South Walk: Brixham to Dartmouth

Tuesday January 20th. My first day of walking during the working week - got a couple of days off - and the first thing I notice is how long it takes me to get to Brixham - got mixed up in all the rush hour - very painful journey. made my way to the large new Car park at the renovated harbour area - only to discover that they wanted £7 for the pleasure of a days parking. Managed to find a cul-de-sac and left it there for nothing - it was high up in a residential area and as I walked down to the harbour front - I hoped that I could find it again!

Brixham still has a large working fleet of Trawlers - but all seemed pretty quiet , I Left the harbour spotting a Seal on my way, although by the time I got my camera out - it had disappeared underwater, and made my way towards Berry Head where there is a reserve and site of scientific interest, in the form a large Napoleonic Fort and an important area for breeding sea birds

I made a slight detour to look around the Fort and view the lighthouse - before getting back on what was a well trodden trail towards St Mary's Bay. There was a large and deserted Holiday Village overlooking the coast near Durl Head - and it was a scenic area with interesting limestone rock formations and two large offshore rocks, called Mew Stone and Cod Rock, and the path was very close to the cliff edge. The next point of interest was St Mary's Bay - a large sweeping bay with small inland lake behind. which ended in Sharkham Point. This stretch of South Devon was all quite new to me, and it was very beautiful - plus the sun was shining, which always makes a difference albeit was pretty chilly.

Sharkham was a wide open grassland area with good views and then it was back up towards Southdown cliffs followed by a long steep downhill path to Man Sands, which was a fairly inaccessible small stony beach. The walk down, unsurprisingly, was followed by a steep walk up past some old Coastguard cottages and then followed the cliff path towards Scabbacombe sands, a very small and isolated spot, nestling in a large and open grassland valley. There were some small path diversion signs taking a different route inland, but I decided to ignore these. Possibly, they were trying to limit the footfall on the main path to try and prevent erosion which is a continual problem for much of the coastal path.

The next point of interest was Pudcombe Cove situated at the bottom of a large wooded valley with some splendid large Pine trees. Higher up the valley is 20 acres of National trust gardens in Coleton Fishacre originally created by Lady D'Oyly Carte of Gilbert and Sullivan fame in the 1930's.
On the beach itself were the remains of an old swimming pool built into the rocks.

I was starting to flag for some reason at this point - legs felt very heavy - and there was a steady climb from here to Inner Froward Point at the mouth of the Dart Estuary. This point was an important sea defence area and there are still many old defence Buildings and the remains of the Gun Battery positions and old searchlight positions. From here, you start to glimpse Dartmouth castle across the Estuary - while the path itself shortly passes above Kingswear Castle which has been renovated and is available for accommodation. The walk goes through a very scenic wooded area full of massive Pine trees through which you catch glimpses of Dartmouth which must be one of the most dramatic coastal towns of the whole walk. The path dropped down towards Mill Bay Cove and as I climbed up again I met one of the friendliest Robins I've ever seen.

As I stopped to catch my breath, he pottered around my feet and then flew up to a branch watching me. I got a few pics and he even allowed me to virtually poke the camera in his face trying to get a good macro shot, which I didn't quite achieve. I rewarded him with a few crumbs of left over sandwiches - which he took out of my hand!

The path led up to a road full of very exclusive properties and then gently wound down to Kingswear and almost immediately you are at the first of three ferries which continually trawl backwards and forwards across to Dartmouth. I took the first Car Ferry which was basically a flat platform pulled and pushed by a tug.

I only really went across, so that I could start my next walk from Dartmouth itself, which is a town I've visited many times. In fact the Ferry boat man must have thought I didn't like Dartmouth much -because after a quick cappuccino at the Ferry Inn, I was on my way back to Kingswear to catch the bus to Brixham. I was reminded again, that it was a week day, as I shared the bus with all the school kids on their way home. Kingswear is a scenic place in it's own right with spectacular views across to Dartmouth - and by this time the sun was getting quite low and highlighting the very prominent Naval College. Of course back in Brixham, I tried to guess where to get off the bus - and then had a hell of a job finding the car, wandering about the back streets like a backpacker looking for a cheap hostel.

South Walk: Torquay to Brixham

Saturday January 17th - I left Uffculme bright and early and headed for Torquay. Had a bit of trouble locating the road near Ansteys Cove where I had finished the previous week - but then managed to find a quiet cul-de-sac to leave the car for the day. It looked as if it was going to be a bright sunny day for a change!

Although, I was in Torquay - I had a long walk around Hopes Nose and Thatcher Point - and then across Meadfoot beach before I reached the main centre of the resort, the harbour and the start of the promenade.

Torquay is probably one of the South West's major resorts and the whole Torbay area is referred to as the English Riviera symbolised by their Palm tree logo.

The start of the walk passed Ansteys Cove - a very unspoilt cove surrounded by woodland - and then I headed towards Hope's Nose along "Bishop's Walk" - so named after a former Bishop of Exeter for whom it was a popular jaunt - and who built himself a Palace nearby - now the well know Palace Hotel.

For a short period, after negotiating Thatcher Point - the path followed the coastal road, Ilsham Marine Drive , where there were some splendid properties with spectacular views across Torbay. Then there was a steep drop down to Meadfoot beach and a pleasant half mile walk along the promenade. At the end - the path climbed up again to a grassy expanse called Daddyhole Plain which was another splendid viewpoint, before then meandering through pleasant gardens down towards Torquay Harbour.

The path followed the road behind the fairly new attraction known as "Living Coasts" - an area of the coast which has been embraced by a large mesh net - under which they have created various areas of ocean life and an indoor educational centre

Torquay has many attractions - but I wasn't hanging around to see any of them.

One which did stand out - was a massive white circular balloon - which you could pay to rise up whilst still tethered and no doubt get superb views. It did look a little out of place mind you.

It was flat walking all the way around the Marina and along the promenade - so I made good progress and was soon heading out on the main road towards Paignton, In fact it was pavement walking for about a mile - following the main A379 passing Corbyn's Head and Livermead with good views looking back across Torquay front.

Finally - you leave the road and enter Hollicombe Park before dropping down to the beach and seafront of Preston Sands.

This was another seafront promenade with little to commend it - and then the path winds inland around the formidable looking Redcliffe Hotel before joining the main Paignton promenade complete with sad looking pier!

Paignton is another very popular tourist spot -and is the endpoint of the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam railway, as well as being home to the renowned and excellent Paignton Zoo. But there was no time to gawp at monkeys - and I was soon heading out of Paignton around Roundham Head and along the back of Goodrington Sands. It was mid morning by now, and on a sunny Saturday morning - there was quite a gathering of dog walkers. For a while - the path followed the Steam Railway line across the cliffs above Saltern and Shell Cove before dropping down to Broad Sands bay - a depressing semi circular soul-less place with an ugly concrete cafe as it's main centre piece. Here I found a gaggle of bird Watchers - all with their expensive looking binoculars trained out to sea. I did ask what they were looking at - but shamefully, I have forgotten what it was! - it wasn't a Seagull, I know that much.

The next point of interest was Elberry Cove, an unspoilt spot with a shingle beach and leaving here, I had another 2-3 miles to go before reaching Brixham. Originally, I had thought that I might carry on from Brixham and head for Dartmouth - but the forecast was for severe weather - so I had decided to wait and see how I felt.

The path headed across the low cliffs alongside a golf course before passing through Churston Cove and rounding a very sad looking chalet park . Soon, Brixham harbour was in sight and I before I knew it, I was passing alongside the newly renovated outer harbour and into Brixham itself. By now, it was decidedly cold and getting windier by the minute. I had a pint at a harbourside hostelry and made the decision to call it a day. There were regular buses back to Torquay centre - and I managed to hop on another which took me back to Anstey's Cove . Another 12 miles done.