The Cobb
Lyme Regis's beautiful breakwater
My sister, Marie, lives in the West Dorset town of Lyme Regis, whose most famous feature is a sinuous breakwater called the “Cobb” for no reason anyone remembers. The Cobb protects the town’s ancient harbour and the crumbly cliffs behind it. When I come to visit, which I do about once a year these days, I always make a point of walking out the Cobb to its very end each day.
The Cobb dates back to at least the 14th century and was originally built from timber. It has frequently been destroyed by storms over the years. It took its current form in the 18th and 19th centuries when it was rebuilt out of Portland stone quarried at Portland Bill which lies east along the Dorset coast.
(I have linked here to the website from which I cribbed this information, not wanting to get clobbered for plagiarism like a university president.)
I haven’t quite figured out why the Cobb has been constructed with such an unusual shape, but I am supposing it is because storms in the area may come in from either the west or the southwest.
Those of a certain age may remember the Cobb’s most celebrated turn which came in the 1981 film French Lieutenant’s Woman starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. The two first encounter on a stormy evening when the mysterious and troubled woman of the title, played by Streep, is rescued from the end of the breakwater by the amateur palaeontologist played by Irons.
Local lore has it that the sea was inconveniently placid during the making of the film and that shooting the scene required some movie magic to create the requisite suspense.
The poster for the film pumps the storm up even more.
French Lieutenant’s Woman was based on the 1969 novel of the same name by John Fowles, who lived much of his life and wrote many of his novels in Lyme Regis, and even wrote a short history of the town.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman is not the only work of fiction in which the Cobb figures. In Jane Austen’s Persuasion a group of fashionable young women in their long dresses go for a stroll on the Cobb. As with any group of young people, there’s always someone who takes it too far. In this case, a woman named Louisa:
“…instantly, to show her enjoyment, [Louisa] ran up the steps to be jumped down again. He advised her against it, thought the jar too great; but no, he reasoned and talked in vain, she smiled and said, “I am determined I will:” he put out his hands; she was too precipitate by half a second, she fell on the pavement on the Lower Cobb, and was taken up lifeless!”
SPOILER ALERT! Louisa doesn't actually die. She does suffer a concussion.
Anyway, here’s a picture of the steps she is presumed to have fallen from, dubbed “Granny’s teeth”.
The most recent film shot on the Cobb is Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role. I understand that they have inserted CGI mountains in the background, the local cliffs not being adequate to their purpose.
I don’t always take my camera with me when I walk the Cobb, but the constantly changing winds, waves and weather along with its beautiful shape means that I am frequently rewarded when I do. It’s not hard to feel the romance here that has inspired so many writers and filmmakers.
I wonder if I'd admire the novel as much today as I did in my youth. Maybe I'll go find out!
Very evocative writing - makes me want to visit the Cobb!