Dorset: Tyneham Village and Worbarrow Bay.
tyneham access times | tide times | parkingfine art prints available on request. 
Some places come and go. I go there, enjoy them but never to return. Some places capture my heart and I want to be there all the time. This stretch of Dorset (along with most of Dorset) will have me coming back as long as I’m able.
Tyneham is village with a big past - it’s Dorset’s ‘lost village’ that was lost to the firing ranges in 1943. It still sits within military ranges so is only accessible on certain days, this makes it feel all the more special and driving through the ranges is an experience that only adds to the intrigue.
Prior to 1943, Tyneham was an idyllic countryside village with access to the Worbarrow Bay for the residents. But it’s beauty was it’s undoing - being surrounded by 7500 acres of surrounding heath and chalk land that made for attractive Ministry of Defence training ground. With nearby Lulworth firing ranges the government decided to claim the village of Tyneham asking the residents to leave, in the promise they would be able to return after the war. However the promise was never fulfilled and, despite many campaigns, 60 years later the village stands empty and ghostlike with much evidence of arms being used.
Take a walk around Tyneham and step back in time visiting the school that has been kept mostly intact and get a sense of how life in the village was for residents. Quite prominently is Tyneham House which is now just a ruin but was once a grand mansion.
Once done picking round the village you can head down a track to the left of the car park - either on the main track or through the pretty woodland - and after a bout a mile you’ll end up at Worbarrow Bay. The bay is beautiful and dog friendly all year but without any facilities so go prepared!
I highly recommend a climb up Worbarrow Tout - a large mound to the left of the bay that looks over a wild Pondfield Cove. It’s not an easy climb or descent for those of us with injuries so go careful or take poles.
