Portland Bill

This is the old lighthouse on Portland Bill, now an ornithological centre, as for many migrating birds it is the first stop after a long sea journey. There is no landfall in one line from Portland to Tierra del Fuego. In Portland of old, as the wreckers would light false beacons to lure ships onto the rocks to be plundered. It is a virtual island connected by Chesil Beach to Weymouth, although historically there was no love lost between the two places, the stones of Chesil were very useful against any couples mixing the two cultures.To this day you cannot say 'rabbit' on the island, from when the tin mines were working, and it was thought that they ate at the mine shaft props, they are called 'them furry things'.

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