Dorset’s foodie town with a vintage quarter and Jurassic coast beaches

Bridport is a place built on rope. It produced cordage for Henry VIII’s navy, nooses for the hangman (The term “stabbed with a Bridport dagger” is a euphemism for being sent to the gallows) and twines for baling, rigging and deep-sea trawling, among other products. Today, the West Dorset town’s “spinning walks” and wide streets (once used to dry, twist and spin hemp and flax) are among the legacies of this 800-year-old industry that still makes nets for Wimbledon’s tennis courts. The town is thriving in other ways, too. Visitors and locals converge on the traditional high street (bakers, butchers, books, art, hardware, hats…) for the twice-weekly street market, monthly farmers’ market, cafes, pubs and regular buskers on Bucky Doo Square (which is actually more of a triangle). Shorts The old “hempland” trading estate – another remnant of ropemaking – has been largely re-branded as the “vintage quarter”, where you’ll find antiques, retro furniture and artists’ studios. The town is best known these days as a bookish arts hub, home to the international Bridport Prize, the BridLit literary festival in November, a 100-year-old cinema and an arts centre in a former Wesleyan Chapel. It’s also a gateway to the Jurassic Coast Unesco World Heritage Site and joined at the hip with salty, harbourside West Bay, making Bridport a two-for-one kind of place. Fishing Boats in West Bay (Photo: Dukas/Universal Images Group/Getty) Quick guide Nearest station: The closest stations are Dorchester South (15 miles to the east) and Axminster (12 miles west), both served by South Western Railway. Transport: The X51 and X52 First Bus routes travel between Dorchester and Axminster, stopping at Burton Bradstock, West Bay, Bridport, Chideock (for Seatown) and Charmouth en route. Stay: Grade II-listed former coaching inn The Bull Hotel has jazzed up its 19 rooms, has a restaurant, a pretty courtyard with outdoor tables, a cocktail bar, and rooms made for families. Eat: The Bull, Platform, Soulshine, Dorshi, Mercato Italiano, Baboo Drink: Selected Grapes, The Pursuit of Hoppiness Shop: Bridport’s market, T Snook Visit: Bridport Harbour, Bridport Hat Festival, Electric Palace, Bridport Museum, Eype, Hive Beach, Seatown, Charmouth More: visit-dorset.com Where to stay A Grade II-listed former coaching inn, The Bull Hotel has been at the heart of Bridport life since the 17th century. A recent interior makeover has jazzed up its 19 rooms – all different – with bright wallpapers, tiles and lush colours, local art and ammonite prints; some feature roll-top tubs, half-tester beds or bunks for kids. There is restaurant, a pretty courtyard with outdoor tables, a cocktail bar, and rooms made for families. Although not fully adapted, there are accessible rooms on the ground floor. B&B from £120 a night. Seatown Beach in Dorset (Photo: Ian Woolcock/Getty) The best place to start Take a stroll down to Bridport Harbour at West Bay, 30-40-minutes’ walk away. The town’s seaside sister is all gulls, fishing boats, River Brit walks and a good place to join a clifftop stretch of the South West Coast Path. The best places to shop On Wednesday and Saturday mornings (weather permitting), Bridport’s outdoor market spills onto the pavements of East, West and South Streets, with stalls selling vintage clothing, antique jewellery, hand-made pottery, plants, vegetables and cheeses. The town’s unashamedly old-fashioned hat shop, T Snook, stocks a variety of headwear from panamas to fascinators, many of them exclusive to this local landmark. The shop is responsible for initiating September’s Hat Festival – just turn up in a hat. The best places to visit Opened in 1926 as an opera house, Bridport’s multiuse venue the Electric Palace hosts a programme of film, theatre, comedy and music, as well as backstage tours of the Grade II-listed building. Explore the town’s history through Jurassic Coast fossils, coins, dolls and potions at Bridport Museum. You can also try your hand at ropemaking, winding a jack and twisting the strands to make your own piece of Bridport rope (usually available all day Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and at 11am on Tuesdays and Fridays). Discover more at Bridport Museum (Photo: Bridport Museum) The best place for an evening drink Selected Grapes is a wine merchant and weekend wine bar in a former ropewalk. Beer drinkers should check out The Pursuit of Hoppiness, a busy Camra-listed micropub with an emphasis on local breweries. Both places have sunny outdoor areas. The best place for dinner The Bull’s restaurant sticks mainly to the traditional: posh fish and chips, pies, steaks and burgers, plus sharing plates and plant-based options. In West Bay, Platform is a restaurant in vintage railway carriages on the disused Bridport Railway, with a bar in the former station house. Big on fish, seafood and local ingredients, it has 2 AA Rosettes. The best beaches West Bay is closest, but there are other long strips of Jurassic Coast beach nearby: wild and shingly Eype (a 40-minute walk), sandy Hive Beach (with a National Trust carpark and popular cafe), Seatown and fossil-rich Charmouth. The best places for lunch There are many excellent places to choose from in this foodie town. Favourites include Soulshine, for organic dishes with a Mediterranean slant; Dorshi, for Asian-inspired dumplings, noodles and bao buns with a Dorset twist; and Mercato Italiano, a family-run pizzeria, cafe and deli tucked behind industrial units on the Dreadnought Trading Estate. The best place to relax Book a spot in the wood-fired Seaside Sauna Haus, which offers communal, full-moon, silent or private group saunas in a six-seater cedar hut, right on the beach at Seatown. From £10pp for an hour. The best spot for a treat Try a cone of Italian-style gelato or sorbet at Baboo, which has its own kiosk at West Bay, but is served at several spots in Bridport, too. It uses natural ingredients including fruit from local farms, hedgerow elderflowers and Dorset sea salt. Mine’s a salted caramel.