Jurassic Coast: Three Hand Classics ReLaunch

Adventures | 19 Jun
To celebrate the return of our Three Hand Automatics we headed on a road-trip to the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.

In all honesty, it wasn’t quite the British summer adventure we had imagined. 

Bright sunshine had been replaced by cutting wind and rain, meaning we had to leave the E-Type and XK140 safely tucked away in the garage while we ventured to the South Coast of England in four trusty Land Rovers. Our quintessential Enid Blyton trip had turned into more of a challenging Camel Trophy event. But hey, we’re nothing if we’re not adventurous, so we didn’t let the poor weather put us off. 

 

With our updated Classic Three-Hand Automatics having just arrived from the Swiss factory, it seemed the perfect excuse to hit the road and shoot them as we travelled along some of Britain’s finest coastline. Our road trip took us from Studland to Portland, stopping off at every picturesque spot we could find; beautiful stretches of wide, golden beach, ragged cliff tops, postcard villages, castles, lighthouses and, of course, a proper pub, where we stopped for lunch along the way. 

 Rolling off the Sandbanks chain ferry, Jono led the way in our 1979 Series III. Having grown up in Dorset, his local knowledge was enough to get us to Studland (where Churchill famously supervised a practice run of the D-Day landings). We stopped for a pint at the Bankes Arms pub then drove via Old Harry rocks and on to Corfe Castle. However, with every mile we travelled West, Jono’s navigation skills decreased exponentially. The opposite could be said of the Series III which seemed to improve the more we drove and felt right at home on the winding country roads from Wareham, heading down towards Lulworth Cove and Kimmeridge Bay. 

From Lulworth, we drove. Through the charming bucket-and-spade town of Weymouth and on to Portland, where the coastal views open right up. Sunshine broke through the clouds as we rounded the lighthouse and parked up on the rocks, looking out over the sea. We breathed in the sea air while Rob, Mike and Mackie got their shots.

 

And finally, to the hotel. A brilliant spot towards Bridport called the Seaside Boarding House, which was converted from a private house to a boutique hotel, set high on the epic cliffs above Hive Beach. 

The very same beach on which we almost buried the Series III in the shingle, before the Heritage came to the rescue. 

 Another great Farer adventure.