of 2 arms with an entrance near Holiday Park Remains of Whitead’s Pier Portland. With the advent of the torpedo as a standard naval weapon there was a worry that ships in the harbour would be vulnerable to attack from Weymouth Bay START P The Fleet Site of Whitehead’s and so it was decided to completely enclose the harbour by building two more arms Lagoon Ferry Torpedo Factory Bridge to the north to link with the shore at Weymouth. The new arms were completed Inn Line of Old Railway Position in 1903 and the original south entrance blocked in 1914 by scuttling the redundant of the old Ferrybridge battleship HMS Hood. At the south end of the Rodwell Trail the “father” of the underwater torpedo, Robert Whitehead, built his factory in 1891 which continued Rail bridge to Portland to make those fearsome weapons until 1993 when it was finally closed to make way for harbour side housing. The Royal Navy dominated the harbour for 150 years Footpath/Cycleway to Osprey Quay and Portland over before leaving in 1996 making way for its transition to a busy civilian port and water new Ferrybridge sports centre. In 2012 it was the venue for the sailing events of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. TO PORTLAND PLAN of RODWELL TRAIL - Approximate Scale: 1 inch equals ¼ mile Cafe & WC SANDSFOOT CASTLE WHY WAS SANDSFOOT CASTLE BUILT? After Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon and his break with the Roman Catholic Church, England was left politically isolated. A treaty between France and Spain in 1538 led to fears of invasion and so an intensive campaign of fortifying the south and east coasts of England against the possible invasion was started. Built between 1539 and 1541, at a cost of £3,887 4s 1d (approximately £1.5 million today), Sandsfoot Castle was described as ‘a right goodly and warlyke castle, having one open barbicane’. It is a Henrician blockhouse of a square design and the only survivor of its type, its ruinous state gives the public a unique opportunity Sandsfoot’s Royal Coat of Arms, now located in Wyke church. to see the construction of this Tudor castle that has dominated Portland Roads for almost 500 years. Artist’s impression of Tudor life in the castle. Model showing three views of Sandsfoot Castle as it would have looked in Tudor times SANDSFOOT CASTLE IN HENRY VIII’s TIME SANDSFOOT CASTLE’S STRATEGIC LOCATION Sandsfoot Castle provided not only for the defence of Portland Roads with her guns Portland Roads has always been a safe haven for ships, protected from the prevailing south- but also living quarters for soldiers garrisoned there in times of need to repel invaders. westerly winds by Chesil Bank and therefore an ideal landing place for an invading enemy. Domestic quarters were therefore as necessary as the ramparts and gun floors. The Due to the limited range of Tudor guns, it was necessary to have castles at both Sandsfoot kitchen and eating hall were on the ground floor, the alcove for the kitchen fire and and Portland to protect the complete bay. The castles were initially armed with a type of gun bread oven with a slop chute to outside can be seen. The remains of fireplaces at both known as a demi-culverin that could fire 10 pound missiles up to 2,000 yards. These sister ground and first floor levels and windows that would have been glazed and protected castles were not built to the same design. Sandsfoot is a square blockhouse with a facetted by iron bars externally with timber shutters internally can still be seen.