Hills and more hills

Varied weather, some b#$%$ big steep hills, lots of dogs running for joy on beaches and some interesting people and very British beach towns.

Day 8 - 17.5km to Brixham over a long section of remote cliffs, very steep hills and WWII gun placements.

St Mary perhaps, an old tree stump beautifully carved at St Mary's Bay.

A proper fishing harbour at Brixham, apart from the cliched Disneyish replica of Sir Francis Drakes ship.

Day 9 - 21.2kms to Babbacombe. Brown beaches, rows of beach boxes, happy dogs running on almost empty beaches. The train viaduct which we walked under and beside. We saw the steam train we rode on two days prior.

Paignton, a very British beach, sort of working class or middle class resort town, amusements on the pier.

Torquay is the more upmarket end where the rich people go. We did a lot of walking on pavement today.

A long walk through woodland not far from houses finally took us to Babbacombe which sits at the top of tree covered cliffs.

Day 10 - 23.2km. A long day of more woods, big hill climbing and pavement walking beside trains, and two rivers to cross.

Little Sheryl zig-zagging down to the bottom of the cliff at Babbacombe.

Tiny Sheryl dwarfed by an enormous hill near Shaldon just before the River Teign where we caught a small ferry over to Teignmouth.

Teignmouth, another very British beach town.

Walking between the train and beach along the rather high sea wall. The train takes a tunnel through the headland but we walked inland,  over and around it to Dawlish.

Dawlish, a repeat version of the beach town and another long walk beside the trains to Starcross to catch another ferry over the River Exe to Exmouth. We arrived too late, missed the ferry but caught a train instead and enjoyed a warm dry ride while it rained outside.

Day 11 - 20.1km. Exmouth to Sidmouth was a beautiful walk, more rural, cool damp weather that turned to solid rain in the afternoon. Red cliffs and canola fields.

After a delicious lunch in a cafe in Budleigh Salterton we found sleeping swans in the large wetlands reserve.

The rain set in for the rest of the afternoon as we had a cuppa in the restaurant of the large chalet park resort at Ladram Bay, before climbing over the headland to Sidmouth. We were dripping water everywhere by the time we arrived at our pub for the night, which was Saturday and they had a live band playing until 11.30. Oh dear! We didn't plan that very well.

Day 12 - 14.6km Better weather, a shorter but steeper day. Sidmouth is a pleasant small town with red cliffs at each end of its beach.

Bluebells are flowering.

More big climbs - the downs are just as hard as the ups but the views are wow!

The cafe at Branscome Beach was cute and sheltered us from a shower as we had a Devonshire tea. After all, we are in Devon.

Then we walked around the western most white chalk cliffs in England to Beer where we stayed in a hostel.

Day 13 - 13.4km, a relatively easy day. Between Beer and Seaton the cliffs change abruptly from white to back to red.

After leaving the town of Seaton we spent most of the day in an area known as The Undercliff, a wild place formed by massive cliff falls with a huge landslide in 1839. Some people find it scary, eerie and difficult terrain, but we loved it.

We arrived in Lyme Regis and found our cottage just before it rained. 

Day 14 - A sunny but cold day of rest in the pretty town before we are back on the Path tomorrow. Washing, writing, shopping, eating 😄

Back on the Path

Back on the South West Coast Path in England. What follows is a very brief summary of our first week. I'd need a book to tell you everything.

The plan is to complete the final section of 333kms from Plymouth to Poole over the next three weeks. In 2019 we walked the first two thirds of the 1014kms from Minehead to Plymouth.

Day 1 - It was a wet, wild and windy start with gale force winds all day. 13kms to Wembury.

Day 2 - 18kms from Wembury to Kingston. 

We dropped the board to summon the ferry man for the Yealm River Crossing.

Here he comes.

The Great Mewstone

Only a couple of light showers and a very stiff breeze as we walked along cliff tops.

We managed to walk across the Erme River at low tide where there is neither a ferry nor a bridge. If we had missed the tide we would have had to do an extra 13kms inland around the estuary.

About 2kms from the river, we stayed at the Dolpin Inn built in 1540.

Day 3 - 15kms. Cold with drizzle that eased by lunch time. Some very steep high climbs. A pretty tough day of strenuous walking.

Burgh Island in the misty distance.

Waiting to climb aboard the sea tractor to access Burgh Island. It drives through the wstet across a sand bar to the island.

The luxury 1930s hotel on the island was for guests only. They wouldn't let us in. So we ate at the tiny Pilchard Inn built in 1337. There is nothing else on the island.

After lunch we summoned another ferry at the Avon River.

We walked to Hope Cove just past the Thurlstone Arch where our bnb host drove us to her heritage listed 17th century farmhouse.

Day 4 - 13kms in perfect weather. Undulating cliff tops with beautiful views, from Hope Cove to Salcombe. A relatively easy day.

Yachts racing at Salcombe.

Salcombe is a charming town now full of rich boating types but quite relaxed.

Day 5 - A longish day, just over 18kms of rocky tracks and beautiful views that began with yet another ferry crossing at Salcombe  and ended at the village of Beesands.

Start Point lighthouse. Dozens of ships have been wrecked along this section of Devon's coast. Today, seals played in calm waters.

It was not so calm in 1917 when most of the village of Hallsands was swept away during a storm. A few ruins are just visible at the base of the cliffs where there was once a beach and two rows of cottages.

Day 6 - Almost 19kms from Beesands to Dartmouth with a couple of steep climbs. Looking back down over the 2km long Slapton Ley, a long shingle bank.

It was late afternoon when we finally reached the mouth of the River Dart. 

Dartmouth, with its naval college and lots and lots of boats.

Day 7 - Rest day. A day to wash clothes and rest the feet by taking a cruise boat up the river, a double decker bus to Paignton and a steam train ride back to Dartmouth. Very cold but sunny day. That big reddish building is the naval college.

Expecting a strenuous walk tomorrow.  Good night...