Walking the South West Coast Path

Final South Walk: Coverack to The Lizard

2009-08-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday July 19th: Today was the final leg of my 630 mile mission to walk the whole of the SW coast Path - not in one go, but in stages throughout the year. I had started it on the weekend of August 8th, 2008, and committed myself to completing it within my 50th birthday year. Unusually, I had decided to walk it from both the start and the finish in opposite directions - finishing at The Lizard which is near enough halfway. Also raised some money for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation along the way!

For my last day of walking, I had been joined by my friends Jeff and Marie Weeks and we stayed overnight at Cadgwith, a small fishing cove nr the Lizard on the Saturday. I had explained to J & M, that apart from just finishing the walk- I was also on a mission to see Dolphins, which had been noticeably absent on the previous 618 odd miles of walking. AND having just missed seeing a Cornish Chough near Lands End, and subsequently finding out a bit more about them ( they are birds!) - I knew there was a breeding pair on the Lizard somewhere - SO - that was the second mission - "Spot the Chough" Eyes would be peeled!

The first problem was to organise transport - the Bus Services were limited particularly as it was a Sunday. In the end, it was easier all round to get a Taxi from the Lizard to Coverack, our starting point and leave Jeff's car at The Lizard.

It was a relatively short stint of 10-12 miles to be walked, but with a fair few ups and downs. Jeff and Marie weren't regular walkers, but were looking forward to getting a bit of a taste of the Coast path. (Marie had packed enough goodies for an assault on Everest - but we were glad of it later!)

Meanwhile, we had had a hearty full English at the Cadgwith Cove inn which needed to be walked off. I had last ended my walk at Coverack at the Paris Hotel near the harbour on Dolor Point, so this was where we started from. It was a lovely sunny day - but forecast for a few showers later.
After a quick bladder check we set off in tandem, with Jeff setting a cracking pace at the front.

The path climbed steeply out of Coverack and then followed the cliff around to Perprean Cove and onto the rocky outcrop of Chynalls Point. It was good walking weather, not too hot but very windy. The views were good as we headed towards Black Head, with it's disused Coastguard look-out hut and then ascended steeply into Downas Valley. Our first target destination was Kennack Sands which would be about our halfway point and a good place for a coffee stop. So far, so good - after a few miles, Jeff and Marie were still blisterless, both had dodgy joints to look after - Jeff with his knee, still recuperating after keyhole surgery last year and Marie with her Netball Ankle injury!

As we approached Kennack Sands across the gorse and heather of Eastern Cliff - the clouds gathered ominously. There are two beaches at Kennack - North and South and by the time we approached the Southern beach, the one with the cafe's it was raining quite heavily. Fortunately after a nice coffee break, the rain had passed and it was onward and upward.

We soon reached a little place called Poltesco and Carlean Cove which used to have a thriving Pilchard fishery. In the 1860's some of the fish cellars were converted into a factory for producing ornamental products form the local rock, Serpentine. At one point up to 20 people were employed and products were taken by barge to ships in the bay for distribution. The old buildings are now owned by the NT.
We were now not far from Cadgwith Cove where we had stayed the previous night. As we passed around Enys Head - we met a group of 6 wild Ponies. One of them made a bee-line for us and seemed intent on following us. Marie shot off like Usain Bolt with Jeff in pursuit. I tried to halt the beast with a pat on the nose - he was just after some of the goodies in our backpacks, but we fooled him with a pincer movement in opposite directions and he lost interest.

We soon got a good view of Cadgwith Cove from an old Coastguards Watchouse at the head of the bay. It is a very picturesque village with thatched cottages and working fishing boats on the beach.

Cadgwith Cove
We were ready for another pit stop so stopped for a quick snifter at the Cadgwith Cove Hotel and sat out in the sun watching the bizarre sight of a girl with bright pink hair, tiny tight shorts and fishnet tights who was part of a group on a cycling trip! My attempts to take a sneaky photo ( just for this blog) were thwarted. Leaving Cadgwith, tucking in to Marie's sandwiches - we passed by the unusual collapsed cave known as Devil's Frying Pan with it's bridge shaped inlet and then for the next mile or so, the path was quite open - and we had clear views of the Lighthouse complex at The Lizard.

The next point of interest was Church Cove, another former Pilchard Fishery which had been converted into spectacular private dwellings with a superb setting nestled into the cove.
Around the next point was Kilcobben Cove, the dramatic setting of the Lizard Lifeboat with steep rails carrying the lifeboatmen down to the boat in carriages.

Still no signs of Dolphins or Choughs, although there had been a few false alarms with the odd distant Raven being mistaken. Choughs,are black but have distinctive red beaks and red legs and an unusual high pitched chi-ow call.

At Bass Point, where there was a large Coastguard station, it didn't look as if we had far to go - Lizard Point being just the other end of the large Housel Bay. Overlooking the bay, was the superbly situated Housel Bay Hotel which looked inviting. As we traversed across a wide open area heading towards the lighthouse complex, Marie suddenly piped up - " look - Chough's" I glanced up, expecting to see just about anything vaguely black with feathers except a Chough, but to my astonishment, 3 black birds with red beaks and legs were flying at high speed across the low cliffs below us. I grabbed my camera, but they were gone in an instant. Well, what could I say, they had made an appearance right on cue - we were only 20 minutes away from the Lizard - now, where were those Dolphins!

The next walkers we bumped into, I excitedly told them about the Choughs, but I probably just sounded like some eccentric twitcher.

We reached the edge of the lighthouse Complex and then just a bit further on around the corner we got our first glimpse of the rather shabby looking Lizard Point. Disappointingly, there was the distinctive choking smell of raw sewage pervading the area and looking down you could see the sea tinged with brown. I found it unbelievable that they could let that happen in such a landmark area - particularly on such an occasion - ie the grand finish of my walk! I would have liked to have collected a sample in Marie's tupperware sandwich container and posted it 1st class to the Head of Cornish County Council!
We reached the Point, a collection of small buldings all claiming to be the most Southerly - gift shop, cafe and National Trust office.

The walk was over - 630 miles done and dusted - photos were taken, but I was more interested in getting my laughing gear around another Cream tea. Not even the whiff of human effluent could put us off and we sat in the sun and tucked into Scones, cream and homemade meringue.

It had been a good day's walk, the promised rain never came to anything, and it was good to finish in bright sunshine. Finishing the whole thing was always going to be a bit of an anti-climax, but it was nice to have had some company at the end. All in all, I was quite Choughed!

Final North Walk: Porthleven to The Lizard

2009-08-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday July 18th: Just less than a year after starting this walk at South Haven Point Nr Poole - I now have just about 25 miles left to finish the whole of the SW Coast Path culminating at The Lizard Point.

For my final weekend of walking, on the Saturday, I would be reaching The Lizard from Porthleven and on Sunday, I would reach it from Coverack in the other direction with friends, Jeff and Marie Weeks for the final leg.

I had caught the Friday evening train down to Penzance from Exeter and bussed it to Porthleven, staying in a small B&B called Seefar overlooking the harbour. The weather was forecast to be a bit dodgy - so I didn't hang about and was back on the path just after 8.30am

True to form, it started drizzling before I had left the village with the path leaving the harbour edge past the Clock tower and alongside the seafront cottages out and up to the low cliffs beyond.

Before long I had reached the edge of the massive length of Porthleven Sands which stretched for 2.5 miles all the way to Gunwalloe Fishing Cove. The path carried on above the beach until it reached Loe Pool and Carminowe creek - Cornwall's largest natural lake which edged up to the back of Porthleven Sands. Crossing the sands, it was then a shortish walk up onto the cliffs again to then reach Gunwalloe and then up to the imposing Halzephron Cliffs. A pair of Peregrine Falcons were searching for food, hovering quite close to the cliff edge.

The next point of interest was Church Cove, with the 15th Century Gunwalloe Church nestled into the cliffs above the cove and constantly at risk from erosion. The path passed alongside a golf course before reaching another pleasant cove at Poldhu. Despite the weather - there were several families enjoying the beach and the RNLI lifeguards were in attendance.

Further on, beyond Poldhu Point there was the Marconi Monument, marking the area where the first transatlantic telegraph signals were sent across to America.

The next cove was Polurrian, a small beach resort with cafe and hotel and then at the top of the cliffs beyond an old coastguard Hut, was the large Mullion Cove Hotel looking down onto the small fishing hamlet of Mullion Cove, with Mullion itself, further inland. This small harbour has been battered by the waves over the years, and has belonged to the National Trust since 1945. Its very unspoilt as you would expect and the small cafe looked as if it hadn't changed since the 1940's. Still raining - it was a good time for a pit stop before the last 7 miles to Lizard Point.

Mullion Cove

The coastline was much more rugged now, and would remain so for the rest of the day, it was just a shame that it was so drizzly and misty. There were a series of steep descents and ascents with sheer cliff faces and small caves. At the top of the cliffs was a herd of Long Horn Cattle literally grazing over the cliff edge. Eventually after walking around the Rill Point - the various buldings at the Lizard were clearly visible and in the foreground a series of small islands and rocks which marked the well known Kynance Cove. I could also hear the Lizard - as the Lighthouse was booming out a fog horn at regular intervals. This was my first visit to this area of Cornwall and I was conscious that I wasn't seeing it at it's best. The rocks were the local Serpentine - red and green mottled in appearance interspersed with granite. The cove, also owned by the National Trust sits in a steep valley and is a fantastic setting.

Again, very unspoilt, Kynance Cove consisted of a Cafe, self catering cottages and a toilet complex which was built into the rocks and has a natural roof with flowers. Signs in the toilet, which I graced, described how it was very much a hi-tech Bio-Bubble toilet with all waste being treated and converted into clean water. The roofs of the other buildings had special solar tiles and everything possible had been done to make the whole complex as eco-friendly as possible. I will return on a
better day!
Kynance Cove

The tide was still low, so I was able to take the path at the back of the beach and then climb steeply up to the Kynance Car Park. The views back to the cove and Asparagus Island were superb as I carried on towards the Lizard.
Lizard village itself is a mile or so inland, but the Point was my destination, the most Southerly point of England and the finishing point for my walk. As I approached, it all appeared a bit scruffy. Looking downwards, I could see the remains of an old Lifeboat station and then there was a ramshackle Gift Shop and Cafe which was doing a brisk trade. It was much better inside than out and the home cooked fare looked very tempting. The decision to have a Cream tea took a millisecond and it was superb. I was due to meet my friends Jeff and Marie here - but they were running late - so agreed to catch up with them in the village pub. With some time to kill - I carried on along the path towards the large Lighthouse complex which is also a tourist attraction and then headed inland towards the village. A bit touristy as you might expect, the village was dominated by shops offering Serpentine stone products - mostly in a dark green mottled colour - mostly pretty naff.
I headed for the pub and before long Jeff and Marie turned up, having driven from Exeter. They were keen to join me for my final walk, and it was good to have their company. I had booked a couple of rooms at the Cadgwith Cove Inn which sounded an idyllic location, just a few miles from the Lizard.

Cadgwith was very picturesque and a working fishing village with the boats hauled up the beach by tractor. The Hotel wasn't the best, but it was all about location. Amazingly, Jeff spotted someone he knew walking past the hotel, in this obscure part of Cornwall and they joined us for some drinks.
We then had a great meal - fish was obviously the specialty and it didn't disappoint. Jeff and I were tempted to have a session, but with a 12 mile walk to complete the next day we erred on the cautious side. So, one more day of walking to go - from Coverack back to the Lizard from the other direction - might be tempted to have another Cream tea!

South Walk: Gillan to Coverack

2009-08-16T02:22:00.000-07:00

Gillan beach and Creek, nr Helford

Sunday July 12th: Woke up early in the strange surroundings of the caravan at Gillan - it was a beautiful morning after a horrendous night of rain - so before I tucked into breakfast I went for a wander. The estuary was looking very beautiful in the early morning light and I was looking forward to the walk to Coverack, which was only about 11 miles.

Boots were still squelchy wet but at least I had a dry pair of socks!

The path headed out towards Nare Point where there was a large manned coastal observation point. From there, it was a pleasant walk to the small seaside village of Porthallow which has now been recognised as the Official halfway point of the SW Coast path - and an attractive waymark has been erected in it's honour. Apart from that, it didn't have alot to offer. From here, there was a confusing choice of paths according to my guide book - depending on the tide level, so I played safe and stuck to the official path which headed out of the village on the road and took the inland route before dropping down steeply to Porthoustock cove which had some lovely old cottages but was somewhat spoilt by some massive industrial buildings on the beach. This whole stretch of coast has alot of quarry workings, which has meant alot of the path being diverted inland.

From Porthoustock, the path once again headed back inland towards Rosenithon. Apparently, the SW Coastpath Association are pressing for a more coastal route to be established in this area, but the occasional change of scenery is pleasant, especially on such a nice sunny day.

From Rosenthion, it headed back down to the long stony beach at Godrevy Cove and would remain a coastal path all the way to Coverack. The beach is in fact made up from alot of quarry stone waste.

The path proceeded to go straight through the old workings of Dean Quarry which didn't look as if it had been closed all that long. There were old buildings with hard hats and bits and bobs still inside - even if all the windows were smashed. There was quite a nice beach below the quarry, which had it's own Jetty.

Once that Industrial scar was passed, the path became more scenic and natural. It was mostly open low cliff walking from Lowland Point all the way to Coverack. Shortly, I reached an Information board about Lowland Point area being an important nature reserve and there was a lovely picture of 2 seals on the beach. So with seals uppermost in my mind, I found myself gazing at an odd shaped rock just off the coast. As I got nearer, I convinced myself it was a seal - and after zooming in with my camera lens, it was confirmed! The path was actually quite away from the waters edge, so I clambered across the rocks as near to the Seal as possible. It was quite amusing, because the rock was just poking out of the sea and he was perched quite precariously on top. As the sea rose, the seal would arch his body to keep himself from floating off, making him look as if he was actually surfing!

At first he was facing away from me, but I swear that he actually repositioned himself and was keeping a beady eye on me. After taking about 50 photos, I carried on and made sure that I told a few other walkers about it, as it could be easily missed. I said to one man " There's a seal on a rock a little bit further on" "What a real one" he replied!! "Of course it's a real one" ( you stupid man) - what I should have said is, " No it's a 100ft inflatable one, it's part of a new Cornish Disney Theme Park and watch out for the 6ft Remote controlled Dolphins that are leaping all over the place"

Anyway, it was the highlight of the day for me, although I've still yet to see Dolphins on this walk - and only 30 miles to go, so running out of time.

Before long, I reached the outskirts of Coverack and it was a lovely view across the bay to the small harbour at Dolor Point. Coverack is a popular resort with a lovely beach. It heavily promotes the Organic Ice Cream of Roskilly's which is made at a farm nearby in St Keverne. Of more interest, was the oddly named Paris Hotel pub which was offering a Sunday Roast Carvery, which proved impossible to resist, and I still had plenty of time to sample the Ice Cream which didn't seem anything to write a blog about in all honesty.

I had to get a bus back to Helston and then catch another to Truro, where yet again, I was able to enjoy luxury Ist class travel back to Tiverton on my pre booked £10 ticket!

One more weekend of walking left now - just 12 miles from Coverack to the Lizard in one direction and 14 miles from Porthleven to the Lizard in the other direction. My 50th birthday walk was nearing it's end!

South Walk: Falmouth to Gillans Creek, nr Helford

2009-08-15T06:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday July 11th: Travelled down to Falmouth Docks by Train, early Saturday morning. Another bargain train ticket bought online - Tiverton Parkway to Truro - FIRST CLASS for just £7!! That was actually cheaper than Second Class! The train from Tiverton was a small shuttle train - but I had to change at Plymouth and then for the first time ever, made my way to the First class carriages to find my large comfy leather seat. In my usual backpacking scruffy attire, I reclined in luxury - the rest of the carriage AND the next carriage completely empty except for little ol' me. Not only that - but I got a complimentary cup of coffee and ginger biscuit thrown in as well. You might have noticed alot of photographs accompanying this Blog for each of my walks. Well, I have to admit to having inadvertently deleted all the photos for this particular days walk - doohhhhh!! Anyway - it was a foul day - got completely soaked and didn't actually take many pictures fortunately.

The plan was to get to Coverack over the weekend, leaving me with just one days walk to my final destination, the Lizard. Helford was my original destination on the Saturday, across the Helford River by ferry from Helford Passage. In fact, I struggled to get accommodation and ended up finding someone who had a 4 berth Caravan available for B&B at a place called Gillan - by a small creek - a few miles further on from Helford.

By the time I reached Falmouth Docks by luxury train, it was starting to rain. The path went past the docks and arround Pendennis Point and along Falmouth promenade towards Swanpool Beach.

It was now raining pretty persistently - so I got my head down and upped the pace. The walking was fairly straightforward mostly along low cliffs, reaching firstly Maenporth and then onto Rosemullion Head. As I approached Helford Passage, I met a serious looking walker coming in the opposite direction. I stopped and had a quick chat - he was doing the SW Coast path, but had also walked all the way from Scotland! I wanted to question him further - but he didn't seem too inclined to stand in the pouring rain and chat, - he was camping along the way - so no surprise if he was in a bad mood.

I eventually reached the Ferry Point - for the short trip across to Helford. The Helford River is one of Cornwall's favourite tourist destinations and is a big sailing area. I wasn't seeing it at it's prime as the weather was so foul. I had passed quite alot of well known gardens along the way as well, such as Trebah and Glendurgan, owned by the NT.

At Helford, I stopped at the old Shipwright's Inn to find it closed! - so I used there undercover outdoor tables to eat my sarnies. There were a German family of 4 travelling on Tandems also sheltering from the rain.

A little further on, I passed a lovely Tea House within an old chapel, so stopped again for a cuppa and to dry out a bit. The path followed the estuary edge towards St Anthony in Meneage at the head of the Helford estuary. Gillan, my destination was just across a small creek around the head. At low tide, you could walk across, but the official SW path went down the creek to Flushing, which was a nice walk despite the weather. I saw a Curlew and various Egrets. From Flushing, the path was a bit cross country and rather vaguely signposted. When I reached Gillan, I was pretty tired and didn't have a clue where this caravan was. However, it's a very small place and as it happens, the first person I saw turned out to be the husband of the lady who I had booked through, and the caravan was in their garden.

It was still sheeting it down and I could see no way that I would get anything dry overnight.

The Caravan was very comfortable and in a secluded area of the garden. The deal was that she supplied an evening meal as well - the nearest pub was Helford. We stood in the pouring rain at the door outside the caravan as she explained that she would bring over a lasagne to the caravan at 7:00pm. That was fine by me - one of my favourites. Soaking wet boots were left under the caravan as I gingerly stepped inside trying not to make a mess. All the stuff for breakfast was laid out - bread rolls, jam etc - plus a nice bit of cake - and the best of all - a large can of lager in the fridge!

Tried to have a shower - but anyone who has caravanned will know what a palaver that is.

The Lasagne arrived - suitably waterproofed - and boy, did that go down well!

The weather proceeded to go from bad to worse as a big storm passed over - but I crashed out fairly early. The next day, I would head for Coverack and the forecast was for a bit of sun - marvellous.

North Walk: Marazion to Porthleven

2009-08-15T03:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 28th: It was a grey old day with rain forecast later on in the day, which was unexpected - so seeing as I hadn't brought any wet weather gear, I didn't hang about, and left Glenleigh Hotel so quickly that I managed to leave my walking pole in their porch! I would pick it up later on my way back to Penzance on the bus. The path headed out of Marazion on the main road with good views back to St Michaels Mount, before turning off back towards the coast towards Venton Farm and Trenow Cove. This stretch of the path was pretty uninspiring as I headed towards Perran Sands near the old village of Perranuthnoe. Further on the path returns to the clifftop towards Cudden Point and then round to a couple of small coves - one called Prussia Cove and also Bessy's Cove apparently named after Bessy Bussow who ran an infamous alehouse on the cliffs. I headed up a trek and found myself in the courtyard of an impressive old house with a fantastic position overlooking the sea. I was now not far from Praa Sands, a popular holiday spot with a long sandy beach and large campsite. It was a good time to stop for a quick caffeine input and then I walked the length of the beach and rejoined the path to head up back to the cliffs. The clouds had gathered, and the rain soon started - so I got my head down and ploughed on. There were some old mine workings at Trewavas Head and a dramatic cove with sheer cliffs near Tremearne, but apart from that, it was a straightforward and unremarkable walk to then reach Porthleven. I reached it in good time. My pre-booked train from Penzance wasn't until early evening, so I had plenty of time to kill.

Porthleven was a pleasant fishing village with a large harbour. It has a history of boat building including large Clippers and is also well known for some dramatic storm photographs from 1989 when waves were seen crashing over the top of the town Clock Tower. I had a wander round, and then retreated to the bus shelter as the rain came down again. Some entertainment came in the form of a group of youngsters who were hanging about the bus shelter, swearing and smoking - they looked about 12-13yrs old. One of them had a lighter and was fiddling about with it before somehow managing to spray himself with the lighter fluid and setting fire to himself! That was something to swear about - and it shook him up a bit as he flapped about trying to prevent himself becoming a walking inferno. I was ready to spring into action and fan the flames, but he put himself out without injury, apart from his pride of course, as his mates thought it was hilarious.

Porthleven Harbour

Eventually got the bus back to Marazion, picked up my pole, had some lunch and then got another bus back to Penzance.

With time still to kill - I wandered back to penzance harbour where they were still celebrating the Macey Day festival with an outdoor street market and a musical group from South America with wooden pipes and bongo drums and wailing type of vocals, very ethnic. Uneventful journey back to Devon. I was now just one day's walk away from my final destination, The Lizard, on the Minehead ie North direction of the walk!

North Walk - Lands End to Marazion

2009-08-09T03:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 27th: I travelled down to Penzance on the Friday night from Exeter. I had discovered some really good train ticket deals on this route - £6 each way from Exeter to Penzance - a bargain. Stayed at the Swordfish Inn at Newlyn on Friday night, where there was live music and the pub was pretty packed, but good clean room for the price. Popped into the Chippie next door where there was a massive chap in a Spurs Shirt. "Didn't expect to find a Yiddo in this far corner of Cornwall" I said rather bravely! He could have thought I was a Gooner and shoved a Cod and chips up my bottom, but fortunately we ended up having a good long chat about 'arry and who might come and go pre-season.

The plan on the Saturday was to catch the early bus to Lands End. I thought I might have to leave without the obligatory bacon and Egg breakfast fest, due to the early bus time - but they had a system where you left a breakfast menu card outside your room indicating what you wanted to eat, and when I explained my predicament to the Landlord - he said, just put a note saying what time you want your brekkie - and no problem. That worked - So I was able to catch the excellent no 300 open top bus which circulates in each direction from Lands End - every day during the Season and was at Land End for 9:15am.

As I left the bus - I spotted another walker who was obviously on a mission - and he disppeared in the direction of Penzance from the car park whilst I headed for the Lands End point where I had ended my walk previously. I thought I would catch up with him later

It was a beautiful day which I was glad of, as this stretch of the coast path was going to be one of the most spectacular of the whole path. I had walked part of it before from Minack a few years previously.

There was a group of Cyclists getting prepared for what was no doubt a trip to John O'Groats, but my destination was Penzance, although I was staying at Marazion that night, so legs willing - I might do the extra few miles.

I could see alot of evidence of path erosion at Lands End - due to the popularity and mass tourism, but they had roped off alot of the old paths to allow them to recover. The seascape around Lands End is quite spectacular, if you can ignore the theme park touristy environment around you. There are a series of rocks and small islets and the sea is always in a turmoil. I left the Hotel complex and headed off from Dr Johnson's Head towards Nanjizal bay. The sea was a gorgeous colour and the views just got better and better as I headed in a southerly direction towards Gwennap Head from where I would get my first glimpse of my very final destination - the Lizard! - I would have turned the corner so to speak. For a few miles - I could look back and still see the lands End complex, but after Gwennap Head, it was finally out of view.

At Gwennap - there was a large Coastwatch Station - and I gave the coastguard a friendly wave. It must be a lonely job manning these stations - and many of them are just volunteers, but they do a vital job, not only looking out for ships in trouble - but also logging the likes of myself who might inadvertently go for a nosedive! The rock formations all along this part of the coast were very interesting, with lots of cave formations and strange shaped rocks.
A little further on, I reached a small cove called Porthgwarra where there was a welcome shop. From there the path went up to a high level cliff before dropping down into the beautiful sandy Porthchapel beach. The sea looked quite inviting and it made me think that during all the miles I had walked, I had yet to stop and have a swim! I would be reminded of that later on in the day. From here it was a short hop to the famous Minack Theatre situated at a high vantage point just before Portcurno Beach. The path went right through the Car Park to this popular tourist destination. I had visited Minack before and it has an interesting history for what must be the most spectacular theatre destinations in the country. Built into the rocks within what was a natural amphitheatre, the Theatre was the brainchild of Miss Rowena Cade in the 1930's who helped build it initially for performances to friends and family. The backdrop to the stage is the sea and rocks with Logan Rock looming in the distance. If the weather is kind - it must make for a fantastic evening's entertainment - and there are professional performances all throughout the summer.

Porthcurno Beach

From Minack - it was a very steep climb down to Porthcurno beach where the sea looked Mediterranean in colour. It is one of Cornwall's most beautiful coves and from here it was another 12 miles to Penzance . The path climbed steadily up to the cliff path. I made the diversion out to Logans Rock point from where you got a great view of the Minack Theatre across the bay.

It was at about this point, that I kept meeting running athletes head on. There was obviously some sort of race on, and on the narrow rocky path, it was sometimes difficult to dive out of the way. From then on, they just kept coming all day, men, women - all ages and when I eventually enquired what the race was - a sweaty lady told me that they were running from the Lizard to Lands End!! - just the 45 miles - they had started at 6:00am, the slackers. It is an endurance race that has been staged for the last 3 years apparently - and has raised quite alot of money for charity. I decided that there was no way that I could moan or complain about sore feet at the end of the day - in comparison to that lot of nutters.

A little further on, I reached the small fishing cove of Penberth, where there were several day ramblers having a rest. I headed on and a couple of miles further on, I was stopped by someone who very kindly pointed out that there were some basking sharks clearly visible off Boscawen point. When I reached it - I could see a small boat not far out to see full of people looking at something - but as I made my way closer to the cliff edge, I could clearly see the fins of several sharks swimming quite close to the shore. The cliffs here were tall and steep, so I had a great vantage point looking down on them and with my zoom lens - I could see them with their mouths agape filtering the plankton. they didn't seem as large as I thought - but it was difficult to tell from distance. So that was a first for me, but still no signs of dolphins on this walk! After taking about 50 photos most of which would be no good - I carried on. Someone else told me that there were some basking sharks more close to shore at Lamorna Cove. A little later, as I once again nearly fell into the undergrowth avoiding more runners, I met Sue Robinson. Enjoying the beautiful scenery, Sue, a beauty therapist, had travelled up from Dorset early that morning for a day out and was going to drive to Sennen Cove later on. We walked together for a bit and shared a Cream tea at Lamorna Cove before I headed off for the last stint of the day. Lamorna had a harbour and was previously a busy area for quarrying as you could see from the scarred cliffs. However, there was no sign of any more sharks.

By now - time was going on, so I needed to get a move on. There were still plenty of endurance athletes struggling on. In fact I met one guy laid out by the side of the path under a bush struggling with cramp. I gave him a hand - but he admitted he didn't feel well! Having run 30 miles along a coast path on a hot day, it was hardly surprising. Unfortunately - he had the hardest part of the run still to go.
I was now not far from the tourist hotspot of Mousehole. Suddenly, I rounded a corner and there was the guy who had left the bus at Lands End ahead of me. I stopped and had a chat with him, a retired Geordie, he had been stopping and having a swim at various beaches, which is "what I do" he exclaimed. He was camping at Praa Sands, which was quite a few miles East of Penzance. Obviously quite a fit guy for his age - he admitted that he was ready to stop. I carried on - but then he caught up with me just outside Mousehole and we walked together for a while. By this time, my ankle was giving me quite a bit of jip - so my pace was pretty slow. Geordie boy stopped at Mousehole - he was going to buy a Guardian and have a sit down for awhile! I reckon he would catch the bus from there. Mousehole is a lovely old fishing harbour, mostly a tourist spot now with an interesting history.
Prononuced Mow-zell, it is named after a cave on St Clements isle at the mouth of the harbour where apparently, a hermit once lived. Long ago, Mousehole achieved fame when it was the landing place of the Knights of St John returning back from the Holy Land. From Mousehole - the path followed the road to Newlyn along a new cycle track at the back of the rocky beach.

St Michaels Mount across the other side of the Bay dominated the skyline - and I could see how far I was going to have to walk to Marazion around the edge of Penzance. Newlyn has Cornwall's largest fishing fleets and the massive harbour dominates the place. Apart from a few small shops and the pubs, there is little else to see. I popped back in to the Swordfish for a quick pint as I was passing. From Newlyn, it was a promenade walk all the way to Penzance.

On the train journey up from Exeter, I had listened to some girl students talking about the Mazey Day festival going on in Penzance that weekend. It is the equivalent of Carnival weekend - with colourful parades, street markets and general festivity. As I approached from Newlyn along the road - I could see lots of colourful flags and banners and by this time it was early evening, so people were streeming away from the centre as I came plodding through, having missed the party! There was a large fairground set up and one of the pubs had live music set up outside - so it was all pretty lively.
If I had wanted to catch a bus to Marazion, I would have been out of luck, so although I was struggling a bit - the path to Marazion was level all the way along St Michaels Way - a new waterfront cycle path. The track followed across the back of the long beach which stretched for 2 miles between the outskirts of Penzance and Marazion. St Michaels Mount got larger and larger as I hobbled along. Marazion is thought to be one of Cornwall's oldest settlements with a history of trading in tin - which was smelted on the offshore island of St Michaels Mount. A priory of Benedictine Monks was established on the island in the 11th Century but it eventually became a private residence and is now owned by the National Trust and of course is a big draw for visitors.

You can walk across to the Island along a causeway at low tide. I had visited previously, so gave it a miss this time. I was staying at Glenleigh, where I had been before. It was nearly 8:30pm by the time I arrived. Along the way, I had put my knee bandage on, and the lovely old lady who owned Glendale went into overdrive when she saw me - thinking that I had had some sort of accident - "Oh you poor dear" etc etc. Quick shower and then I made it over to The Fire Engine pub in time. Food was pretty bland and certainly not freshly prepared, but welcome all the same. 22 Miles walked today - one of my longest stints - and one of the most memorable.

South Walk: Portloe to Falmouth

2009-07-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday 7th June: Left Portloe with dry boots, straight out of the B&B boiler Room. It was a dry morning but dullish. Destination was Falmouth across both the Percuil River and the Fal Estuary which would involve 2 Ferries at the end of the day.

The first landmark was Nare Head. It was a pleasant walk which included passing a large property known as Broom Parc where the drama "The Camomile Lawn" was filmed. If I remember correctly, it involved scantily clad if not naked ladies cavorting about on their lawn! It was certainly a superb location for such antics and is now an up market B&B owned by the National Trust. As I approached Nare Head, the heavens opened and I got a good soaking, but it soon cleared. However, the views from the Head weren't as good as they could have been. The path descended towards Gerrans Bay and the long stretch of sand of Carne beach. This was dominated by the well positioned Nare Head Hotel - which I had been to before for an over priced Cappuccino, so didn't bother on this occasion. The path passed behind the hotel and on to Pendower Beach where there was also a Hotel. My first coffee stop would be the village of Portscatho which was 3-4 miles further on.

On the way - I met Bruce, who you might guess was Australian! Obviously on a long hike - it turned out he was walking pretty much the whole path in one go on his own. He'd planned it all from Oz - having had a taster of the path on a previous visit and pre booked all the B&B's en route. He was thoroughly enjoying the experience, having thought that he might get bored walking day after day, in fact it was far from the case.

I soon reached Portscatho. This former fishing village is now a small resort. It didn't look all that special on this drizzly Sunday, but the local pub was drumming up business with a special Sunday BBQ in the road which on another occasion, I might have taken advantage of! However - I restricted my intake to a quick pint and cracked on towards the well known landmark, St Anthony's Head at the mouth of the massive inlet known as Carricks Road with Pendennis Point and Falmouth across the other side. The walk was fairly flat across low cliffs as the head loomed ever nearer. I didn't hang about, as I was keen to catch the Ferries reasonably early in order to get back to Truro for my pre-booked train and wasn't sure how much hanging about I would have to do to catch the ferries.

The main vantage point at St Anthony's Head is dominated by the large battery and surrounding old military buildings. The views were far reaching - and the satellite dishes at Goonhilly near my final destination, the Lizard were just about visible. Falmouth loomed across the water.

The path dropped down through some woods to the Lighthouse and then from there it was a lovely walk around the head towards Amsterdam Point and around into a small inlet at a place called Place!

It descended through some more woods until you reached a delightful old Church - St Anthony's of Roseland - and then followed a lane down towards a boat landing point where you suddenly reach the magnificent Place House - an enormous old Manor House with wide lawns which swept down towards the estuary. Formerly a Hotel, it is once again in private ownership.

This was the first Ferry point from where you would be taken to St Mawes. There were two pick up points depending on the tide. A couple of people were messing about on a boat - so as no-one else was there waiting for a ferry - I asked them where it was picking up from. " You need to walk further on" they said "because of the tide" - so I did as I was told and 10 minutes later I watched the Ferry pick up and leave from the boat landing where I had just been! Fortunately the Ferryman saw my predicament and shouted out that he would be back in 10 mins - so I wandered back, and before long there were several of us waiting. It had turned out to be a nice day - and plenty of people were taking advantage of the beautiful location.

It was a quick ride to St Mawes and I literally stepped off one Ferry and straight on to another much larger craft for the longer trip across to Falmouth. It really is a massive estuary. St Mawes looked a pleasant place and had a spectacular Castle dominating the estuary edge.

I was in good time as I reached Falmouth. This was my first visit to one of Cornwall's largest towns and the Docks had obviously had alot of development dominated by the large National Maritime Museum surrounded by a shopping and leisure area. I carried on round the path which would skirt the edge of the Docks, however I quickly reached the Train station at Falmouth Docks - which was the end of the line for the train from Truro. I had an hour to kill before my connection - so wandered on up the hill towards Pendennis Point from where you got a birds eye view of the massive dry docks.

Another few miles under the belt - I would return here in a few weeks to head for Helford.

South Walk: Mevagissey to Portloe

2009-07-05T01:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 6th: Back down to South Cornwall this weekend - caught the early train to St Austell and hopped on a bus to Mevagissey arriving about 9:30 and just when the rain started! Took the opportunity for some Bacon and Egg and a caffeine injection before hitting the path. Last time I was here - it was a sunny Sunday afternoon and Mike Ricketts and I arrived from Charlestown, and the harbour was packed. On a wet Saturday morning, it was mostly local fisherman who were going about their business.

The path left Mevagissey on the road before heading out towards Chapel Point at the southern end of Mevagissey Bay.

Along the way, on the cliffs I spotted a carcass of what must have been a whale washed up on the rocks. Seagulls were tucking into the masses of blubber which were left - I guess it must have been there awhile.

By now, the rain had stopped - but it was a grey old day - and the coast was pretty unspectacular compared to other parts of Cornwall.

The next destination was Gorran Haven, a small picturesque old fishing village with a nice sandy beach, popular with tourists - but it was deserted today. There was a small church in the narrow streets which proved to be a useful place to change back into wet weather gear as the heavens opened again.

I headed out of Gorran towards Dodman Point - one of the highest landmarks along this stretch of coast - it had a massive stone cross at the top - and for the first time, through the gloom I could just make out The Lizard - my very final destination on this whole escapade.

The path descended steeply down to Hemmick beach - a very secluded spot with just one lovely stone cottage right behind the cove - the perfect idyllic hideaway. Further on, I could see a Castle in the distance. I remembered this from a previous trip to Cornwall - it was Caerhays Castle at Porthluney Cove - and even in the wet looked impressive, especially with a herd of Longhorn Cattle in the grounds!

A couple of miles further on were the old fishing villages of East and West Portholland - 2 coves joined at low tide by a large expanse of sand .

The 2 hamlets are very unspoilt with just a Post Office between them - and most of the residences belong to the Caerhays Castle estate who have maintained the area as a working farm community.

By this time - it was early afternoon - and I was soaking wet. I hadn't booked a B&B as I was unsure whether I would carry on to Portscatho or call it a day at Portloe. Apart from a few expensive hotels - there wasn't much accommodation imbetween.

So when I squelched into Portloe, a few miles further on - I had had enough for the day and started to look around for accommodation. The local pub - The Ship Inn looked inviting - so I woke up the landlord and squelched up to view the room in my soaking wet socks. He was a bit pricey - but kindly recommended another place up the road - there were only 2 B&B's in the place apparently. He had a fantastic massive Ebony elephant in the pub, from Sri Lanka - about 2ft tall - I considered trying to buy it off him!

Successfuly booked into Carradale B&B - nice people - and then wandered back to Portloe harbour - it was a very scenic small harbour dominated by the well known and VERY pricey Lugger Hotel. I felt too underdressed to bother going in for a cup of tea - and anyway - the sun had come out by this time - and there were loads of good photo opportunities.

Apparently, Portloe was where they filmed the rather odd TV programme with Dawn French called Wild West - she was an eccentric inbred shopkeeper if I recall.

The evening was spent at The Ship inn - which was very busy - had to wait quite awhile for a table -but the food was OK. When I got back to the B&B - the owner had put my soaking wet boots in the boiler room to dry out - I crashed out and after a snifter too many - also needed drying out!

South Walk: Pendeen to Lands End

2009-06-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 24th : Breakfast at The Glenleigh Hotel in Marazion provided some amusement. This rather genteel family hotel is rather "old school" so to speak. The, shall we say, mature waitress whose probably been there since 1950 was a little on the deaf side - and unfortunately, so was one of the guests, so one conversation went...
Waitress: " Would you like brown or white toast?"
Deaf Guest: "Tea please"

I made a quick exit - the plan originally had been to try and catch the bus back up to Pendeen, but I would have had to curtail breakfast, so I drove back up there and re-joined the path at Pendeen Watch. It was about 9:30am - and I kept an eye out for Ann and Tara who I had met the day previous, and who were going to walk to Porthcurno from Pendeen. It was a lovely day again, and the sea looked superb. My ankle was really bothering me - so progress was a bit slow and painful.

Almost immediately, I was faced with the siight of a large old mine - Levant, which has been restored. Further inland, is the well known Geevor Tin Mine, which is now a Museum and popular tourist spot. I had visited it previously, and it was a fascinating insight into the Cornish Mining industry. Apparently, the Levant mine had tunnels which went out under the sea for over a mile - and workers could hear the sea crashing above them.

Once past all the mine workings - the next point of interest was Cape Cornwall which soon came into view and was approached through a lovely valley. This landmark is the second most westerly point in England and is a great vantage point. The coast path takes you straight past it - but it is worth the diversion to climb up to the top of the headland where there is an old chimney taken from an old Cornish Mine. Unfortunately it was covered in scaffolding, due to structural problems. At the foot of the headland were some interesting buildings including a Chapel, but at the top, there were fantastic views in both directions and the lighthouse at Lands End was clearly visible

From Cape Cornwall - the views were dominated by Lands End ahead and the various rocky islands off the coast. Most prominent was the Brisons Rocks which have put paid to many a ship in the past. Apparently - the locals refer to the rocks as "Charles de Gaulle lying in the bath" due to nose and stomach shaped rocks. Another series of rocks which were also prominent were Longships with it's tall thin lighthouse sticking up proudly - and it did occur to me, that perhaps the younger generation of locals might be tempted to rename them as "Sylvio Berlusconi in the Bath" !

Soon I was approaching the glorious sands of Whitesand Bay and Sennen. The sea was a beautiful sight rolling into this bay with various breaking points. It was on this stretch of the path that I was accosted by a gentleman who suddenly said " You just missed a Chough singing at you" Well as it happened, I had just heard an unusual bird song - and apparently it had been a Chough. The Chough is known as the Cornwall Chough - but in fact has been mostly absent from Cornwall for many years.

There is an ongoing project to re-introduce it, and there are now two breeding pairs in Cornwall. Black with some iridescent plumage and bright red beak and legs - it should be quite distinctive - so my eyes are now peeled. There is a breeding pair at the Lizard - so hopefully they will sing for me on my arrival!
Sennen Cove at the far end of Whitesand Bay was packed with day trippers enjoying the beach and sea. It's a dangerous place to swim - so lifeguards were out in force - but it's a popular place, rightly so. Briefly, Lands End has disappeared from view as there is the headland of the Irish Lady with it's coatguard lookout imbetween. I ignored the temptaion of the numerous Sennen Cove tea houses and climbed out of Sennen towards the headland and then towards Lands End itself.

Of course, Lands End itself has been touristified for the mass moron market - and Northeners in their thousands descend en masse to stuff a pasty down their throats and have their picture taken at the "First and Last" Gift Shop and visit the Dr Who Adventure centre . Not many will bother to walk very far in either direction - but it is the seascape which is most impressive and the noticeable difference in the sea around the area which seemed to be in constant turmoil.

Lands End was my final destination for the day. It had been a lovely days walk - one which I had done before - but still spectacular.
I was heading for Thurlestone that evening to spend the Bank Holiday Monday with the parents. During the Summer - there is an excellent Bus Service which goes in both directions from Lands End on a circular loop throughout the day - the No 300 - open top as well if you can brave it. You just have to make sure that you get on the right one! Mine was 30 minutes late!

North Walk: St Ives to Pendeen Watch

2009-05-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

Porthmear beach, The Tate and St Ives Head

Saturday May 23rd: Only just got the car parked in St Ives - with the added bonus that the ticket machine wasn't working! - left a note in the windscreen just in case. It was going to be a nice day - but started off a bit dull. Made my way back to the harbour and then found the small path around the museum which went out to St Ives Head. St Ives is quite disorientating with it's narrow alleys and back streets - and you often can't see exactly where you are, with no clear view out to the head. At the head, also known as The Island, there is a large grassy area and St Nicholas Chapel sits at the top. The path drops down onto the small beach area of Porthgwidden which had a bulldozer piling all the sand up at the back of the beach for some reason. Next was St Ives main beach , Porthmear with the Tate Gallery just behind. At the end of the beach, the path finally left St Ives for good and slowly climbed up to the cliffs.

The destination for the day was Pendeen Watch - some 13 miles or so under normal circumstances, but there were two large diversions inland due to sections of the path having been washed away. You might recall that 3 people lost their lives recently when their car was caught in a torrent of water after horrendous storms. That tragedy occurred along this stretch of coast and seven footbridges were washed away as a result of the abnormal rainfall, leaving the path inaccessible.

I have walked part of this section before - and it is spectacular, so it was disappointing to have to miss part of it, the only benefit being that the diversion now went right past a rather good pub!

As I left St Ives - I could see several walkers ahead of me - all on a long days walking by the look of them. I seemed to be aching all over and crawled along - it was going to be a long day!

For a while, I followed a couple of ladies and then eventually caught up with them - A mother and daughter, they were on a 3 day walking holiday from St Ives to Penzance and were also headed for Pendeen Watch. We watched a Kestrel quite close to the path who was obviously well used to the stream of walkers passing by. I headed off and said " see you later" as I was sure we would bump into each other again.

It was now bright and sunny, and the sea and sandy coves looked beautiful. It wasn't long before I reached the first path diversion, just before Carn Naun Point and the path headed inland skirting around farmland and then back past Treveal before re-joining the coast path the other side of the point. The Carracks rocky islands were in full view and are sometimes home to Seals. Ahead was Zennor Head after which the path would again be diverted. I very nearly took the wrong path, but there were plenty of other walkers coming in the opposite direction and on a different path to me - so I soon realised my mistake. From the Head - you could glimpse the lighthouse at Pendeen Watch in the distance - it looked a long way!

The path naturally headed inland and then the second diversion took it even further inland into the village of Zennor. The Tinners Arms at Zennor was an ideal lunchtime stop. I was joined by Ann and her daughter, Tara, who I had bumped into earlier and we ended up walking together for the rest of the day. From Cambridge, they were good company and quite obviously keen walkers. On an earlier walking holiday in Cornwall, they had walked from Westward Ho to Padstow which is about 80 miles and only the previous weekend had done a 26 mile sponsored walk!

We left the pub together and headed up the road on the inland diversion. It was reasonably well signposted and mostly though farmers fields. We reached the Gurnard Head Hotel where there was the option to walk down to Gurnard's Head itself, but as the coast path was closed either side of it, we decided to carry on and eventually rejoined the path at Porthmear Cove. The diversion hadn't been as long as we had thought but we had missed a fine part of the coast path.

Glad to be back at the coast we pressed on with Pendeen Watch lighthouse in our sights. We stopped to admire the views at the high vantage point near Bosigran cliffs where the sheer vertical drops to the sea attract alot of rock climbers apparently. We bumped into a Dutch couple of fairly advanced years who were on a weeks walking holiday and heading for Penzance. After a very British conversation about the weather - we left them to their own pace - they were staying at the same B&B as Ann and Tara - so they could compare notes later!

The next few miles were quite difficult walking - very rocky path and interspersed with the odd boggy area. The path was at high level so there were good views in both directions and just before Pendeen we came to Portheras Cove which looked very inviting for a quick dip. It was the first decent bit of sand that we had seen all day since leaving St Ives. Eventually we found ourselves at the car park behind the entrance to the lighthouse. It was built in 1900, as a result of so many ships and lives having been lost on this rugged stretch of coast. The days walk was over - we headed inland to the village of Pendeen itself. Ann and Tara went off to find their B&B and I headed for the bus stop. We would hopefully meet up on the path the next day.
I now had to find myself some accommodation and get back to St Ives for my car. Phoned a couple of places nearby but no luck. Once back at the car and after examining the bus timetables, I came up with a cunning plan to stay the night at Penzance, and then get the early bus back to Pendeen in the morning. The only trouble was - Penzance was FULL. Hoteliers were literally putting up NO VACANCIES signs as I drove past and I found myself crawling along the back streets with several other cars - all of us looking for VACANCIES signs. In the end, I phoned a couple of places in Marazion which is further down the coast near St Michaels Mount. They both said "try the Glenleigh" which turned out to be a lovely old place in the main street which used to be maternity home. It was about 8:15pm by the time I arrived - so I was tired and hungry, but fortunately there was a good pub just across the road within limping distance!

North Walk: Hayle to St Ives

2009-05-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

Friday 22nd May: It's May Bank Holiday and I managed to escape from work early to travel down to the St Ives area. On my last visit on the North walk - I ended a weeks walking in a rush to catch a bus at Hayle and managed to miss the proper path into Hayle. I wanted to reach Lands End this weekend, so the plan was to get from Hayle to St Ives tonight - reach Pendeen Watch by the end of Saturday, and then Lands End on Sunday.

Unfortunately, I hadn't got round to finding anywhere to stay, which was a bit daft, being that it was Bank Holiday - but I knew I would find places. A quick phonecall to St Ives TI on the way down was met with some negativity - " St Ives is filling up - it's Bank Holiday" - that's why I'm ringing you, I replied!
Anyway - I found a place in Carbis Bay which is between Hayle and St Ives and on the bus route if needed. By the time I got there it was 5.30pm so I explained that I was going to dash out, get the bus to Hayle and then walk to St Ives. As I was getting ready - her husband knocked on the door and very kindly offered to give me a lift, so that was a good start to the weekend. He was all excited, as he had just bought his neighbours motorboat and was taking it on it's maiden voyage that weekend!
St Ives Bay looking back to Godrevy

Dropped off in Hayle, I had to find my way back to the point in the dunes behind St Ives Bay where I had strayed off the path. The beach here just seems to go on forever and looked particularly beautiful in the late afternoon sun. As you reach the mouth of the estuary, you pass a whole lot of superbly positioned chalets - some of which looked like permanent homes. there is no feery across the estuary here - so you have to walk all the way into Hayle and around the estuary to the small village of Lelant. Hayle was once the site of the largest engineering works in the SouthWest - Harvey's, but it eventually suffered from the decline in mining.
Alot of the walk to Lelant was on the main road and I then had to get across the Golf course to pick up the path along the railway - one of the most scenic rail routes in England. I took a bit of wrong path and ended up popping up right behind a green just as a trio of golfers were chipping onto it. They weren't that impressed - but I eventually was able to ask them the quickest route back to the path.
Carbis Bay was reached and the path passed behind it and then rose up again to the railway and a small footbridge before heading down towards Porthminster. By this time, it was well into Friday night and the various bars and cafe's were full of early bank holiday visitors and after work drinkers. St Ives was just beyond Portminster, I have visited St Ives before - it is another of Cornwall's gems. I wandered further along through the harbour and out to St Ives head. I wanted to end the evening's walk at the far end of St Ives and also find a suitable car park to leave my car the following day.
I found a packed car park at Porthmear beach, but the attendant kindly recommended another one near the Tate - parking is at a premium in St Ives - I would have to be early!

I was ready to get back to the B&B - couldn't find the bus stop - so ended up walking - quite knackered by the time I got back at about 10.00pm - and somehow I had managed to pass all the St Ives watering holes without visiting any of them!

South Walk: Charlestown to Mevagissey

2009-05-31T06:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 10th: Woke up to a beautiful morning in Charlestown - Michael had slept particularly well having invested in a pair of Ear Plugs as protection against my snoring! Outrageous!

Having arrived to a cloudy and grey Charlestown the previous afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the morning sun to get some photos of the tall ships in the harbour before breakfast. One of the ships had left the harbour and was moored in the Bay and it all made for some scenic pics.

Breakfast was top notch - having joked with the owner the day before, about the cafe which only served ONE scone for their Cream tea - she proceeded to offer us TWO fried Eggs with our Full English breakfast!
We got off smartish - it wasn't going to be a long walk to Mevagissey - but the guide book stressed how strenuous it was!
Firstly we had to go inland due to to cliff falls near Charlestown and then doubled back to the coast path through a new housing estate. It was suprising how much property there was around Charlestown, but the village itself is unspoilt. We walked through an area known as Duporth before reaching the deserted beach of Porthpean. The next landmark was going to be Blacks Head and ahead of us was a succession of ascents and descents through Silvermine Point and the woods at Ropehaven. The views were good in places, but the path was quite overgrown and there was no shortage of stinging nettles! By this point Mike was suffering quite badly from his Hay Fever, and proceeded to sniffle and sneeze all day long like a Mexican Pig farmer. I was sure that smearing some of my Tiger Balm around his nostrils would do the trick, but he was having none of it.

As we approached Blacks Head, I was astonished to see a Deer right on the path ahead of me. Of course, before I could say anything, Mike snuffled along and scared it off into the thick cliff undergrowth. Not sure that he saw it - or even believed that I had seen it!

The next strange animal that we met was Sid the Bear! Sid, complete with plastic raincoat was walking the whole of the SW Coast path in one go with Nifty Nev and raising money for a childrens charity in Birmingham. Nev, who must be knocking on 65-70 proved to be a veteran runner and long distance cyclist who had completed all sorts of marathon trips - but by Doctors orders was now walking with his companion bear, Sid. Following along by road was his wife in their Camper Van - he was quite a character.

We walked out to the headland at Black Head where there were impressive views in both directions. We could just make out Mevagissey in the distance and the long beach at Pentewan was just a mile or two away. Before that was some pleasant walking with plenty more ups and downs. We passed around the point at Drennick before passing through the small cove near Hallane and then onto the village of Pentewan which had the remains of an old working harbour, but was primarily known for it's long and beautiful sandy beach with adjacent holiday chalets. We stopped for a quick pitstop at The Ship Inn. Guess what, Mike got his sandwiches out again - until he spotted a sign stating the bl*****g obvious. The carvery looked tempting, and a Jazz band was setting up in the Beer Garden, but we weren't hanging about and the path left Pentewan on the road out of the village before joining the cliff path and a steep climb up to Penare Point. Before that we had a quick diversion to the remains of Portgiskey, a small cove adjoining Pentewan which once had a fishing community with cellars and a quay all now in ruins.

It wasn't far now to Mevagissey which was bustling with day trippers. Like Polperro, Mevagissey is one of Cornwall's Tourist hotspots but is also still very much a working port and one of Cornwall's main fishing centres. We had a wander around the backstreets, managed to find a pub showing a footie match albeit using some dodgy Esatern European satellite station, and then caught the bus back to St Austell and onto Charlestown. There was an amusing cameo on the bus journey. A couple who had been bickering at the bus stop in Mevagissey asked the driver if he went to Pentewan. "Yes, I do" he says. We all get on and off he goes. As we passed Pentewan and they remained glued to their seats, it did occur to me that perhaps I should query whether they had wanted to get off - but then I thought I would mind my own business. A couple of miles down the road, the amply proportioned and rather fierce looking lady suddenly explodes out of her seat and descends on the hapless driver with hubby trailing sheepishly in her wake. " YOU SAID YOU STOPPED AT PENTEWAN" she bawled. "Well, I do if someone rings the Bell!" was the reply. " I DON'T LIKE BEING LIED TO" shouted Mrs Angry " IF YOU SAY YOU STOP AT PENTEWAN, THEN YOU STOP AT PENTEWAN" "Here in Cornwall, we stops when peoples rings the bell my luvver" Incandescent with rage she and hubby wobbled off the bus in the middle of Nowheresville - it was all going to be Hubby's fault, I could see that, in fact if I was him, I would have jumped back on the bus and done a runner.

Back in Charlestown, there was still time to catch a bit of Chelsea v Arsenal at the Rashleigh Arms and for Mike to sneeze all over everyone before we headed back to Uffculme. A successful weekend - no knee dramas - and when we got back - the F1 highlights from Barcelona was just about to start!

South Walk: Fowey to Charlestown

2009-05-18T22:34:00.004-07:00

Saturday May 9th: I have been joined by my old mate Michael Ricketts, still in therapy after Barcelona dumped his beloved Chelsea out of the Champions League. We were planning to get to Mevagissey via a stopover in Charlestown. All precautions were taken to prevent any recurrence of the Ricketts F1 knee ( It was the Barcelona Grand Prix on Sunday!) - including a special below the knee strap and tailored itinerary to avoid too many severe gradients. I packed a spare knee joint and my school dissecting kit in case any emergency surgery was required, plus a fold up shotgun if all else failed.

We left bright and early Saturday morning - the plan was to leave the car at Par Rail station, catch the bus to Fowey, walk to Charlestown and then bus it back to Par to pick the car up.
Fowey (pronounced Foy! - you look a bit silly when you ask the bus driver for a single to Fowie, don't you Michael!) is an attractive town on the banks of the River - unspoilt by the working industrial Port and Docks which are further down the River. It exports China Clay - but the estuary was also in the news recently as an example of recessionary times. Apparently - the deep waters of the Fowey estuary are ideal for anchoring large container ships - so the number you see holed up is a reflection on the economy! We walked down to the harbour, passing a couple of cafe's wafting bacon smells - which proved too good to miss, so topped up the calories with Bacon sarnies before getting on our way. Fowey was getting ready for a busy Saturday as part of Daphne du Maurier week - which is a regular annual festival. She once lived at Menabilly Estate, just a couple of miles from Fowey - which was of course Manderley, as featured in the novel Rebecca, and Poldrimouth Cove, nearby also featured.
We walked out of Fowey on the high level esplanade with lovely views across to Polruan and down the estuary. The first point of interest was the strangely named Readymoney Cove with a small beach and welcome toilets! As we climbed back up to the cliff path - we could see the distinctive red and white Gribbin Daymark in the distance at Gribbin Head. Before that we passed through Coombe Haven with it's castle remains and Poldrimouth Bay. It was then a long steep climb up to the waymark - this was the first knee tester of the day, and Michael could test his new innovative knee strap - a below the knee black number much favoured by Hells Angels and Dominatrixes.

The views from Gribbin Head were good in both directions and we could see the Industrial harbour of Par ahead of us. The daymark was built in 1832 as an aid to vessels navigating the headland and is now owned by the National Trust. It only opens between July and September, so I was denied the pleasure of pushing Michael off the top. On the way to Par, I spotted an unusual silk nest of caterpillars much to Mike's disgust. I haven't been able to specifically identify these- but possibly some kind of Moth tent caterpillar - certainly unusual. In the excitement of this zoological find and in attempting to get a close up pic - I must have dropped my Map and coast path guide, because after passing through the quaint village and cove of Polkerris, I discovered I had lost them. That's the second map I have lost in 500 miles - particular annoying as it is a specialist coastal path map which I had sent away for. I blamed Ricketts.

Polkerris had a tempting Pub and nice beach cafe - but we carried onto Polmear at the start of Par Sands. We met another intrepid path walker who gave us a clue to where the path went - as it seemd rather confusing. In fact we still got a bit lost trying to find our way into Par itself as it is dominated by a large China Clay plant which you have to walk around. Not the most scenic of places, in fact for Cornwall, you could say that it was well below Par on the scenic front! With the guidance of another local - we eventually found ourselves passing the Welcome Inn - which was indeed welcoming! - in fact the landlady proceeded to give me a pint of lager before we had even asked for anything! I got her to put a top in it, meanwhile one of the locals had his head in his hands at the bar. She had given me his pint - and a few minutes later came out to apologise profusely and brought me a fresh pint - all much to the locals amusement. Mike proceeded to get his sandwiches out much to my discomfort - you can stretch peoples hospitality a little too far!

It was another 4-5 miles to Charlestown - and was quite cold by now. The path went alongside Par Golf course and then behind Carlyon Bay which is now the site of a massive redevlopment project called "The Beach" Once a well known resort and popular nightspot, it has been acquired by Developers Ampersand - who plan to turn it into a sustainable tourist resort with over 500 holiday homes and the usual facilities, although there has been a backlash from the locals who see it as ruining an area of natural beauty. At present it is just an eyesore.

We could now get see the large town of St Austell ahead of us - Cornwall's most populated town, which was just inland from our destination, Charlestown which was soon reached. I didn't know much about Charlestown, but it is a small village with an unspoilt port owned by The Square Sail Shipping Company and home to an impressive display of historic ships. It has a history of being used as a film location including the Onedin Line of course, Poldark and The Three Musketeers.

Meanwhile, the 2 Musketeers were more interested in finding somewehere to stuff ourselves with a Cornish Cream tea. We settled ourselves down in a very smart looking establishment, only to find that they only offered ONE scone with their cream tea and at £4.95 they were certainly taking the "Michael Ricketts" We stormed out in disgust and went to the more genteel hotel on the harbour front where normality was resumed and we proceeded to struggle to eat 2 scones!

I caught the bus back to Par to get the car and on my return we booked in at the B&B which was pleasant enough despite being festooned with Bolton FC memorabilia. the evening pub crawl of Charlestown didn't take long - there was only 2 - but they both had pool tables and Sky Sports! - our kinda place - it turned out that people travelled out from St Austell to watch the footie. The day got even better when I thrashed Mike on the Pool Table - some things never change. Tomorrow we would head for Mevagissey.

South Walk: Looe to Fowey

2009-05-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 3rd: Woke up to a beautiful morning in Looe - so had a nice early morning pre breakfast stroll along the River. The light was beautiful, but the tide was out so it wasn't quite as scenic as it could have been. The B&B was pretty full, but then it was the May Bank Holiday. The destination for the day was either Par or Fowey and then I would get the train back to Tiverton from the main line station at Par. But the first target was the beautiful and popular village of Polperro - a real tourist hotspot. Only 5 miles from Looe and with a bus service between the two - the path was a popular and well trodden route for the tourists.

Leaving West Looe past Hannafore Point, I got a good view of Looe Island. It used to be owned by two sisters, Evelyn and Babs Atkins, but since their deaths, in 1997 and 2004 respectively, the Island has been owned by the Cornish Wildlife Trust, and you can visit by boat trip.

Passing the small bay of Portnadler - it was a very pleasant few miles to Talland Bay. There were plenty of people on the path. At one point, I passed 2 heavyweight couples, the two women struggling to make headway in nothing but slip-ons - well that's not strictly true - fortunately they did have clothes on - but no socks - their husbands were saying " only 3 miles to Polperro" Madness!

Beyond Talland Bay - I met a woman asking if I had seen a Beagle! She was worried that it would be piling into the Cafe at Talland, have a Cappuccino and dog biscuit and then leaving without paying!

Approaching Polperro, I met a massive group of about 15 ramblers all heading for Looe - it was getting a bit like Piccadilly Circus! The views of Polperro as you approached were lovely and the sailing boat in moored just outside the harbour made it even more photogenic. The path winds through the narrow streets by the harbour towards the bridge passing the well known Shell House. I stocked up on liquid refreshment and homemade fudge before carrying on out of the village by the old well known pub the Blue Peter which stands right at the mouth of the harbour.

As you climb steeply out of the small bay - you get another great view of this wonderfully unspoilt fishing village. I was pleased that it was early May, as opposed to the middle of August when I expect the place is pretty unbearable! although I'm sure the local tourist businesses don't complain.

It was another 7 miles to Fowey and according to the Guide Book - it was the second hardest stretch of the whole Coast Path. In fact, I had met another coast path walker earlier that morning who had said it was pretty tough - with a succession of steps that seemed to go on and on for ever. he was one of many South West Coast path walkers who I have met - doing the path over 6 years or so - and spending a week at a time doing a particular stretch.

As it turned out - the steps didn't seem to be as bad as I had expected and I came to the conclusion that they were probably worse going in the opposite direction. Having said that - after nearly 500 miles of the path already walked - I think I am ready for anything the path has to chuck at me!

For a while - I walked with a local man- out exercising his sheep dog - as we walked towards Pencarrow Head . He seemed quite bemused about my walk - but I thought he must have met loads of people doing similar. All the locals I saw were wearing rainwear - even though it was lovely and sunny - but apparently in this part of the South West - it virtually rains every day - so they know to expect it.

Approaching Pencarrow Head , there seemed to be some confusion about alternative routes, but the obvious one was to climb up to the rocky headland where the views were superb. From here it was a nice walk down and behind the popular beach of Great Lantic Bay. There was a couple more up and down stretches before Polruan was in sight and the mouth of the Fowey river. The path went right past the very small Coastwatch lookout and to the head of the estuary with views across to Fowey. It was then a straightforward path down to the quayside at Polruan where along with several other walkers, I waited for the Ferry across to Fowey. It was a quick trip over, and a chance to view Polruan from the water, it reminded me of Kingswear across from Dartmouth. The Ferry stopped at next to a small beach at a lower point than normal due to the tide. It was still reasonably early, so I could have pressed on to Par, but made the fatal error of going for a cup of tea and ending up with the full Cornish Cream Tea at the splendid Fowey Hotel which had commanding views across the Estuary. I made a mess up of my bus connections - had to wait 50 minutes at Fowey - missed one while scoffing scones! - then at Par station missed a train by 5 minutes and had to wait another 45 minutes - so in hindsight, I should have just carried on walking - but my feet were telling me otherwise!

It was an uneventful train journey back to Tiverton Parkway, by which time I was suitably refreshed to walk on home. Next week it's back to Fowey with walking legend Michael Ricketts!

South Walk: Portwrinkle to Looe

2009-05-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday 2nd May: May Bank Holiday and I'm off back to Portwrinkle. After much consultation with Bus Timetables, I decided to leave the car at home and make do with Public Transport.

Firstly, I had to get to the train station - get the bike out, I thought, dust it down, blow up the tyres. Well, I should have blown up the bike itself - b****y thing, tyre went down half way to the station, fortunately because it's not the first time, I left myself plenty of time to finish the journey on foot, but arrived hot and bothered - not a good start to the day.

Took the train to Plymouth and then a bus across on the Torpoint ferry ( that was a first!) and then eventually, after a 45 mnute wait and a quick bacon sarnie, another bus to Crafthole from where I could wander down to re-join the path at Portwrinkle. Despite leaving Devon in full sunshine - South Cornwall was awash in sea mist, and it didn't clear until lunchtime, which was a shame as the first part of the walk across the cliffs to Downderry was supposed to be very scenic and exhilarating even. Further on, I reached another Seaton - much smaller than it's East Devon cousin, a small sandy bay adjoining a local Nature Reserve. From here, the path heads steeply up a lane heading towards the famous Woolly Monkey Sanctuary, first established in 1964. But there was to be no monkey business for me, and the path soon diverted back through some woods heading towards Bodigga Cliff, a popular tourist spot with easy access.

A little further on, and I dropped down into the deserted holiday beach of Millendreath which used to be a Holiday village, but is now a sad concrete mess together with a massive disused warehouse cum sports Hall - it was a real blot on the path.
I headed on, my destination was Looe, although depending on the time and state of my legs, I thought I might carry on to Polperro.As I neared Looe, I kept seeing power boats whizzing about, and it turned out that it was a special competition day based in Looe which added some extra interest for the Bank holiday.
I couldn't remember having visited Looe, but recognised it when I saw it, being separated by a bridge across the river into East and West Looe. I hadn't booked any accommodation, but the gentleman at the TI office was most helpful and I ended up finding a small B&B on the road out of West Looe near Hannafore. I thought afterwards, that I could have headed on to Polperro, but decided to spend a bit of time in Looe instead. For some reason, I had felt tired out all day, but I hadn't walked all that far. Looe has quite a bit of character and a scenic harbour with plenty of bird life up the River.
I didn't have to walk far for a meal out, the pub right near the B&B turned out to be an excellent choice - Tom Sawyer's Tavern gets my recommendation. The next day I would head for Fowey.

South Walk: Cremyll to Portwrinkle

2009-05-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday 12th April: It was another beautiful morning in Cremyll, where I was staying at the Edgcumbe Arms. After the usual Bacon and Egg energy boost, I started on the path for the walk to Portwrinkle -which was about 13 miles away. The pub was literally on the path, being right next to the Ferry Point which was also a Bus stop, so it was ideal and I would get the bus back later that afternoon.

The path immediately entered the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park with superb views of the main house at the top of a tree lined grassy hill. It then went through the Orangery set in beautiful gardens at their best in the early morning sun, and then an ornamental lake, before eventually entering a woodland and meandered at high level with views across the Sound. The woodland area and gardens seemed a bit neglected, but the Estate is now owned jointly by Plymouth Council and Cornwall County, so perhaps that explains why.

After a while, I descended out of the woods and left the Park heading for the seaside villages of Kingsand and Cawsand. Kingsand used to be part of Devon until 1844 and both villages have a long history of smuggling. Cawsand was particularly attractive with narrow side streets and interesting old properties. If it hadn't still been early, it would have been a nice place to stop, but I pressed on. It was a steep climb out of Cawsand up onto the clifftops heading first for Penlee Point and then Rame Head which I would subsequently be able to see for many, many miles ahead. The Official path passed right by Rame Head itself, which is often the case, but I made the detour up to the top where there was the ruins of a small Chapel and far reaching views back eastwards to Bolt Tail near Salcombe and my final destination westwards, The Lizard.

Once you are around Rame Head, you enter the long curve of Whitsand Bay which goes all the way to my day's final destination Portwrinkle. It was a nice walk from Rame Head down to the small cove of Polhawn. There were plenty of other walkers about, Rame Head had a nearby car park, so was obviously a popular day out. The first couple of miles of Whitsand Bay were fairly rocky - and the path winds along the cliffs through an area dotted with chalets. Although in great positions overlooking the Bay, they seemed very difficult to get to. For a while the path went along the main road behind the cliffs passing Whitsand Bay Holiday Park. This was obviously an ideal area for Para Gliding - and there was about 6 of them trying hard to launch themselves into the up currents.

Shortly after passing through a small place called Freathy the path headed inland and around a large military rifle range called Tregantle.

In fact, as firing was not taking place, I was able to take an alternative path through the range with great views down the long sandy bay of Long Sands nnd across the whole of Whitsand Bay! Tregantle Fort was part of the range and had been adapted for military accommodation.

It was not much further to Portwrinkle, and I got there about 2:00pm. I considered carrying on, but in the end, I was lured up to the small village of Crafthole where my bus would depart from. I had 40 minutes to wait, so headed for an inviting looking pub, The Finnygook Inn where I was just in luck - they had ONE Roast dinner left ( what's the name of thsi blog!!) Unfortunately they had run out of yorkshire puddings but you can't have everything. I sat outside - and an elderly couple near me proceeded to leave virtually their entire roast dinners and left their table. I was ravenous, and my dinner had hardly touched the sides - was it socially acceptable to grab their plates and help myself - ooh, I came so close.... in fact when the waitress collected the plates a few other drinkers in the beer garden joked about it. I think they had been unhappy about the vegetables - they were a bit crunchy, but good for your bowels no doubt!

Suitably refreshed, I hung around for a bus which NEVER arrived. I even asked one of the locals who was tending her front garden - she didn't know really, but offered to make me a cup of tea! - how kind was that, I said "No thanks, get me a can of Lager" In the end, after phoning Traveline - I decided to walk back towards Cremyll on the main road - and ended up doing another 6 miles to get to Millbrook where I finally caught a bus back to the Edgcumbe Arms.

Another day's walk over - I headed back over the Torpoint Ferry and rejoined the A38 back towards Uffculme.

South Walk: Wembury to Mt Edgcumbe

2009-05-17T00:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday 11th April: Got to Wembury bright and early - plan was to leave the car there and get the bus back from Plymouth to pick it up later. The day's walk would take me all around the edge of Plymouth, so would be a bit different to the normal natural beauty of the coast.

It was another glorious sunny day and I headed along the low cliffs above the long stretch of rocky beach which is known as Wembury marine conservation area. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to save a Dolphin which had been washed up. I was surprised that it hadn't been removed as it looked as if it had been tagged in the past and normally they do a post mortem to find out what killed it - certainly it had been there awhile. The next wildlife was breathing - a nice friendly Chaffinch!

I headed on, passing an old military building - HMS Cambridge before quickly reaching Heybrook Bay which was surrounded by a modern residential area - almost a suburb of Plymouth. All the time, ahead, you could see right across the Sound to Cawsand Bay in Cornwall with Drakes Island in the foreground. it wasn't until the path passed around the point at Renney's Rocks and headed for the Holiday chalets at Bovisand, that you started to see the Docks of Millbay and Mount Batten Point . At Bovisand, you have the incongruous mix of a Holiday Camp and Fort Bovisand, one of 2 forts built to protect the harbour. It is now used as a Diving training centre. Until recently, the path to Mount Batten had been along busy roads, but the Coast Path Association had worked hard to create the current scenic path through woodlands and thenreached the open grassland area of Jennycliff Bay - which proved to be a good place for a Cappuccino pitstop.

A little further on you reach the landmark of Mountbatten Point with its jetty jutting out into the Sound. Formerly, a RAF Air Rescue centre, it was out of bounds until the late 1990's. From here, you can catch a Ferry to the Barbican and Sutton Harbour, but no short cuts for me! I could now see Plymouth in all it's glory with the lighthouse in full view on the Hoe. The path headed around the edge of the Sound towards Cattewater and Turnchapel passing alongside the busy new Marina area. From Turnchapel - the rest of the walk becomes very urban walking around the edge of Plymouth all the way to Stonehouse and the Ferry point across to Mount Edcumbe Park at Cremyll. Having said that, apart from the section crossing Laira Bridge and going through the Industrial area of Cattedown, it is an enjoyable walk and had has been much improved by Pymouth Council with the introduction of various unusual signs and pieces of art reflecting Plymouth's history along the way. The path from Turnchapel heads around Hooe Lake and past Radford Lake where you walk across a causeway and through the archway of an old lodge.

You are then onto one of the main roads into Plymouth, passing the well known landmark of the Oreston Rhino!

At Cattewater - the path rises through the industrial area and you get a good view across to Mount Batten - albeit a farily Industrial one! Eventually you can see the distinctive shape of the National Maritime Museum ahead of you, and the path literally passes right next to it and suddenly i found myself surrounded by people as the path went across the Sutton Harbour Lock gates to the popular old Barbican area. Suddenly, I felt a bit like a tourist, - but this was all fairly familiar territory for me as I headed to my left towards the Hoe. There were Ice cream vans bumper to bumper, as well as Francis Drake and his missus, strolling about as if he owned the place! - but then it was Easter weekend, I reminded myself! The path followed the foreshore next to the Royal Citadel and near to the Mayflower Steps. Of course Plymouth has a fantastic amount of history attached to it and as well as the obvious landmarks, there are some clever inscriptions and unusual artefacts, all marking historical events. Before long, I was on the promenade which became the Grand Parade, having passed Smeaton's Tower - the red and white lighthouse, which I had been seeing for several hours previous, in the distance. This had originally been positioned on Eddystone Reef but became unstable so was dismantled and rebuilt on the Hoe, whilst another working lighthouse was erected on Eddystone.

The view across the Sound spreads in both directions towards South Devon in the East and across to Penlee Point in Cornwall where I would be walking the following day.

I headed for the Cremyll passenger ferry at Stonehouse via Devils Point and the massive Royal William Yard . I wanted to get across, sign in at the Edgecumbe Arms where I had booked a room for the night - and then get back to Plymouth and catch a bus out to Wembury to collect the car. I was beginning to wish that I had just left the car there all weekend - but my overnight things were in it. The Ferry ran every half hour - there was the unusual sight of a pair of swans nesting just at the top of the road down to the jetty - it was hardly a quiet spot, next to a Taxi rank! From the Ferry, you got a great view of the Royal William Yard part of the Navy victualling Dept which is now being converted into a Commercial and residential centre.

I spent an hour at Mount Edcumbe, sussed out my room at the pub, which was very comfortable and then headed back across. The journey back to Wembury was very frustrating. Missed a bus into Plymouth centre by 10 seconds so legged it only to have to wait best part of an hour for the next bus. It was late Saturday pm - so time to find a pub for the football results - Plymouth isn't your average seaside town. Firstly, I was ordered to remove my baseball cap which was plastered to my head, and then looking around me, apart from the women, I seemed to be the only person who had any hair! - and that's saying something. After a quick snifter, and feeling naked without a single tattoo - I waited at the bus stop and eventually got myself back to Wembury and drove back across via the Torpoint Ferry and then round to Cremyll.

It was Curry night at the Edgecumbe Arms - 6 varieties to choose from in great quantities - most of which seemed to go untouched - however my choice, Thai Green Curry was the most popular - and I got to finish it off with a second helping - so ensuring a jet propelled walk the following day!

South Walk: Mothecombe to Wembury

2009-05-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 5th: Back down to South Devon to pick up from where I last got to, which was Wonwell on the Erme Estuary. I was staying with my parents at Thurlestone, so we decided to drive to Noss Mayo, where I left my car and then they dropped me off back at Mothecombe which was across the estuary from Wonwell. It was a lovely morning, so they also decided to have a walk - but I left them to it and started up the path from Mothecombe estuary heading around Owen's point and to the small private beach which belongs to the Flete Estate. This used to be a popular walking and beach spot for our family, when Mum and Dad lived at Wrangaton and also Modbury. The estuary is one of the most unspoilt areas in Devon and provides great dog walking, when the tide is out.

The path headed up onto the clifftop for the pleasant walk to Gara Point at the mouth of the Yealm Estuary. The path passed through rolling pastures up and down between the various small rocky coves including the popular Wadham Beach which is fairly accessible from the nearby road.

Further on was the unfortunate sight of the static caravans at Stoke Beach and a diversion from here could take you to the remains of an ancient Church.

A little further on I reached the ruined coastguard lookout at Gunrow Downs and then shortly joined what is known as the 9 mile drive. This is now a wide pathway, but was originally built in the 1880's by unemployed fishermen for Edward Baring, who was Lord Revelstoke, as a path for the carriages going to his estate at Membland Hall.

As the path continues, you start to see the Eddystone Lighthouse in the distance - built on a large rocky islet off the Plymouth coast.

As the path turns inwards from Gara Point you have nice views of the Yealm Estuary which winds inland and is a popular sailing spot. The path ends at the village of Noss Mayo and across the Creek is the larger town of Newton Ferrers. The estuary was edged by woods and the path wound down to the waters edge and passed behind various riverside cottages and larger properties with superb views across to Warren Point and up the Yealm. During the season, a Ferry runs across on a regular basis. It was just my luck that the Ferry Service started for the season on Monday April 6th! - I was a day early, but I was aware of this, having rang the ferryman, the day before.

The ferry has a long history as seen by the old Toll Board. I carried on up the estuary path to Noss Mayo where I had left my car first thing. It was lunchtime and I was going to have a quick snifter at the pub, but it was packed out, so munched on a cheese sandwich in the car. The obvious plan was to take the car around the estuary and find somewhere to park not a million miles away from where the path started again at Warren Point across the water. So I headed back to the main road at Yealmpton and eventually got myself parked halfway between Wembury and Warren Point . I was fortunate enough to meet a local who showed me the best place to leave the car and described the way back. I was half way to Warren Point when I realised that I didn't have my camera! I then thought I had left it on top of the car! Traipsed back wasting time and energy - it was inside the car - so worry over. So I headed for Wembury . This would be an easy place to resume my walk next time, being on the bus route also from Plymouth. The walk was uneventful, but it was still a lovely day, so there were plenty of day trippers about. Wembury beach is very popular being nice and sandy - and also popular for surfers when the conditions are right. The village is set back inland, but there are good National Trust facilities at the Beach as well as a splendid old Church up on a small hill. Apparently, the Church Tower is still used as a landmark for ships and yachts entering the Yealm Estuary.

After a short break - I headed across an inland path in the vague direction of the car - and apart from one wrong detour, it didn't take too long to reach it . A few more miles done - I would be back, bright and early the following Saturday!

North Walk: A Walking Week - Port Isaac to Hayle - Day 5 - Portreath to Hayle

2009-05-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

Friday March 20th: In an ideal world, I had wanted to reach St Ives at the end of this weeks walking, but I also needed to get back to my car by Public Transport , so the day revolved around making sure I got back to Truro in time to catch the last connection back to Port Isaac and trying to reach St Ives would mean missing that bus!

It was a 12 mile walk to Hayle, another gorgeous day and I headed off back up to the cliffs and across an area known as Reskajeage Downs. This was a rocky stretch with many small rock islands just offshore and I had Navax Point in my sights for several miles. The main road between Hayle and Portreath ran quite close to the path with several cliff car parks, so it was a popular walking spot.

Navax point was at the tip of a headland known as the Knavocks, a wildland area maintained by the National Trust. From here you got a good view of Godrevy Island and it's lighthouse, built in 1859 and now solar powered. The path headed out from Navax Point to Godrevy Point which was an area well now for Seals. In fact I had been here before and seen seals, and wasn't disappointed this time either. There is an excellent Cafe at the Car park at Godrevy and I had a brief stop before crossing across the Red River near to the village of Gwithian. The massive St Ives bay was laid out before me - which stretched around for miles all the way beyond Hayle, merging into Carbis Bay and to Portminster Point, just before St Ives. There were two options - either across the beach or along the path through the dunes behind. I opted to do a bit of both starting off in the dunes - and then dropped down onto the beach at the first opportunity. Nearing an area known as Black Cliff near the mouth of the estuary inlet to Hayle I went back into the Dunes as per my guide book but the path became a bit confused through an area of holiday chalets and I ended up heading inland towards Hayle having missed the correct path around the headland. Because I was short of time, I couldn't retrace my steps - so will have to do that last bit into Hayle on my next visit.

Hayle itself was nothing to write home about - and suffers even more in comparison to St Ives just up the road (or coast!) I had planned to get a train to Truro from Hayle but in the end jumped on a bus - not realising that it went all over Cornwall - so I very nearly missed my Truro bus connection - then thought I would have to change buses 3 times to get to Wadebridge, but in fact the bus just changed it's number at different points! Had a bit of a wait at Wadebridge before getting the last bus back to Port Isaac - and the car was still there - all 4 wheels intact! I had walked about 75 miles in 4 and a half days - so made pretty good progress - and chose the best week of the year weather wise!

North Walk: A Walking Week - Port Isaac to Hayle - Day 4 - Perranporth to Portreath

2009-05-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

Thursday March 19th : Left Perranporth on another sunny morning. Up on the cliffs there were many reminders of the areas Mining history. In fact the whole cliff walk to St Agnes was littered with old mine shafts capped with conical metal cages The main metals mined were Tin and Wolfram ( tungstate of Iron) - but at some points the cliffs were a pinky orange colour of iron and arsenic. It was a fantastic walk to St Agnes - sheer cliffs, stunning colours and marine blue water below.

I was surprised to suddenly come across a couple of Pub style Picnic Tables plonked right next to the clifftop and chained to the ground! The owner was obviously concerned about gangs of scouse seagulls swooping down and carrying them off, I thought. However - a little further on, I could see that I was walking alongside an Aerodrome, so it belonged them methinks.

Further on there was a steep walk down to Trevellas Porth and then an even steeper climb out of the cove towards Trevaunance Cove which is the beach and old harbour area of St Agnes a half mile inland. This is still a working fishng area - mostly lobsters and crabbing although it has a long history of pilchard fishing. On climbing out of Trevaunance Cove - the path is once again at high level heading towards St Agnes Head where there were fine views in all directions and with the sheer high cliffs - lots of swirling sea birds

A little further on, I came across the well known landmark of Towan Roath Mining shaft which has been restored by the National Trust and also appeared on the cover of Du Maurier's book "Vanishing Cornwall" The imposing structure is right on the path and made the cliffs even more dramatic as you looked back on it from further on.
There was a welcome Pitstop at the next cove - Chapel Porth, where the various old Mining buildings have been converted into visitors amenities.
It is a popular spot - particularly for surfers - good beach breaks apparently. Well I was after a snack break - and there was a lovely cafe offering their specialty Hedgehog Ice Cream Cone! - fortunately, it looked like a Hedgehog as opposed to tasting like one.
Another steep walk from here and once again the path is littered with old Mining workings. Also - some very colourful pink cliffs which made for some unusual photos. The next place of note reached was Porthowan where I indulged myself with caffeine top up. There was plenty of people about for a midweek out of season day - but I was soon on my way for the 4 mile walk to Portreath.
it was high cliffs all the way, with numerous old mine workings. I was undecided whether to stay at Portreath that night or carry on a bit further. It was still quite early - but would have meant a longish walk to find any accommodation, so in the end, I wandered around trying to find somewhere suitable to stay. In the end - the local Inn - The Bassett Arms proved to be both a good watering hole and comfortable overnight stay. Food wasn't bad either. Portreath used to be a very busy port in the 19th Century - and used to be called Bassetts Cove after the Bassett's who helped fund the building of the harbour which helped their mining businesses. Now, it seemed a rather strange place - apart from the main beach, there was also a second small area of sand beyond the harbour wall right next to a pub called the Waterfront which sounded alot better than it looked and really only fronted a small patch of sand and to all intents and purposes was in the middle of a housing estate. I think it was the locals dive. Portreath also had a Chinky Takeaway which was tempting - but in the end I decided to back British!

North Walk: A Walking Week - Port Isaac to Hayle - Day 3 - Newquay to Perranporth

2009-04-26T04:09:00.000-07:00

Day 3 Wednesday March 18th Woke up to to a foggy Newquay, which I was quite glad of - seeing as I was resembling an over-ripe tomato. Had forgotten to pack suncream - and it was proving to be one of the sunniest weeks of the year especially in North Cornwall.

Breakfast proved eventful at The Cavendish hotel. There was a large group of wrinklies on tour and staying at the Hotel - probably the "Over 80's Nude Surfing Club" or somesuch and they were first down for breakfast, but also not far behind them were various people all sporting CCS T shirts on a Company Piss up. They staggered into breakfast looking worse for wear - some still clutching bottles of beer! One of the blue rinse brigade rose from her table, marched over to a tableful of hung over individuals and proceeded to give them a blast of her tongue - along the lines of how inconsiderate they were to have been causing a rumpus at 4am in the morning after a night on the lash. They stared at her aghast - too bleary eyed to respond - and she returned to her table to a standing ovation and hurrahs all round.

I had a slow start to the morning - I had to cross the River Gannel which is just South of Newquay and there is a walkway whcih can be accessed 2 hrs either side of low tide - so I thought that would be about 11am ish - so meanwhile - I got myself to the chemist for some Factor 50 - plus a tube of Lip Salve. Standing outside the chemist, I ripped the packaging off and chucked it in a large Council bin - unfortunately, I was left holding an empty plastic tube and had to then dip my arm into a pile of festering waste to try and find it! The path went through the centre of Newquay and past the old Harbour, so I walked down and had a look, but there didn't seem to be much happening.

I rejoined the path and headed up towards Towan Head. At the head o the harbour was an interesting old building known as a Huers Hut. Dating back to 14th century - this was used by lookout men to spot shoals of pilchards and they then alerted and directed the local fishing boats.

My view from Towan Head was spoilt by the fog - but it was starting burn off as I walked back from the head to the start of Fistral Beach - Newquay's famous Surfing mecca. Conditions for surfing didn't look that good, but there were a few people catching the waves at both ends of the long beach. From the far end of Fistral -the path went out towards Pentire Point East, where there was a superb house built into the cliffs with helicopter landing pad and half built swimming pool. I was now at the mouth of The River Gannel and there were several alternative routes to cross it including a small Ferry in the high season. I headed for the footbridge mentioned earlier and the path went through the suburban area of Fern Pit and there was some lovely property overlooking the estuary, which was very beautiful in the early morning sun.

Across the river, the path then wound behind Crantock beach and climbed back up to the clifftop at Pentire point West. The small sandy bay of Porth Joke followed before reaching another popular and more secluded surfing spot - Holywell Beach. It is so named because in the past - there was a trickle of water from a small cave which was thought to have healing properties and sick children were brought along to be dipped in the water.

The path then skirted around a large and ugly army camp at Penhale where there were some unusual looking clifftop radar equipment, before going out to Ligger point with some great views and then you reach the massive long beach of Perran. It was then a choice of scrabbling through the soft sand of the dunes - or the firm sand of the beach - so that was a no-brainer! The beach seemed to go on forever, reminding me of Saunton Sands - but eventually I reached the small seaside town of Perranporth. Originally, I had planned to try and get to St Agnes - but I was fairly footsore, so given that there was a good choice of accommodation - I decided to call it a day. There was also a good beachside cafe - so I took the opportunity to stuff a Cream tea in my face before phoning around for a B&B.

I found one - small grotty smelly single room -I was the only occupant and they were advertising NO VACANCIES - but the man I spoke to on the phone had said YES we have a room I think, but my wife deals with this and proceeded to laugh nervously! Wife wasn't amused to return from the Supermarket to find that hubby had taken someone in - she wasn't prepared! - the perils of finding accommodation, out of season! At least they had a bath. I later hit the town and tried to find somewhere to eat - the first pub stopped serving food at 6.oopm! - bizarre - but not worth employing a chef to stand around scratching his bollocks all evening, I suppose. Anyway, they recommended another much busier pub, The Green Parrot where I had an excellent meal. Probably only about 13 miles walked today - but an enjoyable hike - and I would head for Portreath in the morning.

North Walk: A Walking Week - Port Isaac to Hayle - Day 2- Trevone to Newquay

2009-04-25T05:26:00.000-07:00

Day 2 Tuesday March 17th: As the Sole occupant at The Well Parc, Trevone - I felt a bit guilty that someone came in specially to cook my breakfast - I would have done it myself if they'd asked.
After she had cleared up, she cleared off - and the place seemed deserted. I didn't make a good start to the day - was half way down the road back to the path when I realised that the Room Key was still in my pocket - went back - only a friendly dog to greet me - gave him the key and set off again. Got to the beach and realised that my water bottle was still sitting back in my room. Tramped back in a huff - had to get the dog to let me back into my room - and made my third exit. If I'd been a scouser and not had 18 miles to walk - I could have left with the 42" wide plasma screen strapped to my back!

It was another scorcher of a day as I finally made my way, Newquay was my destination. A little further on from Trevone was Harlyn Bay and on the way, I passed a large flock of Oyster catchers quite close to shore plus another "Round Hole". I didn't look in it, but I hoped it wasn't full of Tesco shopping trolleys and fridges! Looking back - you got the best view of Trevone's Round Hole - like a scar on the cliff face.
For some miles - I had been able to see the light house at Trevose Head - and this was my first point to head for. Having rounded Cataclews Point there was the unusual sight of Padstow Lifeboat Station - seemingly built into the cliffs in the middle of nowhere.

Around the point and the Lighthouse was reached - built back in 1847 - it was a landmark that I would look back and see all day. a little further one - I was convinced that could see a Seal just off the rocks at Stinking Cove!. I spent quite awhile taking pictures - until I realised it was either a seal shaped rock - or a dead seal - still not sure which.

I was now heading due South with Mawgan Porth and then Newquay in my sights. The path passed behind the large bays of Booby's and Constantine which merged into each other -and were apparently unsafe for bathing - although they looked very inviting.

Between here and Portcothan were a series of small coves and inlets - and it was very scenic with dramatic rocks just off the beach - known as Minnows Islands.

I was soon at Portcothan, a small village which had a nice beach and was a lovely isolated spot. I didn't stop, and the path headed out towards the headland overlooking the small Trescore Islands.

The following few miles were hard work but also breathtakingly beautiful and included the wellknown landmark of Bedruthan Steps. This was my first visit, but I could see that in the Summer, it would be a major attraction - so I was pleased to see it with few people about, and on a sunny day. There were a series of sandy beaches with large rock stacks and small islets. From here, it was pretty much downhill all the way to Mawgan Porth. I was now underneath the flight path of incoming aircraft to Newquay Airport - and I was suprised at how frequent they were.
Mawgan Porth is one of North Cornwall's most popular spots and an ideal place for a coffee stop - one of the better Cappuccinno's was duly dispatched overlooking the large bay. As I left the bay - a couple of horses were taken onto the beach - and were being enticed into the sea - but it was pretty obvious that the horse did NOT want a paddle - so it was quite amusing watching the ensuing struggle - you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it .....

A little further on, I reached the start of the long beach of Watergate Bay - one of the longest on this part of the coast. A popular surfing spot of course - it was so big - I couldn't see it ever being packed! A third of the way down the bay - the path crossed the road behind the well known Watergate Hotel where Jamie Oliver has his restaurant 15.

The path climbed back up to the tall cliffs and I now had Newquay in my sights and I was keen to get there in good time to find a suitable B&B. At the end of Watergate Bay was Trevelgue head and Porth Sands just on the outskirts of Newquay. There was a small wooden bridge which linked Trevelgue to the mainland and it used to be the site of an Iron Age castle.

I was now definitely away from Cornwall's natural beauty and had reached Cornwall's largest holiday resort - a mecca for the surfing brigade. By this time, I was well tired and looking forward to a hot bath and putting my feet up. The path eventually ended up on the main road into Newquay centre and I kept my eyes open for suitable accommodation. Down a small side road, I spotted a large and tired looking Hotel - it was cheap and cheerful - had a room with a bath - so that would do for me. The friendly old lady from up North on reception was a bit suprised at me hobbling about like a cripple, and even more suprised when I said that I had walked from Trevone, but then she probably never walks further than the Chip Shop.
Later on, I found a busy City centre pub doing a Steak and chips special with a Free Pint so I was well happy. The next day - I would head for Perranporth.

North Walk: A Walking Week - Port Isaac to Hayle, Day 1 - to Trevone

2009-04-19T03:39:00.000-07:00

Day 1 Monday March 16th : After much consultation with online bus timetables trying to plan out my weeks walking and ferrying backwards and forwards to my car - the obvious decision was to leave the car at the start for the whole week - as I had already ascertained that I could buy a full weeks ticket at the car park in Port Isaac - so that's what I did. Another early start on the road from Uffculme - and I was back on the path at Port Isaac by 9:00am. The weather was good - and in fact the forecast was for sun all week - so I had struck lucky for once. The plan was to get to Rock and then across the River Camel by ferry to Padstow, and depending on what time it was - carry on from there to Trevone and find somewhere to stay. I was familiar with part of this coastline, from staying at Ron and Melanie Ward's bungalow at Polzeath a few years back. In fact they had been quite keen to do some walking with me on this stretch - but it didn't quite work out timing wise.

The morning's target was to get to Pentire Point - which is a magnificent viewpoint in both directions.

Before that - there was some quite strenuous walking to be done. There was only one coastal village along the way - Port Quin which was a lovely secluded place offering nothing in the way of refreshment apart from a cold water drinking tap. The village used to be quite a successful fishing village - but alot of the village was abandoned eyars ago - and now there are just a few National Trust cottages and a large stone house wonderfully positioned at the edge of the small beach commanding the best position- probably the harbourmasters house.

Another point of interest was Lundy's Hole - a natural passageway eroded through the cliff . At various points on the way to Pentire Point and what they call The Rumps - you could get a vantage point looking South West beyond the Camel estuary to Stepper Point which I would reach later in the day. The Rumps was a rocky headland stretching out Northerly and in theory the official path didn't include it - but it looked a dramatic place for a good photo - so I diverted off the path and climbed to the highest point.

Just off the point was a large rock known as The Mouls which has been home to Puffins.

From here it was a short walk round the headland to Pentire Point with some of the most far reaching views so far on this Cornish coast. I could now see Polzeath and a glimpse of Padstow itself. From here - the path was all downhill to Hayle Bay - and the sandy beach of Polzeath - another popular surfing beach. Another short walk across the cliffs brought me to Daymer Bay - and as it was low tide - I was able to take the route along the beach although it meant I missed seeing St Enodoc Church which has quite a bit of history and was apparently once completely engulfed by sand! The beach walk took me all the way to Rock itself , although I didn't see much of it - as I walked straight from the beach onto the Ferry. I was quite foot weary by now - and was looking forward to some refreshments at Padstow - a cream tea had been lingering in my thoughts for a few miles - and I wasn't disappointed. The ferry dropped off further down the estuary as it was high tide - so it was a few hundred yards back to the Harbour where I dived into the nearest Tea Room, which to my astonishment didn't seem to be owned by Rick Stein - and wasn't offering fish flavoured scones!

It recharged the batteries, and as it was quite early afternoon - I could easily make another 5-6 miles onto Trevone. I decided to see if the Tourist Office could book me some accommodation at Trevone - and between us, I found somewhere - The Well Parc Inn. I didn't really have time to look round Padstow much - but it is somwehere I've been to before, so didn't bother me.

The path left the harbour and headed out to the head of the estuary at Stepper Point which looked straight out to Pentire. It was a nice walk in the afternoon sun taking me past various coastguard cottages and also some old pilot cottages which were lived in by the men who guided vessels in and out of the estuary. The path took an inland diversion around an inlet before heading up to the tall stone Daymark at Stepper Point - which had been in view for many miles previous and was an old shipping positional aid.

A little further on - I met another hiker coming in the opposite direction - we stopped and had a chat - he had walked from Newquay and was heading for Padstow - that was probably going to be 23 miles - so he was quite knackered - but in fact as I would find out the following day - the path to Newquay was reasonably flat in comparison to some stretches.

I headed on to Trevone - the sun was going down quite quickly now and the light was superb for photography - and there were some wonderful rock formations at Gunver Head and Porthmissen. As you reach the head at Trevone Bay - there is a massive hole on the Cliff Top - which is a bizarre sight. Some genius has named this Round Hole - and they are quite common apparently - but this is a particularly large one - they are caused by sea erosion - all to do with soft rock seeping out from underneath a band of hard rock in front of it - eventually - ie a year or million later - you get a large hole which young children can fall into.

I was glad to reach Trevone and dying to get the boots off - had walked 18 miles or so - the Well Parc was half a mile from the beach - it was the locals pub as well as a hotel - the man sitting at the bar looked familiar - and he recognised me - he had served me my Cream tea at Padstow! The room was very comfortable with great views out to sea - but they'd probably given me the best one - I was the only one there!

After a good soak in the bath -I headed for the empty bar and ordered some food with a little trepidation. After a while a few locals bowled in - it was Whist Drive night - so plenty of excitement - I buried a few pints, stuffed my face with fish and chips and then headed for the pit.

South Walk: Salcombe to Wonwell

2009-04-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday March 5th. Taken a couple of days off work - so headed down to Mum and Dad's at Thurlestone to pick up the path at Salcombe again. This is a section of the path that I know very well - and has always been one of my favourite parts of Devon, but it had been quite a few years since I had walked out from Salcombe. Dad dropped me off at North Sands beach, where the path officially started again - it was a lovely sunny day, although with a bitterly cold wind and I headed past South Sands and climbed up towards the National Trust gardens of Overbeck. The Salcombe estuary has some superb properties with magnificent views, - some of the most expensive real estate in Devon. Also at Overbecks is a Youth Hostel - they really do have some prime locations - this YHA lot.

The path continued out towards Bolt Head - a prominent rocky point and then there was a very scenic stretch to Soar Mill Cove. As children we had often come to this beach, as it is very secluded and difficult to get to - but lovely once you are there. It was a steep climb out from Soar Mill Cove and feeling a bit sweaty, I made the foolish decision to take my trouser legs off!

It wasn't long before I was on the exposed stretch of Bolberry Down - and the bare legs took a pounding. There wasn't many walkers - but the few I did meet were wrapped up in Arctic clothing and some raised an eyebrow or two at the rambling loony in shorts.

Mum had decided to meet me on the path near Thurlestone and walk with me to Bantham.

I reached Hope Cove ahead of schedule - so visited the Hope and Anchor and had a ( guess what!) quick Cappuccino before meeting Mum on the footbridge beyond South Milton sands, one of Thurlestone's 3 beaches. The South Hams coast has been kept very unspoilt by the planners - so they take some credit for that - and Thurlestone has remained very untouristy, although they are just in the process of creating a new car park and shoring up the back of the beach and improving the small cafe at South Milton. Mum and I walked the well trodden path around the edge of the Golf Course - Thurlestone's main attraction, although deemed to be one of those snobby golf courses it has a great location but is very open to the elements.

Soon we were looking out towards Burgh Island off Bigbury beach as we dropped down the steep path to Bantham. The view here is superb - with all the waves rolling in towards the Avon Mouth estuary, the expanse of sand and the Island itself which is accessible by foot at low tide, and has the famous Tractor which ferries people back and forth to Bigbury when walking is no longer an option. The Island is well worth a visit - having a 650 year old Inn plus the famous Art deco Hotel once visited by Agatha Christie and features in some of her books. Not today though - once we had reached Bantham itself - we phoned for the Taxi service - which was Dad. At Bantham you are faced with crossing the River Avon - not an option even at low tide .

There is a Ferry service which runs during the peak months, but I was in the fortunate position of being given a lift over to the other side. Mum left me to it - and I got dropped off at the other side near the Bigbury Golf Course. What I thought was a quick walk down to pick up the path again at the Ferry point at Cockleridge turned out to be a 2 mile hike and I was starting to feel a bit leg weary. The aim was to reach Wonwell where there was another estuary to cross, by the end of the afternoon- and I could be picked up from Kingston - the nearest village inland.
After passing through Bigbury and then the awful mobile home eyesore of Challaborough I seemed to be suffering a leg strain - which I later put down to the wind chill bare legs factor! It wasn't a long way to reach Wonwell, but there were some steep ups and downs and by the time I had passed through Ringmore and Aymer Cove , my legs had had enough and I could see that I would be getting to Kingston very late - so I took the next inland path to Kingston which was a long and extremely muddy track .

I was praying that the pub, - the Dolphin Inn would be open with a roaring log fire, but I was disappointed and had to wait outside for my lift back to Thurlestone. Mum came armed with a can of lager and a packet of crisps - but by that time, what I really needed was a hot bath and a buxom masseuse to soothe my aching muscles!

Sunday 8th March : Annoyingly, I now had just a few miles to walk to get to Wonwell and the Erme Estuary, and it wasn't going to be worth going much further, so I decided to just make a mornings walk out of it as a round trip from Kingston back to the coast, along to Wonwell and then back inland again to Kingston. Normally, that would be a nice round trip walk to do on a Sunday morning, but for me it was alot of walking but only a few miles to add to my total! I had rested my leg strain for a couple of days anyway - so wanted to take it a bit easier AND as it happened, the heavens opened late morning - just as I got back to my car - so I avoided a big soaking. The sun was shining again and this part of the coast is quite distinct with it's steel grey steep slate cliffs - so it was a very pleasant walk. The Erme Estuary at Wonwell, looking across to Mothecombe is one of the most unspoilt estuaries on the whole of the SW path and is a lovely setting at low tide, very popular with dog walkers, in fact as a family we used to often come here and walk the dogs, particularly when my parents lived at Wrangaton. The estuary is crossable at low tide - but I would be coming back again and starting from the other side another day. It was back to Thurlestone for another Sunday Roast - ( what's this blog's web address!!)

North Walk: Tintagel to Port Isaac

2009-03-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday February 22nd: Left Tintagel full of Bacon and Egg, it was an 8 mile stretch to Port Isaac, so not far - but once again very up and down. Before I went down to pick up the coastal path again - I went and had a look at the Old Post Office - a fantastic building from the 14th century, now owned by the Nat Trust and more interesting than the Castle in my mind.

It was a very grey and damp day and once I was back on the path - there was a fine misty rain coming in from the sea. This made the path very slippy - especially as alot of it was slate - with the famous Delabole quarry, just a few miles inland. Many of the Port's along this stretch of coast had a history of exporting Slate and apart from the main quarry at Delablole - there were numerous other smaller ones dotted about. Many of the stiles were made from Slate - and also, the steps had slate divides, which as I found out very early, were extremely slippery. I had only been walking 15 minutes before I was floundering in the undergrowth legs akimbo!

The path led up from the Castle entrance to the cliff path, passing an old Church , the oldest still in use, in Cornwall and also a Youth Hostel with a superb location on the clifftop - formerly a Quarry office.

The first point of interest was Trebarwith Strand, and along the way - there were several disused coastal quarries - with one having left a large pillar of rock standing at Slate Hole.

The climb down into Trebarwith was very steep, as was the climb out! It looked very scenic and was used for loading slate boats.

Apparently, at the height of the Slate industry - over 1000 men were employed in the various quarries in and around Delabole. Once up on Start Point, through the mist, you could just make out Port Isaac in the far distance. The path along this section included the valley of 'the Mountain' but this wasn't as daunting as it sounded. There is a large beach - Tregardock and a series of interesting rocky points and coves dominated by sheer black cliffs.

Before Port Isaac was the smaller Port Gaverne, which has an interesting history revolved around the slate industry. In days gone by, there was a pier and at loading times - up to 100 horses and many of the villagers would be used to load the brittle cargo.

The path follows the road out of Port Gaverne and soon descends into Port Isaac. Before reaching the small beach and harbour area - it passed the high level car park - so I made sure that the car was still there and I hadn't got a ticket! - before dropping down into the narrow lanes and alleys around the harbour where there is another car park on the beach - definitely short stay!

There were a few visitors about and some of the businesses were open - so I fuelled up with a welcome Cappuccino before heading back to Uffculme. It had been a good weekends' walk - interesting scenery and another 21 miles knocked off the total!

North Walk: Crackington Haven to Tintagel

2009-03-15T02:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday February 21st: On Friday night, I had eventually managed to find a B&B in Tintagel with a bath, booked it up and arranged to be with them at 7:30am on the Saturday. They were happy to look after my car all day - and there was a 7:45am bus from Tintagel to Crackington Haven which would give me an early start. The weekend's walking revolved around transport arrangements - there are no buses on Sunday's at this time of year - so to avoid the expense of taxi's - I needed the car to be at my final destination - so the plan was to walk to Tintagel in good time to then drive to Port Isaac - Sunday's destination, leave the car there and get the bus back to Tintagel where I was staying.

I left very early - wasn't sure how long it would take me to get to Tintagel - but arrived in good time, and the bus was spot on, so not long after 8:00am - I was back at Crackington Haven - which was asleep! Ahead was a strenuous stretch to Boscastle, which included the highest cliff along the whole path - imaginatively named as High Cliff!

The path headed up towards Cambeak, a prominent high point but with severe erosion problems. The climb ahead was a steady incline up to High Cliff, with the worst walking still to come before Boscastle. This part of the coast is real Thomas Hardy territory, he worked nearby on the restoration of a local church, and High Cliff features in his book "A Pair of Blue Eyes".The walking was very much dominated by the sheer black rock cliffs and numerous nesting birds either on the cliffs or the numerous large rocks just off the coast. Apparently - there are also Seals found in large numbers along this stretch, most notably at 'Seals Hole' - a large cavern with easy access from the sea - but totally inaccessible from the land, making it the perfect safe haven. However, it was a bit early in the season, so there were no sightings.

Before Boscastle was reached - I passed through Pentargon which has a waterfall - but the path has been diverted for safety reasons, so you never get a good view of it. it was a very steep climb down and up, but then before long, you start to get glimpses of Boscastle stretching back up the valley.

Of course, your mind then goes back to the awful pictures of the floods of 2004 and I wondered how much of the devastation would still be visible.

From the cliff path - the view of the small harbour inlet is quite spectacular and it is protected by a large rocky outcrop called Penally Point from where you get a marvellous view straight up the valley.

It is a very small harbour - but was a commercial one for hundreds of years. I would have liked to have spent a bit of time in Boscastle and visited the new Heritage Centre, but with time not on my side - I decided to visit again, another time. The path headed up towards Boscastle before crossing a small bridge across to the Quayside and then back seawards to the inlet before heading up towards the prominent white watch tower at Willapark. It was going to be another 5 miles of quite tough walking before Tintagel was reached.

I walked out of Boscastle, following a fellow walker who looked all of 75yrs - but quite annoyingly, I never passed him - but then again, he wasn't taking photos! - that was my excuse anyway!

Along the way was the dramatic rocky formation known as Lady's Window and Rocky Valley.

The spectacular views were not matched by the weather - it had been another grey Cornish day.

The 5 miles seemed to be longer - but eventually, I could see the large and out of place Hotel which dominates the Tintagel skyline. The main feature of Tintagel - the castle and the legend of Arthur and Merlin's Cave, have made it a very busy tourist spot and of course the inevitable commercialisation. However, the ruins of the castle with it's dramatic setting and the fact that the town is just inland, means that the natural beauty of the coast is still retained.

The castle looks like it was built across 2 rocky islands, which were originally joined by a drawbridge. It started life as a Celtic Monastery and was also a prison. The problem with walking long distances to these places is, that by the time you get there, you are in no state for sightseeing! So I walked past the castle entrance and headed up the very steep lane to the centre of Tintagel. my day's walking was at an end - it was still early afternoon, but I needed to check in at the B&B - sort myself out, and then drive to Port Isaac and get the bus back.

When I eventually drove into Port Isaac - looking for a suitable place to leave the car overnight - I remembered that I had been here before with Suzanne a few years ago. I left the car with an inadequate ticket - but reckoned that Traffic wardens were few and far between in this part of North Cornwall!

North Walk: Bude to Crackington Haven

2009-03-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Sunday February 15th: Breakfast at the Inn on the Green commenced service at 8:30am - I was there at 8:31am. It was an open plan restaurant and kitchen similar to Hell's Kitchen, and as I stood wondering where to sit ( I was the only one there) - the rather terrifying looking lady chef shouted at the top of her voice "There's a man in" and then more specifically "a man on his own". She was really communicating with the young waitress who suddenly appeared looking a bit embarrassed - I tried to lighten the mood "I'm a man apparently" Anyway, breakfast was good, there were no men in shorts and white socks and it was a lovely sunny morning.

Today's destination was going to be Crackington Haven - another 12 miles of strenuous graded coast. From Crooklets Bay which was busy with surfers - the path went across a pleasant grassy area known as Summerleaze Down before reaching Bude Beach itself and the unique Canal. I hadn't been aware of the Bude Canal - which was opened in 1825. It was quite unique insofar as instead of creating a series of locks - they built ramps on inclined planes and the barges had special wheels attached so that they could be hauled up the ramps to the next level. Commercially - the canal was never a success - but can still be accessed from the sea through a lock and plays a big part in making Bude a bit different.

I crossed behind the large Car Park behind the beach and made my way round to the sea lock from where the path left Bude to head up to Compass Point and Efford Beacon. At Compass Point was a peculiar tower which did contain the points of a compass! Built in 1831 - the builder, Thomas Acland might be a bit upset to learn that because of cliff erosion - the tower has been moved, and rebuilt but is now 8 degrees out of alignment! Polish builders probably. The views from here were superb and far reaching although it was quite hazy.

It was now a clear walk across a wide open grassy cliff to Widemouth Bay - another popular surfing spot, which was quite crowded even in February!
It seemed to consist mostly of a large car park - with people wandering about clutching boards. I didn't stop - and rejoined the cliffs to shortly reach Wanson Mouth from where, due to more erosion, the path had been diverted onto the road until the descent down to Millook Haven. The pebbly beach here was a good place from which to view the amazing geological faults and folds in the cliffs. Tectonic plate shifting approx 300 million years ago - give or take the odd month - had pushed the sandstone and shale rocks beds into spectacular chevron folds. These can be seen right along this stretch of coast to beyond Crackington Haven.
My guidebook now said " the path now stays on the cliff top all the way to Crackington"
Reading that, I may have been mistaken to think that it was a nice stroll in the sun for a few miles, but it failed to mention some very steep climbs up and down across various valleys, although with the sun still shining - the surroundings were lovely and very photogenic. Subsequently, my progress was quite slow - with numerous photo opportunities. I hadn't had such a nice day for awhile as you will have seen from the photos on this blog.
So dismissive was my path guidebook, that at one point, I thought I must have passed Crackington Haven without realising it ! A ridiculous notion - but when I was thinking that I should have reached my destination by now, I kept being faced with more severe drops into places unmentioned.
But finally, I reached Pencannow Point from which there was a tremendous view of Crackington Haven spread out below and the long stretch ahead towards Tintagel, which would be for another day.
Crackington is a very small former port which used to have a water mill and imported limestone and exported the slate from nearby Delabole. It was quite bustling with day trippers and half termers.
Public transport on a Sunday is non-existent in Cornwall at this time of year, so I had arranged to contact the taxi man I had used the day before. Finding a phone that worked was a struggle - but the very nice lady at the Combe Barton Inn let me borrow her phone - so the least I could do was sink a quick pint while I waited.
Mr Taxi man, whose name escapes me - was a mine of information about Bude and the area and I gleaned quite alot of information in a short space of time about the various characters from the Inn on the Green where my car was still parked. My lips are sealed. When we reached the Inn, the eccentric "George" was the centre of attention enjoying a pint in the outside beer garden - yet another extrordinary ornament entwined in his nicotine stained facial hair!
It had been another successful weekends' walking, I was now just 3 miles short of halfway around the whole path!

North Walk: Finally back to Hartland Quay to Bude

2009-03-03T01:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday 14th February: I had been putting off this stretch - it was supposed to be the hardest days walk of the whole 630 miles - maybe 8 - 9hrs of walking. So apart from anything else -I was waiting for a decent weekend weather -wise. So, since the New year I have been concentrating on the Southern stretch - in fact I had reached Hartland Quay back on October 26th. It was also a difficult place to get to without transport. The last bus from Bude - my destination - was 17.00hrs and that only took you to Harland village - 3 miles away from the Quay itself. I didn't want to be rushing and worrying about the 5 o clock deadline - so in the end I decided to get to Bude at the crack of dawn - and arranged for a friendly Taxi man to ferry me to Hartland Quay. I left my car outside the "Inn on the Green" in Bude - where I had booked a room for the night - and Mr Taxi man duly arrived on cue and I was back on the path at 8:00am. Hartland Quay is a wonderful location - even on a miserable damp day. It is usually very windy - but this day - it was pretty calm - and I was banking on a dryish day.

At this point - I might mention that you won't see any photos from the first 2 hrs or so of my walk - as at the end of the day, when my camera card was full - I managed to delete them by mistake!!! - Plonker - first time I've done that - must have been tired.

Hartland Quay has an interesting past - it had been a working harbour up until the 19th Century and had 3 lime kilns and a Malt House. The amount of trade and commerce warranted opening a small bank which operated until 1833. The Inn has had several names over the years - and was once closed due to excessive drinking - I wasn't there - honest.

The first part of the walk to Speke's Mill Mouth - I had done before. After heavy rain - there is a dramatic waterfall here - but you only get a really good view of it from the beach - and with a long walk ahead of me - I didn't make the detour.

Apparently - I would be crossing 8 valleys during the day's walk - all from high cliff points. The scenery over the whole stretch of North Devon has been splendid - and today was no exception - and infact I was soon to cross the border into Cornwall.

The first place to head for was Welcombe Mouth. On the way, I disturbed a Buzzard on it's prey - a rather mangled looking rat, I think - didn't examine it too closely.

The drop down to Welcombe Mouth and the valley of Strawberry Water was very steep. Welcombe Mouth was one of the few easily accessible parts of the coast on this stretch and there were some surfers getting ready to ride the waves.

A steep climb out of there and before I knew it - I was on the way down again towards Marsland Mouth and halfway down the path was a small stone building which my guide book assured me would be open and where water is provided daily! It was a seaside bolthole for the writer, poet and playwright, Ronald Duncan - known mostly for his work with Benjamin Britten and for being a staunch pacifist. In the early 1900's he set up a Co-operative farming enterprise near Welcombe - but this ultimately proved a failure. I might have got this information from his stone hut - but it was firmly CLOSED.

At Marsland Mouth, a small bridge took you across the River Marsland - and you pass from Devon to Cornwall in a few strides. At Marsland Beach - there was yet another waterfall.

For the next hour or so - it seemed just a succession of ups and downs to small mouths and included a long climb up to Henna Cliff - the second highest sheer cliff drop in England - second only to Beachy Head. Shortly I reached the turn off to Morwenstow - a small village with pub and cafe - but not open at this time of year. I knew I was about halfway to Bude at this point - some people split this section in to two and halt at Morwenstow. I was making good progress and felt particularly energetic for some reason. A little further on - there was a National Trust Sign pointing the way to "Hawkers Hut" This was a small hut made out of driftwood by the Reverend Hawker - the rector of Morwenstow Church in the 1830's - where he used to sit smoking Opium in quiet contemplation. Hawker was a legendary eccentric. He is known to have dressed up as a mermaid and excommunicated his cat for mousing on Sundays. He dressed in claret-coloured coat, blue fisherman's jersey, long sea-boots, a pink brimless hat and a poncho made from a yellow horse blanket. He frequently talked to birds, invited his nine cats into church and kept a huge pig as a pet.

Just a regular sort of guy - his main claim to fame was to be the man behind the institution of Harvest festivals.

The path zig zags on down to Tidna Shute before reaching Higher Sharpnose Point - where you could walk out on a very narrow path to have a superb view inland with outreaching views of large parts of the coast in both directions - see rain splattered panoramica below.

I had about an hour of light rain now - but just got my head down and pressed on. The steep descents and lung busting climbs seemed to go on and on. What made it worse was the condition of the paths which were often a quagmire - and made the walking even more difficult. Some of the paths were obviously used by horseriders - and with all the rain, they had churned them up. After a while - shortly after passing across a scenic valley known as Duckpool I was looking at a large stretch of sands which seemed to go the whole distance to Bude and I got the impression that the worst of the walk was over. This was Sandy Mouth - obviously a very popular spot confirmed by the National trust cafe and car park. It was a beautiful sight - the sands and waves rolling in and there were plenty of dog walkers taking advantage. The path passed along the grassy low cliffs behind and the walking was fortunately much easier. It was only another 3 miles to Bude now. The B&B that I had chosen was at Crooklets Bay which was on the Northern outskirts of Bude itself - and my walk for the day virtually ended at it's front door, which I was glad of. Before that - as I was stumbling down the path thinking of a hot bath - I bizarrely bumped into someone I knew - Steve Lewis from Fourway print - out walking his father's dog. I apologised for looking like a tramp - I had only just scraped myself off the path having completely lost my footing and sat down in a bog!

At the hotel - I peeled off my boots and left them outside - an older couple were booking in at the same time - and the woman seemed quite appalled at the vision in front of her - Smelly wet socks - and a seatful of mud.

It was 15:30pm - I had done it in 7.5 hrs, so was quite pleased at that - and back well in time to have a good hot bath and still see England play Wales in the 6 Nations.

I was reminded that I was now in Cornwall - when I discovered that all the male members of staff were wearing black, below the knee shorts, white socks and trainers! - bizarre. The Bar was a good place to watch the rugby - and I stayed and enjoyed a decent meal. One resident at the bar took my attention - he was an old tramp of a man with long scruffy grey hair, but amazingly, with a bright red heart shaped bauble hanging from his straggly beard. He turned out to be the local village oddity - called George ( they are always called George) - and was obviously on the pull!

There was going to be a Valentines Disco, but unlike George, I wasn't up for that - and crashed out for an early night. 15 hard miles done - another 12 to do the next day.

South Walk: Torcross to Salcombe

2009-03-02T06:04:00.000-08:00

Sunday February 1st: I had my own private Taxi service today - Mum and Dad - the forecast was looking a bit dodgy with tremendous winds although staying dry. Having checked it out - it seemed that the wind would be behind me most of the way - but it was pretty cold. So M&D kindly got up a bit earlier than they might normally and we got to Torcross for 9:00am. It was blowing an absolute Hooley - with thunderous seas as Mum joined me on the front at Torcross, struggling to stay upright.

It was a 13 mile walk to Salcombe - one which I wasn't particularly looking forward to given the conditions - but I left Mum holding on to her hat and climbed the steps out of Torcross next to a row of attractive houses and a Cafe which must get pounded every Winter with the full force of the sea. The next point of call was Beesands to be followed by Hallsands. Beesands has a small Ley behind the beach and alongside a scattering of houses. The spray from the pounding seas was blowing a long way inland - so there was no escaping a soaking. I wasn't lingering - so kept full steam ahead across Tinsey Head towards Hallsands. The path here went across the back of the beach which was still being washed by the vigorous waves - so I had to pick my way across at the right time to avoid a soaking. The original site of Hallsands village was right at the seas edge - but was pretty much destroyed by 2 storms in the early 1900's - so is now just ruins which you can get a glimpse of. A new small development of smart marineside properties has been built overlooking the bay with the main village now being slightly inland.

The path headed away from Hallsands up onto the cliffs heading for the Lighthouse of the very prominent Start Point. Here it was actually quite difficult staying upright with the wind blowing straight off the sea.

It was such a horrendous day, weather wise - that I wasn't expecting to see too many weekend walkers - but I did spot a lone car parked at the Start Point Car Park - and a few miles later, met 2 young guys who were hoping to walk to East Prawle and get a bus back! - On a Sunday - not a hope in hell - so I put them straight on that and suggested they would just have to turn round and walk back. I could have walked with them - but to be honest I was wanting to make quick progress - so didn't want to be held up.

From here to East Portlemouth across from Salcombe - is some of South Devon's finest coastline - very dramatic - but would have been so much better if the sun had been shining! Although - a coastal walk in extreme winter conditions is always very exhilirating. The wind was blowing me on from behind which I was glad of as I headed for Lannacombe Bay. I couldn't remember walking this part of the coast before - although I am familiar with most of the South Hams coastpath. I did recognise the Maelcombe House - a very large Estate house with sweeping lawns ending right at the cliff edge- a superb location but very exposed. My next milestone was going to be Prawle Point where there was a Coastwatch Lookout Point. I was ready for some lunch - but needed to find somewhere sheltered as it was so cold in the wind. It was only later in the afternoon when I was back at Thurlestone that Mum said " Why didn't I pop in and see the man at the Coastal Lookout Station" - apparently - he quite likes having visitors - might even have made me a cup of tea! I thought he would have probably told me to bugger off - so I found a large rock to crouch behind instead.

Suitably refreshed and feeling quite cold - I quickly got back in my stride continuing towards Gammon Head and Gara Rock. The former large Gara Rock Hotel is no longer in existence - it used to be a good place to walk to from East Portlemouth on an inland path. The path went around the back of the beach at Gara, Seacombe Sands and from there the path undulated around various rocky points with various small coves towards the mouth of the Salcombe Estuary.

Salcombe is rightly the jewel in the South Hams Tourist crown. It is also the place that we used to come to on holiday back in the 70's - and subsequently having fallen in love with the area - Mum and Dad decided to move lock, stock and barrell to the South Hams, although it is only in recent years that they are now right on the coast. Mill Bay and the beaches in close proximity were always a favourite of mine - catching the ferry across from Salcombe.

As I walked around the point and into the estuary - Salcombe was a welcome sight - and I was hoping that the Ferry would be running. I had made good time - and was over an hour earlier than I thought I would be. The path passed across the back of Mill Bay with views across to North and South Sands - and then went up onto the road into East Portlemouth. I dropped down the steps to the Ferry Point - no sign of any ferry activity - but suddenly at just before 2:00pm a few other people turned up and I could see the Ferry leaving Salcombe. It seemed colder than ever - but probably because I had stopped walking. It was a choppy dash across the estuary - one chap got absolutely soaked by a wave. Once across - I dived into the Harbourside pub and ordered a welcome pint and savoured the log fire. Phoned Mum and Dad who were very suprised that I had arrived back already and by the time they arrived to pick me up - I was in a little cafe enjoying a hot Cappuccino.

South Walk: Dartmouth to Torcross

2009-03-02T04:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday 31st January: I'm getting used to the early Saturday starts now. It was a cold windy one - headed straight to Torcross - the cunning plan was to leave the car there and get the first bus of the day to Dartmouth harbour. Got there in good time - once again met the "convenience facilitators" at the public car park - I keep bumping into them - that's the people who have the splendid job of being responsible for opening up the Public Toilets first thing in the morning! Someone's got to do it.

I parked right next to Slapton Ley nature reserve - a well known attraction for bird watchers and conservation area. It was a nice ride on the top deck of the bus back to Dartmouth from where I headed out from Bayards Wharf and up towards Warfleet and Dartmouth Castle. I took the lower path which ends up at the Castle itself and St Petrox Church. The Castle is 15th Century and now owned by English Heritage. In the Summer - you can get a ferry straight to the Castle from Dartmouth harbour. There was a little Cafe open at the entrance and a couple of dog walkers making good use of it - one of whose dogs seemed to to to take exception to my presence. There were several signs exclaiming SAVE CASTLE COVE and a lady explained that after bad storms awhile back the path to a small cove at the foot of the castle had been destroyed and they were campaigning to get the council to restore it - as it was a popular and safe bathing place for the local residents.

I pressed on - it was a miserable drizzly grey day - and the path headed out to Blackstone Point at the mouth of the Estuary with good views across to Kingwear Castle. At some point I somehow missed a turn off and was gaily heading along a well trodden path towards Redlap for a mile or so before I realised that I hadn't seen the well know Acorn path symbol. An old gentleman was heading towards me - and I made the mistake of trying to explain that I thought I was on the wrong path and of course he couldn't understand why I was insisting that I was going to have to head back in the opposite direction to where I was headed because I had in effect missed out a portion of the path.

Anyway - that's what I had to do and eventually I was back on track. This was quite a scenic section of the coast - but what followed was an unfortunate detour inland to Stoke Fleming missing out a whole section of coastline which was obviously privately owned with no public access.

At Stoke Fleming - they have tried to improve the route through the village - and only ended up confusing the whole thing with signposts all over the place - and I ended up heading out of the village in the wrong direction - so it wasn't a good morning all round. The path was on the main road for awhile before spurring off to drop down to Blackpool Sands - a very popular summer destination.
The Venus Cafe - part of a Group which open all year round - was a convenient coffee stop although it was too cold to hang around long.

From the Sands - the path climbed up following the road - giving lovely views of the bay and then dropped into Landcombe Valley. This section was relatively new having been opened in 2005. There were a few small coves that you could spot further down -but then the path again headed inland towards Strete picking up the main road again. From here it was a straightforward walk down to the start of the long Slapton Sands and along to Slapton Bridge at the start of the Ley Nature Reserve. The sea was pounding in as the wind got up on this exposed stretch. From here it was still another 3 miles to Torcross the path following the edge of the Ley and parallel to the beach. This is a popular spot for Dog walkers and weekend wanderers alike. I could have carried on really given it was early afternoon - but the path headed away from the bus route - so there wasn't any convenient stopping places before Salcombe 13 miles away! - and that was going to be the next day's walk. Torcross, of course - is famous for the American Sherman Tank which sits in the corner of the Car Park - it was used in D day landing practices on Slapton beach - was lost at sea - but then recovered in 1984 and acts as a memorial to the many American lives lost during the landing practices.
So back at the car park, I headed off to Thurlestone to take advantage of Free B& B facilities with Mum and Dad - another 11 miles done.

South Walk: Brixham to Dartmouth

2009-02-08T22:55:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-08T11:07:00.000-08:00

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.

South Walk: Starcross to Torquay

2009-01-20T12:23:00.000-08:00

Sunday January 11th The official route from Exmouth, is to take the Ferry across to Starcross, but given that it isn't running at this time of year - I have made an early start and driven to Starcross, and parked near the ferry landing point. The sun is still rising and in my half asleep mode, I have left all my walking guides at home - so bought a map from the local newsagent. It was a grey day, but dry and I planned to make quick progress in the morning and try and get to Torquay before 4;.00pm in the afternoon. Why the deadline - a football match of course - MU v Chelsea - thought I could watch it at Torquay, legs permitting! From Starcross - its a fairly boring trek along the main road until you reach Dawlish Warren. I would be following the railway line, all morning, on what is a dramatic piece of track, being so close to the sea. Good old Isambard Kingdom Brunel - engineered the construction of the whole line from Paddington to Penzance.

The sea was on it's way out - so at Dawlish Warren, I joined the path along by the sea wall. Dawlish Warren is a bit of a dive, with various holiday parks, chalets and grockley things. It does have a large Nature Reserve though and is an important stop over point for many migratory birds in Spring. The walking was flat and I made rapid progress along the wall to Dawlish itself. the town is quite pleasant, dominated by the Station and railway, which arrived in 1846. It's very popular in the Summer, but at this time of year its Closed! - I couldn't even find anywhere open to have a cup of coffee!

I climbed up the hill out of Dawlish, which gave good views looking back towards Exmouth and the coast stretching back towards Lyme Bay. Next stop was Teignmouth and my route was dependent on the tide. As it was well on it's way out -I took the path down Smugglers Lane, underneath the railway line and joined the path along the sea wall to Teignmouth. This was another long straight level stretch - so I got into 5th gear and before long, I was in Teignmouth and and looking for the first Cafe, I could find. What looked like a good old English Greasy Spoon turned out to be run by Mr Foo Chan Woo who had a chinese restaurant on the first floor! Catering for all tastes, you could call it - more like a Chinese Greasy Chopstick! As I suspected my Toast, Bacon and Fried egg was a bit of a disaster. The bacon was more like a slice of tough ham, the egg was crucified, the toast soggy and the cappucino was wet and warm - apart from that, I enjoyed it, being rather famished. I resisted the temptation to give Mr Pok Yan Wok a brief cookery lesson on how to present a good english - and made my way towards the ferry point. This was to take me across the Teign Estuary to Shaldon. I had googled the ferry, the previous evening, to check whether it would be operational. I was suprised to learn that it is one of the oldest running Ferries in England, with records dating back to the 10th Century! I hoped that they had invested in a new boat during that period.

The first thing I saw at the Ferry Point - apart from the lack of people, was a sign saying FERRY CLOSED from Jan 12th for one month for repairs! My heart sank, as I was on a tight time schedule - and knew the walk across the bridge would add another hour - but it suddenly dawned on me that today was the 11th - so great timing again. The Ferry duly turned up as did another couple of customers - and deposited us on the beach at Shaldon. It was a grey miserable morning - and the whole area looked pretty dull - the view back to Teignmouth is dominated by industrial warehouses and the working port . Shaldon is much prettier and gets very busy in the Summer . There are some scenic cottages and narrow streets. I headed up from the beach towards the Ness Hotel which has a splendid location overlooking the whole estuary.
It is a steep climb out of Shaldon up onto the red sandstone cliffs overlooking Ness Cove and with brilliant views - well on a nice day anyway! My next target was Maidencombe - and then on to Babbacombe and St Marychurch on the edge of Torquay.
The path was quite hard on this stretch - alot of climbs up and down- but I kept up a good pace - and reckoned I would be at Torquay well in time for the match! There was a distinct lack of other walkers - but that wasn't suprising, as it was a pretty miserable day.
Maidencombe is another popular tourist spot - thatched cottages, cream teas and a nice sheltered beach. I didn't linger and sped on up a twisting wooded path through the Valley of Rocks and towards a small place called Watcombe. From there it was across some open grassland and down some steep steps to Oddicombe Beach which is around the cliff face from Babbacombe beach. It was a strange place to find a very ugly looking cliff railway which takes you up to Babbacombe Downs - and was obviously built for lazy people who couldn't be bothered to walk down the hill to the beach!
From here - I had to decide at what point to leave the path and end the day's walk. The path through Torquay is a long one - all around Hopes Nose, Thatcher Point and to the promenade - and having walked about 15 miles - it was going to be too far. In the end, after consulting the map - i could see that near a place called Ansteys Cove, the path was very close to a main road and a car park, so it was a suitable place to start again on another day. As it happens there was a bus stop right on the road - and after a 15 minute wait - I got a bus as near to Torquay rail station as I could.
I had though that time permitting, I could get the train back to Starcross and see the match there - but I'd just missed a train - so after consulting a taxi driver - made my way to a large sports bar - which had a massive 10ft HD screen - allowing me to see every pustulent pimple on Ronaldo's annoying face, as he was interviewed pre-match! Enjoyed the first half - and then legged it back to the station and made my way home via Starcross - another leg completed.

South Walk: Sidmouth to Exmouth

2009-01-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

Saturday January 10th 2009!! Well Christmas has come and gone - my belts are a bit tighter and with all the Calendar nonsense over and done with - I am glad to be back on the path with two thirds of the whole walk still to do.

We are in the middle of a real cold snap - so I made sure I had ample warm clothing before heading back to Sidmouth for an early start. It was going to be a bright crisp day - once the sun had come up - but at 7:45am it was still very cold and Sidmouth was deserted - not a Zimmer frame in sight.

From the end of the promenade - I joined the Clifton Walkway path around the sheer redstone cliffs to reach the well known Jacobs Ladder and Connaught Beach.

With the first steep climb out of Sidmouth - I could tell I hadn't walked much for a few weeks - but the exertions warmed me up and I was soon back on the pace and heading across High Peak Cliffs en route to Ladram Bay. This was still Jurassic Coast territory and very dramatic it was, in the early light of the day.

What rather spoilt the stunning coastline was the " boil on the baby's backside" that is Ladram Bay Caravan Park! It is the most incongruous piece of tourism that you could possibly conceive. Scattered along the coast path are splendid signs promoting the beauty of East Devon and Ladram Bays Jurassic Coast - but not one picture shows the valleyfull of tourist tin cans. It is a real shame - but, if you can put up with your immediate surroundings of cooped up kids overdosing on Coca Cola - it would make for a splendid base for a holiday - with the emphasis on the word "base".

The Rock formations at Ladram Bay reminded me of the area around Lulworth Cove, albeit in red! Beyond the Caravan Park the stretch towards Budleigh Salterton was very scenic encompassing an old smuggling route called Brandy Head and Chisel Bay.

This was a path that I had walked before, but many years ago and it didn't take long to reach Budleigh Salterton - again - a familiar place. The path headed inland up the mouth of the River Otter to a bridge crossing over and then down the other side to reach Budleigh seafront. This is a splendid area for birdwatching, and there are several hides available for twitchers to chill out.

Budleigh is very picturesque with splendid Georgian and Victorian buildings and a long stony beach.

It was definitely time for a Coffee stop - and Budleigh is a perfect for place for an old fashioned tea room. I am sure I would have had a splendid Cream Tea at the "Cosy Tea Pot" but it was too early for that - so settled for a lovely round of toast and butter instead.

Back on the path - it was another 5 miles to reach Exmouth - and plenty more Redstone cliffs to enjoy. unfortunately, before I reached Exmouth, there was Sandy Bay to navigate. Of course, I have seen this abomination of a Caravan Park before, so it didn't come as a great suprise, - yet another Devon Council's planning disaster area - a complete scar on the landscape that should just be flattened, or alternatively the whole lot could be relocated to Dover - with the addition of 10ft high barbed wire, it would make a splendid immigration centre for asylum seekers!

Eventually, I dropped down from the cliffs to the start of Exmouth's promenade. By now, it was quite bright and had warmed up considerably, so the beach was full of dog walkers and people enjoying the sea air. As I strolled along, I bumped into Marie Weeks and her daughter Lauren. They were busy looking after two young boys. Lauren cares for them, one day a month on a regular basis and they are both autistic, so need alot of looking after. Of course, on a nice day - the sand at Exmouth is a great attraction and apparently kept the youngsters well amused. Marie was well agitated, as she had just had to brave the Gents Lavatory so that one of the boys could spend a penny! The Ladies was closed. Where's Jeff, when you need him!

I pressed on towards the Quay. The main SW coast path route is to take the Exmouth - Starcross Ferry across the Exe, which is a bit strange as I thought it would have gone up the estuary to Topsham. Anyway - being out of season, the Ferry was not in service, so I decided to get the bus back to Sidmouth and pick the car up and then make my way round to Starcross. As it happened, by the time I'd done that - the afternoon had nearly gone - so decided to make an early start in the morning!

South Walk: Charmouth to Sidmouth

2008-11-16T04:15:00.000-08:00

Saturday November 8th: Several weeks have passed since Michael Ricketts and I trudged into the village of Charmouth on the South leg of the walk. The plan for this weekend was to try and reach Budleigh Salterton on the Sunday, weather permitting, and for today, get to Branscombe.

I planned to stay at Branscombe overnight, although it had proved tricky finding a suitably priced B&B - but would sort it out en route. So transport wise - decided to leave the car at Exeter and made my way to Charmouth via train to Axminster and then the Bus. Got back on the trail at 10.00am - although the original coast path between Charmouth and Lyme is actually closed due to insecure cliffs, so had to head out of Charmouth the same way that I had just come in by Bus. The path then headed through some woods and across Lyme Regis Golf Course. It was a nice bright morning, albeit pretty windy and fresh.

Lyme Regis viewed from approach from Charmouth

It didn't take long to reach Lyme.

This is a place I know well. As a family we had holidays here, mind you that was 40 years ago! - but also I have some former work colleagues from my days with the Star Newspaper Group who live here, and in fact I was here last August to celebrate the marriage of my friend Peter Greenwood's daughter, Rebecca, and also, on the same night - the 60th birthday of my old boss Philip Evans, - a former Mayor of Lyme Regis, no less, and there have been numerous boozy occasions in Lyme over the years, it has to be said.

I took the opportunity to pop into a new shop that had been opened earlier in the year by renowned Westcountry photographer Richard Austin, who I had worked with at the Star and also met up with at Philip's wedding. He has some stunning photos and has become somewhat of a local celebratory with the publication of his "Animal Magic" books and TV appearances.

The walk along Lyme seafront is always a nice one and there were plenty of people enjoying the sunny morning. The sea was pretty fierce and crashing up around the famous Cob.

From Lyme, the path moves back up onto the cliffs before entering the Landslip nature reserve, a 7 mile winding path through woods, with only a few viewpoints of the sea. It was atrociously muddy and difficult walking, but I didn't hang about - and made good progress finally reaching the outskirts of Seaton at lunchtime, crossing yet another Golf course and dropped down to head for the Seafront.

Received a text from Stevie J at Peninsular - to say that Arsenal were beating Man U by 2-0 in the lunchtime Sky game. So as I was being blown along Seaton seafront and spotted a bar with Sky - it was a no brainer to pop in for a quick refresher. It was packed of course, and as usual I proved to be a rather unusual sight for the locals, with my mud spattered legs and backpack. I should really have arranged to meet up with friends Peter and Ann Greenwood who live in Seaton, and had offered to put me up, when I was passing through - but I'd left it too late and didn't want to land on them unannounced , so decided to carry on through to Branscombe. I had by this time, made several phonecalls to a Farmhouse B&B in Branscombe to no avail - so still without accommodation fixed, I headed on for Beer, which was just over the cliffs from Seaton. The weather was a bit unsettled now.

Beer is a very quaint place - pretty unspoilt and a good old fishing village. The walk from Beer to Branscombe is one that I have done on many occasions and is very scenic. By now, the wind had really got up and it was "hold you hat" time. I took the lower cliff path which takes you past all the chalets and mobile homes which are wonderfully positioned on the approach to Branscombe Mouth.

I have always fancied owning one of those.

Eventually, I reached Branscombe, legs pretty weary - another 14 mile stretch done. The Farmhouse B&B had got the decorators in - but had mentioned a place near the mouth. Branscombe village itself is up a steep hill which I could have done without, so I poked my head into the "Seaside B&B" a beautiful thatched building. The accommodation was superb but pricey to match. I tried to haggle with the price, but having been shown a suite with a bathroom bigger than my lounge and a lovely big bath - I decided to treat myself. The chap showing me round explained that it was his wife's business, so he couldn't negotiate for fear of instant death, which I could appreciate. It did occur to me that his wife would have probably taken one look at me and said that they were fully booked!

As it turned out, I was the sole occupant. My biggest problem was trying not to leave a trail of mud around the place, as everywhere was pristine. Had a relaxing evening - a great meal at the Masons Arms and fell asleep in front of Match of the Day. Some things never change.

Sunday November 9th - I was the first one down for breakfast, which wasn't difficult as I was the only resident! Met the owners wife who seemed very pleasant - turned out that thay have only recently refurbished the place and were quite new to it all. I told her, she would probably have to refurbish my room again, and she laughed manically! I didn't hang about and quickly got back on the trail, as I knew I was going to be in for some rain later. It was dry but very windy and the first big hill out of Branscombe was a bit of a struggle, but I soon got in my stride. The stretch to Sidmouth seemed to consist of several "Mouths" which had to be descended into and then climbed out of!

About mid morning - I could see that the heavens were going to open any minute, and the sensible thing would have been to get into the wet weather gear before it started - but no - I waited until it was heaving and then had to find a spot under a tree to attempt to put my waterproof trousers on!

-which involved taking boots off, sitting down - a right palava in the pouring rain. The next hour was pretty uncomfortable - I was wet on the outside and wet with sweat on the inside, but I got my head down and before long I had reached Salcombe Regis, at the edge of Sidmouth.

If it had been a decent day, the view across to Sidmouth was a nice one. I'm pretty familiar with Sidmouth, having worked there for several years in what seems a former life. It is a very pleasant place to work, even in the Summer, apart from when the International Folk Festival is on. During that particular week, it is difficult to concentrate on work, with a succession of Morris Dancers prancing through the streets with their ridiculous bells and gay attire. Apart from the Morris Dancers, who in my opinion, should be locked away for their own good, the Festival is a superb event which attracts people from all over the Country and Internationally renowned acts from all over the world.
After descending Salcombe Hill - I was eventually on Sidmouth seafront and the waves were pounding in as the weather took another turn for the worse. I had intended to carry on to Budleigh Salterton, but it looked pretty black in that direction and with time against me, I decided to head for the bus stop. My car was back at Exeter and I didn't have to wait long for the bus.
The Silly Season at work was now in full swing - so will be hanging the boots up for a few weeks and putting my Calendar head on!

North Walk: Into North Devon's Hartland

2008-11-02T13:12:00.000-08:00

Sunday October 26th : Clovelly.

Woke up to pouring rain and a text message from Stevie J from work, telling me that Ramos had been sacked and replaced by Harry Rednapp!! That's got to be a wind up I thought, and with no TV or radio to hand, I had to phone him to check the story. After a hearty breakfast, I donned my full wet gear and headed off up the cobbled streets and westwards out of Clovelly. The owner of the Hotel had assured me that it would clear up mid morning, so I was looking forward to some spectacular coastline around Hartland Point and would have 11 miles to walk to reach Hartland Quay.

Still pondering the Rednapp scenario, I texted Michael Ricketts and got it confirmed - how could I have doubted it, nothing should suprise you in football.

The route out of Clovelly passed through some woods and then out into open fields with a clear view of the splendid large house, Clovelly Court. The Path kept close to the sea through wooded clifftops with occasional vantage points including a hidden stone tunnel which led to a splendid viewpoint.The path eventually wound it's way down to Mouth Mill with it's unusual double arched Blackchurch Rock.

Here the path should have led straight across the beach, but there was so much water running down onto the beach from a stream, that it had formed an impassable torrent. However, I made my way inland to a deserted stone cottage which had a small bridge across the stream. There was a steep climb out of Mouth Mill and and up to Windbury Point where you could see all the way back across Bideford Bay towards Morte Point. It was satisfying knowing that I had walked all of that way albeit in stages. The next point to reach was Shipload Bay, 3 miles further along the windswept cliffs.

A large Radar Dome loomed on the horizon at the end of Shipload Bay and the path passed around the Radar station and behind Barley Bay towards Hartland Point. By now, the sun had appeared and Lundy Island was clearly visible.

Hartland Point with it's old lighthouse is one of the most scenic parts of North Devon. It also had a refreshment snack bar which was a welcome sight. The lighthouse is closed, but you can walk up to a coastguard station viewpoint.

From here to Hartland Quay was a breathtaking walk. The sun was shining, the sea was pounding in, and it felt good to be alive. Although, I didn't realise it, the wind was biting cold but I wasn't staying still enough to worry about it. The path dropped right down into Blackpool beach where there was a lovely old cottage which was obviously for self catering - and what a brilliant location. The path then went up to the ruins of the Warren tower with the church tower of Stoke in the background. From here it was a short walk down to the Hotel at Hartland Quay where I was glad to see my car.

The seas here pounding the rocks with some spectacular spray. After a quick pint at the rather rundown hotel, I made my way back to Uffculme with the Spurs v Bolton match commentary on the radio. Good timing again, and they won.

Hartland Quay Hotel pictured

North Walk: Ho Hum - it's off to Clovelly

2008-11-02T04:12:00.000-08:00

Westward Ho at first light.

Saturday October 25th
Another early trip up the North Devon link road. I had worked out a cunning plan with regards to bus links and parking for the weekend. Once I reached Clovelly and beyond to Hartland, the Sunday bus service was non existent, so I would stay the night in Clovelly. It was going to be day of great contrasts - starting at Westward Ho, a famous family resort named after the novel of the same name by Charles Kingsley and ending at one of Devon's most scenic and well preserved old villages.

Meantime, the first bus to catch was the 7.42am from Bideford to Westward Ho. I was going to leave my car at Bideford , as I knew I could catch a bus back to there from Clovelly, which was my target for the day. It would only be 11 miles from Westward Ho - but quite alot of ups and downs as usual. I struggled to get out of bed that morning - it was below freezing, although the forecast wasn't too bad, but I was convinced that I would miss the bus, which wouldn't have been a disaster, but the schedule was tight for the day in order for me to get the right bus back from Clovelly later on. As it happened, as I rolled into the Quay car park at Bideford, the bus turned up opposite. In a bit of a rush, I put the wrong amount of money in the Car park ticket machine, and fumbled about for more change - ended up buying two tickets, hoping the warden would see that if he added them both up - they would amount to a later time in the day!!! - are traffic wardens that clever? - I doubted it - meanwhile, the bus was sat there waiting for the right time to depart, so I needn't have rushed - in fact I still had time to go back to the car for my walking pole. Anyway - it was a beautiful if cold start to the day - and Bideford Quay looked very scenic with the sun rising and lighting up the cottages across the estuary.
At Westward Ho, I grabbed a couple of warm croissants from the Co-op and was on my way.
Once away from the beach huts and caravan parks it was a climb up onto the green clifftops and then a straightforward path heading for Peppercombe Beach. I could see my destination, Clovelly away in the distance, the other side of the large curved ark of Bideford Bay which stretches from Baggy Point to Hartland Point. As the guide book said, it was further away, than it looked, and I would appreciate that more later on in the day!

One of the features of this part of the coast is the number of Lime kilns situated close to the shoreline scattered along the coast.

Another feature was the enormous number of Game Birds. Now, I have met a few game birds in my time - but this was ridiculous. They were springing out of the vegetation in all directions.

At Babbacombe mouth the path went right down to the stoney beach which was strewn with sea litter, mostly plastic of course. It was well away from the tourist route - so I imagine that no one bothers to clean it up.

From here it was a nice stretch to Peppercombe. I was quite pleased that my new boots were holding up well - always a risk, although I had been walking them in all week. Unfortunately, the day's walk was one of the muddiest after all the rain - so they didn't look new for very long. By mid morning, I had warmed up sufficiently to break out the knobbly knees and from Peppercombe headed up through some scenic woods towards the isolated village of Bucks Mill - a poor mans Clovelly. Apparently there used to be alot of inter breeding between the close community at Bucks Mill, so I was expecting to see a village full of half wits and unfortunates. It was a lovely approach to the village climbing down through the woods and suddenly seeing the white cottages. The path ended up right in the middle of the village and there were lots of children playing noisily outside. They all seemed to have the right number of limbs, and I wondered whether they realised how lucky they were to grow up in such a scenic, out of the way place. In fairness they probably hankered for a Macdonalds and a Go Karting track!

From Bucks Mill, it was a long lonely stretch to Clovelly, mostly along Hobby Drive which seemed to go on forever through the Clovelly Estate.

I had been to Clovelly before - it really is beautiful, but by the time I got there - the sun had disappeared and the visibility was poor. The whole village is in private ownership and you enter through a Visitors centre where they fleece you for several pounds just to get into the place. However, if you have walked there - you pay nothing. I arrived in good time for my intended bus back to Bideford - so enjoyed my first coffee of the day and deposited several large chunks of mud off my boots in their cafeteria! I felt quite knackered and put it down to the fact that I hadn't walked the previous weekend so was out of practice. I booked a B&B over the phone. The woman thought me a bit strange ringing from the Visitors centre a few hundred yards away - and even stranger when I said I was getting a bus to Bideford, picking my car up, driving to Hartland Quay, and then getting another bus from Hartland back to Clovelly. Good luck she said. I am now pretty familiar with North Devon's Bus Services and they seem pretty good.

Back at Bideford, the good news was that I hadn't got a parking ticket. So drove to Hartland Quay, where it was blowing an absolute Hooley. The seas were superb. Hartland Quay consists of a large Inn and is no longer a working harbour. The plan was to walk from Clovelly to Hartland Quay on the Sunday and have my car waiting for me. I made sure that they were happy for me to leave my car in their car park overnight and sorted out my overnight clothes. I was faced with a 2.5 mile walk to the village of Hartland to catch the bus, which I didn't fancy to be honest.
It was up a steep hill out of the quay for a starter and having walked about 11 miles....so I flagged down the first car leaving the car park - and the chap who it turned out worked at the pub gladly gave me a lift and dropped me off right at the bus stop. The only problem was that there was an hour to wait for it - so there was no choice but to head for a local hostelry for a couple of pints in front of a welcoming log fire.
Arrived back at Clovelly about 6.30pm and got shown to my room, which was very roomy and had a lovely big bath with loads of hot water - bliss - I even managed to wash my mud caked trouser bottoms as well - took them off first of course!
Spent the evening at the New Inn Hotel bar across the road and then wandered down the slippery cobbled path down to the famous harbour which was deserted. The locals use sleds to drag things up and down the cobbled path which is very steep in parts. It was nice to see it at night and particularly out of season.

Back up the path to my B&B in the New House. Now, me and locks and keys have a bit of history, so it came as no suprise when I found that I couldn't open the external door to the accommodation.
I was conscious that there was a lady having a fag outside the bar watching as I fumbled about with each of the three keys looking to all intents and purposes like a drunk trying to get back into his own house. After a few hopeless minutes, I peered at the lock and it seemed that there was a key already in it! I conceded defeat and headed for the bar to explain my predicament. The barmaid - said "Oh yes - the other guests broke the key in the door - I told them not to close it" Great - it could only happen to me - locked out of my accommodation, and it was now raining. " I'll see if I can break in" the barmaid continued cheerily and grabbed a sharp knife. For the next 20 minutes 3 of us attempted to prise open a ground floor window with a veg knife and the light from a mobile phone.
Eventually, one of the locals prised it open and clambered in to open the door from the inside.
Meanwhile the brainless culprits who not only broke the key in the lock but then closed the door were snoring away in the warm and dry of their room upstairs.
The Clocks were going back that night - I was looking forward to bacon and egg in the morning and probably a wet walk to Hartland Quay!

North Walk - Bideford to Westward Ho, Ho Hum!

2008-10-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday Oct 12th - Woke up to thick mist, so waited until later in the morning to head back to Bideford ( plus the Grand Prix was on!)

The plan was to head for Westward Ho which was a short 8 mile walk. From there I could get the bus back to Bideford, which wasn't the case if I had wanted to head on any further. Bideford is the base for heading to Lundy island - a popular trip.

There were some splendid old sailing yachts moored at the quay. The Coast path headed out of Bideford, down the estuary and through a pleasant area of woods before heading inland to avoid a stretch where a sea wall had collapsed and then on to Appledore.

In the 19th Century Appledore was a busy sailing Port and of course is still the home of Appledore Shipbuilders, one of North devon's biggest employers. It is a very pretty village with plenty of interesting back streets and gift shops and well preserved cottages. There is a big row going on at present in Appledore, with many of the locals campaigning against a proposed development of the old dry dock, which would see a large apartment block be built. Although the design looked very stylish, it would obscure many peoples view of the estuary and not really be in keeping with the quaint old village. Let's hope sense prevails, and with the dreaded Credit Crunch in full flow, plans are probably on the back burner anyway.

Appledore sits at the southern edge of the mouth of the Taw estuary. From here - it was flat walking all the way around the headland area - Northam Burrows Country Park and onto the long sands of Westward Ho - another popular surfing area. It was another beautiful day - more like August than October - and despite struggling to get out of bed that morning - I was enjoying walking this part of the coast. Everything always looks better when the sun shines of course.
Northam Burrows was a 600 acre area of Dunes and marshland as well as containing the Countries oldest golf course. Golfers had been losing balls in the dunes since 1846 apparently.

I walked the last couple of miles towards Westward Ho on the beach. The surf looked ideal and there were plenty of boarders trying to catch the waves.

Westward Ho itself is a typical family seaside resort - so not really my cup of tea - although as I had 45 minutes to wait for the next bus - I decided to get a Cream Tea down my neck whilst the opportunity was there, and very nice it was too. About time as well, I thought. This walk has been lacking in Cream teas for one reason and another.

Anyway - that was another 8 miles done - next stop will be the famous village of Clovelly.

North Walk; Saunton Sands to Bideford

2008-10-19T02:25:00.002-07:00

Saturday October 11th - another dawn visit to Barnstaple Bus Station for the first bus back to Saunton Sands Hotel, where resisting the temptation to pop back in and say hello, I headed for the massive beach. There are a few alternative paths for this stretch- but the easiest route was to walk along the sands which stretch out for 3.5 miles! The sun was just rising and it was a beautiful cloudless sky, so the misty early light was superb. There were plenty of other early risers at the Hotel end - mostly joggers and surfers, but as I got further along towards Braunton Burrows, the place was deserted. At this point you are entering the mouth of the Taw Estuary, and for the next two days, I would be walking the complete stretch of both the Taw and Torridge Estuaries and around the headland to Westward Ho.

As I walked along Saunton Sands, I had a good view of Westward Ho and Appledore across the water illuminated by the rising sun. The tide was going out, and for most of the day, I was looking out over the mud flats of the estuary which was a haven for birds.

My target for the day was Appledore - or at least Bideford - and as it was going to be pretty level walking all the way - I was confident of racking up my longest daily mileage so far.

Walking through Braunton Burrows Reserve was all very scenic in the early morning light - and then the path headed down a tributary towards Braunton and around the perimeter of the Royal Marines base of Chivenor who use the Burrows for live firing practise, and apparently the Americans used it as a battle training area during the 2nd World war. I emerged unscathed and headed along the long cycle track into Barnstaple. The path was also the Tarka Trail and a very popular Cycle track. In the summer, it is a bit like Piccadily Circus apparently, without the black cabs! I was suprised at the number of abandoned boats - areas of the estuary were a bit like a tip, but it was probably heightened by the low tide.

By the time I got to Barnstaple - about 11.15am , I felt like I had done a days walk! - not sure why - but I had been pushing it. Had what I thought was going to be a quick coffee stop at a large establishment on the quay at Barnstaple which turned out to be run by a couple of hapless young guys whose speciality turned out to be burning teacakes. The burnt smell which pervaded the whole establishment, wasn't a great advertisement, but I thought I would be safe ordering a Cappuccino. " It might be a while" I was told. My reply of "Will it be ready today, or shall I come back in the morning" wasn't received as well as I had hoped, but then he was busy burning a teacake at the time.

I reckoned then that at a push, I could make it to Bideford, catch the bus back to Barnstaple, drive home and still just about make it in time for the England v Khazakstan game - life's all about timing!

The path from Barnstaple was again on the cycle track and I was looking at pretty much the same scenery but from the other side of the estuary. For the most part, it followed the old Railway line and at Fremington Quay, the old station had been turned into a busy cafe and restaurant.

The next milestone was going to be Instow which was down the Torridge Estuary which was an offshoot from the main Taw Estuary and at this point, I was definitely flagging. Along the way, the path went through an RSPB reserve and I met a professional looking Twitcher who informed me that he had spotted some Spoonbills as well as some King Eider at Instow, which are very rare in Devon apaprently. At that moment in time, I was more interested in spotting a Queen Vic or some other such establishment, being in good need of a sit down and refreshment.

Instow didn't let me down - and there was a well placed pub on the Quay where I could sit outside in the sun, enjoy a pint and watch the world go by. In fact, it was quite difficult to get out of the chair, but having aired my steaming feet and after a complete change of socks- I felt alot better, and started on the last stretch towards Bideford. There was nothing very inspiring about this stretch, and I just got my head down and ate up the miles. The final path into Bideford was across an old bridge over the River Torridge. As I literally limped along the quay at Bideford, I was praying to see the bus stop - and in fact I was even luckier, as there was a bus waiting for me! It was 4:15pm - and I worked out that I had covered 22 miles in 9 hours including stops!

And, I only missed the first 25 mins of the match! Back to Bideford in the morning for the short stint to Westward Ho!

The pic above is the view across the Taw Estuary to Appledor

NORTH WALK - A warm wet welcome at Saunton Sands (Not)

2008-10-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday October 4th - ILFRACOMBE to SAUNTON SANDS.
Another crack of dawn start - and I was at Barnstaple for 6:45am to catch the first bus to Ilfracombe. Had been looking at the weather forecast all week - and it was never going to be good - but I was hoping to remain dry for most of the day at least. I invested in a new Berghaus wet weather coat for good measure plus some waterproof trousers - so I was prepared or so I thought!

By the time the bus reached Ilfracombe, it was just before 8:00am and not raining. There was a very welcoming Coffee Bar just by the Bus Station at Ilfracombe, but I resisted the temptation thinking I would get one at Lee Bay - 4 miles up the coast - some hope - it was like the Marie Celeste - deader than the Norwegian Blue! The walk to Lee Bay was a nice one - although pretty up and down - plus, I got my first taste of rain. It was quite cold as well, so I had been looking forward to that cappuccino at Lee Bay, but all I got was more rain. It's supposed to be a very pretty village nestled in a wooded valley, but all I saw was the picturesque bay and a very closed looking hotel which was all boarded up for Winter. I pressed on heading for Woolacombe.

The first point of interest was Bull Point and the Lighthouse. It was at that stage that I was first aware of how strong the wind was. During the whole day - I was to walk round three very prominent Points, as the coastline did a 90 degree turn south and was totally exposed. At each one - I was literally nearly blown away. It was quite exhilarating, in a perverse sort of way. At one of them - I passed a frail looking old lady who I thought definitely looked like a candidate for being swept up and launched towards Bristol, so I had my camera at the ready, and I was already considering how many hits the footage might get on YouTube, but the moment passed without incident.

The second coastal point was Mortehoe which was just before the fabulous bay of Woolacombe.
Having walked the best part of 6 miles from Ilfracombe and hardly seen a soul - suddenly there seemed to be avid ramblers all over the place - and I could see why, as despite the weather, it was a beautiful area.

Woolacombe was the first of my two Hotel excursions of the day. The Watersmeet Hotel was a large establishment overlooking the bay - and very popular with the over 60's it seemed. I didn't endear myself to their cleaning staff by traipsing across the Wilton weave with my muddy boots and settling myself in the lounge bar. The Daily Telegraph's were slowly lowered as I disturbed the elevenses tranquility and generally lowered the tone of the place. "This isn't a Backpackers" I could hear the Major mutter! I finally found Manuel and tried to order a Cappuccino. It turned out that their modernisation programme hadn't quite reached the stage where the luxury of an Espresso machine was to be considered as essential - but the waiter thought that he might be able to do me a frothy milky number! I said that I would leave it to his discretion, and ended up with a boiling hot weak coffee in a glass that was so hot you needed an oven glove to lift it to your mouth!

Slightly refreshed, I left and headed around the back of Woolacombe Bay, through the large area of Dunes. It was starting to throw it down, and didn't really stop, for the next 3 hours. The new coat got a good christening in more ways than one. There were plenty of surfers catching the waves, although despite the weather the swell wasn't that large - probably because it was about low tide.

At the end of the Bay, the path headed around the back of Putsborough and out towards the well known Baggy Point.
It was blowing a hooley at this point - and it was a case of head down and follow your nose- or bald head to be more accurate!
I was pleased to see that there were quite a few other walkers getting soaked as well - made me feel alot better. I managed to just about stay upright to get round Baggy point and from there you got a good view of Croyde Bay. By the time I got to the beach and Surfing area, I was deperate for a loo - and I only mention this, because it turned out that Croyde was 5 star rating when it came to these facilities. Maybe, all big surfing beaches are the same, but the individual Unisex lavatories were 1st class. They were very large and I did wonder whether the surfers like to take their boards with them, when performing such duties. In fact the toilet was so wonderfully spacious and dry, that I seriously considered eating my lunch there - but it didn't quite seem right somehow - I would have probably been breaking an EEC Health and Safety regulation.

From croyde - it was a fairly miserable few miles across the beach and round the coast to Saunton Sands. I was looking forward to reaching Saunton, as my guidebook said that the well known Saunton Sands Hotel welcomed all - including walkers. As to whether that included smelly soaking wet windswept baldheaded walkers, I was yet to find out! The walk along Saunton Down gave great views down the length of Saunton Sands - another massive beach with flat sands and waves rolling in. Finally the path ended at the road across from where was the 5 STAR hotel. I trudged across the car park heading for the Glass doors of the reception looking forward to a warm welcome.
The two Doorman in full regalia eyed me through the glass. I think only Saddam Hussein or possibly Gazza would have been received with less enthusiasm. I can only imagine the sight that I looked - I had my baseball cap on underneath the large hood of my waterproof - soaking wet shorts, bright red nettle rashed legs and boots covered with sand. I could see in their eyes that they were dreading the thought that I might just be hoping to enter the 5 STAR Establishment. What they knew, and I didn't - was that a Posh wedding reception was in full flow - and beautiful people in beautiful clothes were adorning their beautiful hotel. The last thing they wanted was a smelly steaming sand splattered old sod tramping around in soaking wet socks spoiling the general ambience as well as the furniture!

However - I gave them one of my best smiles - and said " Shall I take my boots off?" - "Oh yes please Sir, if you wouldn't mind Sir" - I like a bit of subservience now and again especially when I am looking like I have just crawled out of a sewer - fair play to the man - a professional through and through. "Where shall I go" I said - and before they could answer in a rude manner, "which bar"?

Unfortunately, there was no hiding place - and I "adorned" the main bar with it's stunning views - with Wedding guests milling about, I tried to hide away as best I could. I was going to have a Cream tea - but that suddenly seemed inappropriate. At one point - the very handsome bride and groom were escorted right past me to head out onto the very windswept patio for some photographs - with two photographers in attendance. Not missing an opportunity for a Blog photo - I leapt up and got a couple of pics of them as they came back - which must have seemd quite bizarre from an onlookers point of view, but it amused me no end.

Another reason for stopping at the Hotel, was the fact that it was also a Bus stop - so after a Pint and a packet of crisps - I was on my way back to Barnstaple. Another 15 miles or so done. Wet and hungry - I was looking forward to getting home. Sunday looked pretty much the same weather wise - so I didn't head back - but will do next week - and I will be heading for Westward Ho - and maybe a Cream tea!!!

SOUTH WALK:- From Abbotsbury to Charmouth - No dodgy knee and No cream Tea!

2008-10-01T12:24:00.001-07:00

Saturday September 27th - and the alarm went at 5:30am for an early start to catch the 7.07am bus from Charmouth. I was heading back to Abbotsbury, where I had arranged to meet up with Michael Ricketts for a days walk to Charmouth. I packed extra First Aid equipment and pain killers in readiness. There was thick mist but by the time the double decker bus with it's 4 occupants arrived in Abbotsbury, most of the mist had been burnt off and it was a beautiful morning. Mike was so keen - he had got there half an hour early -and the village was deserted as we headed down the hill to the Swannery where I had ended my last walk from Portland. There was no sign of any swans, but I had e mailed the Swannery advising them that it might be better to keep the swans locked up rather than risk any more outbreak of Harpenden Bird Flu!

As we headed across the fields towards the beachside path, the fields were full of young pheasants, flying in all directions and I managed to fall A over T , much to Mike and the pheasants amusement. For the first hour we walked alongside what was the end stretch of Chesil Beach and were heading for Burton Bradstock. We were a bit startled to come across a sign saying BEWARE SINKING PEBBLES - TURN AROUND! I did a quick 360 degrees swivel, but I don't think that's what they meant. We kept going regardless of the danger and with reckless abandon. At one point, our feet were sinkng up to 2 inches into the pebbles!, but we were hardened men of steel and laughed in the face of such adversity. After about 10 yards we were out of immediate danger - and before we knew it were at Burton Bradstock beach and the welcome sight of the Hive beach Cafe. This was a splendid place and a Bacon roll and Cappuccino went down a treat. After a flat period of coast since Abbotsbury - the orange mud cliffs cliffs started to rise up and it definitely started to look more Jurassic. As we headed for West Bay, our half way point, we passed through Burton freshwater where there was a large Caravan park - one of many on this stretch. Despite the path clearly heading inland to avoid the waterway carving through the beach, Mike decided that we should be able to head straight on - and we only just avoided having to wade across.

From here it was a steep climb up out of the bay but with splendid views and sheer cliffs dropping down to the stony beach. After a couple more miles we could see the harbour of West Bay stretching out in front of us and an impressive series of cliffs disappearing into the distance beyond.

Being a dedicated athlete, it never occurred to me that we could stop in West Bay for a snifter, but when it was suggested - it didn't seem such a bad idea! But after that - there was not much to hang about in West Bay for, so we started out on the 7 mile up and down stretch to Charmouth!
At one point, as we headed across a flat stretch of grassy clifftop - we were approached by 4 women, one of whom proceeded to stop and start rolling up her trousers in front of me! I asked her whether she was going to trying to show off her War wound, which may not have been appreciated given her dubious age, but it turned out that she had a knee support also - and seemed to think that I might want to see it! Of course, a man with my stunning good looks, is well used to women tearing off their clothes at the sight of me, but it turned out that there were 6 of them in total - all had walked from Lyme Regis and were catching the Jurassic Bus back from West Bay.

Our next stopping point was Seatown, and a much needed rest at the beachside hostelry.

From here we were faced with a long climb up firstly to Thorncombe Beacon and then towards Golden Cap - which is the highest mainland point on the South coast.

Silver Cap on the other hand was complaining of "pains in his buttock" - well enough said!
It was a tough climb up Golden Cap, but the views on the way up were spectacular and even more so from the top where you could see for many miles in all directions

It was quite crowded at the top, as you might expect on a sunny Saturday - and we could clearly see our destination of Charmouth about 3-4 miles away. The thought of a nice Dorset Cream tea in one of the many Charmouth tea Houses was a welcome boost to our tired legs and painful buttocks.

On the final descent to Charmouth, we had been warned of an inland diversion around a cliff landslip, but in fact a fellow walker kindly informed us that it was easily circumvented, so we stuck to the original path and were soon at Charmouth Harbour bustling with day trippers stuffing their faces with ice cream cornets. Our walking mission accomplished, the next mission was to find somewhere pleasant for a Cream tea. Let's head up to the main Street, I said - there will be loads of places! I was wrong, so we ended up in the pub again! I had chalked up another 16 miles - the Dorset Health Authorities hadn't been required and it had been another beautiful sunny day - so all was well. After replenishing some of the lost fluids - I gave Mike a lift back to Abbotsbury. He is threatening to join me in Cornwall for another section of the walk, dodgy knees permitting!

Next week, I shall be back up to the North coast to Ilfracombe and heading for Barnstaple!

NORTH WALK:- Combe Martin to Ilfracombe

2008-09-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday 21st September - Back to Combe Martin bright and early, grabbed a quick Cappucino and toast and marmalade at the excellent beachside cafe and then started back on the path at the small beach heading for Watermouth and ultimately Ilfracombe. It was to be an easy morning's walk - just 5 miles. Ilfracombe was a good stopping place as it was on a bus route - plus I had a lawn that needed cutting, not to mention a football game that had to be watched! having said that, it was such a beautiful day, and I was feeling pretty energetic, so I almost wished that I had planned to go further.

On the way to Watermouth,I spotted a figure plodding along ahead of me. I recognised her immediately as the lady I had passed the previous day on the long walk to Combe Martin from Lynmouth. This time, I stopped and had a chat. Heather was her name, and she was on a 6 day walking holiday having started at Minehead, carrying her stuff and staying along the way. She was certainly lucky with the weather - probably one of the best weeks of the Summer. I left her to plod along at her own pace - she was going to do another 12 miles that day - so was obviously pretty fit.

Watermouth was very scenic - a small fjord like harbour, and a perfect base for sailing. Apparently, it was a hive of activity during World War II when they carried out trials for a secret Wartime Operation.

At low tide - the path carried along the edge of the water, but as it was almost high tide - the diversion was along the busy road before rejoining the cliff path for a short period past Widmouth Head and Rillage Point and then again back onto the road to head down into the small seaside village of Hele.

From Hele it was a pleasant walk up to the top of Hillsborough which provided panoramic views over Ilfracombe, which looked very inviting and scenic from a distance. But then I was probably looking at the best part of Ilfracombe, the old harbour and I've since been reliably informed by someone who lives nearby, that Ilfracombe on the whole is a dump, and the hotels are full of unemployed layabouts from Liverpool! Well, I have yet to confirm that - but it looked nice from where I was walking.

Ilfracombe is actually the largest holiday town along this North Devon coast and has been a fishing port since the Middle ages. It was a nice walk from the viewpoint of Hillsborough down to the harbour itself, which seemd a hive of activity - with some large old fashioned rowing boats engaged in a race around the harbour, and various small saling boats scuttling around. Looming over the harbour is Lantern Hill and a small chapel of St Nicholas dating from 1300. I had decided to take the first available bus back to Combe - so didn't have long to look around. One of the downsides of the mission to complete the walk is that sometimes you are concentrating so much on getting the miles done, that you miss out on the sight seeing and don't go out of your way to see things that normally you would.

Anyway, apart from a look inside the Chapel - I don't think there was much at Ilfracombe to miss - I got myself on the bus, pretty much on schedule to make it back from Combe Martin in time for the lunchtime Chelsea v Man U game. In fact I walked in to the pub at Sampord Peverell, just as the teams were walking out onto the pitch. That's what I call timing! - Next stop - down to the South Coast again to Abbotsbury, where Mike Ricketts is joining me for the stretch to Charmouth. The Dorset branch of St John's Ambulance has been put on standby and all leave cancelled!

NORTH WALK - Back to Lynmouth

2008-09-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday 20th September - and I'm back up on the North coast at Lynmouth, where I had walked to with Keith and Teresa during my 50th party week. I had parked my car at Combe Martin, my end destination of the day and caught the bus back. The path started again at the foot of the famous Lynmouth to Lynton cliff railway - a very eco-friendly railway carriage lift which works entirely by gravity with two carriages going up and down in tandem due to their weight difference. It was a beautiful morning with superb clear light and as I climbed the numerous steps up to the cliff top, the views down to Lynmouth and back towards Porlock were superb.

At the top of the steps you reach a high level path known as the North Walk which then takes you all the way to the well known landmark - the "Valley of the Rocks" and vantage point of Castle Rock. Being a nice day - there were plenty of walkers out and about as well as some Mountain Goats that roam the area. Also roaming the area was Jim Frost! I had passed Jim, who was ambling along the North Walk and he commented at the speed I was walking, I said I would soon be slowing down - and a little bit further on as I stopped for a drink, we got chatting and ended up walking together for the rest of the morning - as far as the Hunters Inn at Heddons Mouth.

Jim, it turned out, was from Bristol and a keen walker himself, he was taking advantage of the weekend's good weather to explore this particular area. It was good to have his company, (even though he was a Gooner!) - somehow, when you are walking and talking, the miles seem to pass alot quicker. We passed through the Valley of the Rocks after enjoying the view from Castle Rock and then headed towards Woody Bay through a very pleasant woodland trail passing the magnificent Christian retreat of Lee Abbey.

The whole of this stretch of coastline is some of North Devon's finest and it made for enjoyable walking. We eventually reached Heddons Mouth and I joined Jim for a drink at the splendid Hunters Inn which was just a bit inland up the river. Funnily enough, we ended up sitting next to a chap from Germany who was walking the Coast path for the second time. He had first walked it 30 years ago! and had come back for a couple of weeks to do part of it, and was going to eventually complete it all again in the opposite direction.

He left us heading for Combe Martin, and I thought I would probably catch up with him at some point, but I never did. I also parted company with Jim, who was heading back to Lynmouth and rejoined the path at Heddons Mouth for the 8 mile stretch to Combe Martin, the first part of which was a very steep climb out of the valley!

The route along this stretch is described in the guide as "long and lonely and without refreshment" and it certainly was long, but having had 2 pints of lager shandy and with a cheese and pickle sandwich in my backpack, I was laughing all the way! There weren't manyother walkers on this stretch, but I did pass a lady of mature years with quite a large rucksack who was obviously on a mission. She was plodding along rather slowly, so I just exchanged pleasantries, barged her out of the way and sped on my way. Having started the whole day later than normal - I was keen to get to Combe Martin before dusk and had been intending to stay there, but hadn't actually booked anywhere.

The last three miles to Combe seemed to take for ever, partly because it involved a long descent down to sea level, only to have to climb up again to a point know as Great Hangman which is in fact the highest point of the whole SW path, and named thus apparently because legend has it, that a Sheep Thief who had a stolen sheep tied about his neck, was resting on a boundary wall, when the struggling sheep leapt off, thus strangling the blighter. Ewe could make that up!

It was nearly 7.00pm when I limped into Combe Martin car park, which was right on the path, so I didn't have to go far to fall into my car. Couldn't be bothered to trail around looking for a B&B - so made my way back to Uffculme thinking of a hot bath & a large G&T!

SOUTH WALK - Swanning along - a nice Sunday stroll

2008-09-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday 14th September - woke up early at my dodgy accommodation in Weymouth. Breakfast wasn't part of the deal - so got up early, cleared out of the room and made my way to the Esplanade. It was another beautiful morning - and I found a beachside cafe where I was delighted to see that Bacon Rolls were on the menu. Unfortunately, I was too early and the cooker wasn't turned on!!

I could have suggested that now might be a good time to turn it on, but bit my tongue and had a healthy energy bar instead. Found out the best place to catch a bus to Portland and was soon standing at the Ferrybridge Inn, the intersection between Portland and the coast path, East and West. I wasn't best pleased to discover that I had left my Map (in it's splendid waterproof map carrier case) on the damn bus seat. I knew I wouldn't see it again, I had ruined the Bus Drivers day by giving him a tenner for a £1.20 fare. He wasn't a happy bunny - cleared him right out of change. So seeing my map on the seat would have pleased him no end.

Anyway - today, I was heading for Abbotsbury - a straightforward 10 mile walk which mostly followed the edge of the Fleet lagoon, a shallow area of saline water which lies behind the bank of pebbles along Chesil Beach. The lagoon is an important conservation area and haven for birds.

It was a pleasant walk if not spectacular and on such a nice day, there were plenty of other walkers. Met a very nice couple blackberry picking who lived nearby and were moaning about how many people there were! They were the archetypal Lord and Lady of the Manor, but very pleasant and wished me good luck on my travels.

After about 6 miles - the path started to head inland in a loop which would end at Abbotsbury. I was putting my foot down, as I knew there was a bus I could catch at 13:21 from Abbotsbury. As it turned out - I got there with 10 minutes to spare - so was quite pleased with that. The path ended at the entrance to the famous Abbotsbury Swannery, from where I headed up to the village.

The last time I visited Abbotsbury, it was with my friend Michael (F1 Dodgy knee) Ricketts. A couple of days later, the Swannery was hit by Bird Flu. You can draw your own conclusions.

Although I had timed it perfectly for the bus , unfortunately it was then 40 minutes late! During which time, I could have eaten a Sunday Roast and downed a well earned Lager. Instead, I ended up spending the best part of an hour having to listen to a couple of simpletons who joined me at the Bus Stop. It became apparent, that they were brother and sister. She looked "simple" - he looked like an Axe wielding maniac. The conversation went like this :

Him " Why have you got a Bus Pass, I don't agree with it, I haven't got a Bus Pass, if I asked for one they would say drop dead and eff off, so why have you got one. In all my 41 years on this earth I've never known anyone who doesn't pay for a bus, I don't agree with it, if I asked for one, they'd say drop dead and Eff off." Her " Mum's got one" Him I've never known anything like it, don't go on about it, I'll throw the bloody thing in the sea, I will, I'm not joking, in all my 41 years, I've never known anything like it. I wish I'd never come on this holiday, I'd rather be at home in Weston. Where's the Bus - there should be a bus every 5 minutes this time of year . Why have you got a Bus Pass and not me, don't go on about it, because it will end up in the sea, If I asked for one they'd say drop dead and Eff off " Her "Mum's got one" Him " I've never ever waited so long for a bus - in all my 41 years on this earth, I've never waited this long for a bus, there should be one every 10 minutes this time of year. Why should you not pay for the bus, I have to pay, everyone has to pay, why don't you pay, in all my 41 years, I've never known anything like it, if I asked for one they'd say drop dead and Eff off. Where's the bus, there should be one every 10 minutes this time of year. I've never waited so long for a bus...........

I haven't exaggerated any of that and was rapidly losing the will to live when the bus did turn up. I sat myself down and they proceeded to plonk themselves right next to me - I thought I'd better move otherwise I couldn't guarantee that there would be a 42nd year of his life!

I was soon back in Weymouth, got back to the car and made my way home. I'd covered another 26 miles. Now it's time to get back up to the North coast - to my last end point, Lynmouth, from where I will head for Combe Martin, along what is meant to be one of the best bit of North Devon's coast.

I'll keep you posted!

SOUTH WALK:- My first Sunny day - and I'm off to Portland Bill

2008-09-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday 13th September and I'm back in Weymouth - this time in the sun and it looks a whole lot better, although I'm not rushing to book 2 weeks at the Hotel Riviera quite yet! I headed back to the Esplanade and the Jubilee Clock where I last left the path.

Weymouth used to be a small fishing village in years gone by, but grew into one of the countries favourite seaside resorts as well as an important harbour. King George III used to spend his summers in the resort, and there is a very smart statue commemorating his patronage. I headed out from the Esplanade towards the old harbour, where I was too early to take advantage of a small ferry which takes you across to Nothe Fort at the mouth of the harbour. I walked the long way round and then headed out around the headland towards Wyke Regis. I was heading for the start of the long straight road onto the Isle of Portland. This has only been officially designated as part of the SW path since 2003 - and was a total of 13 miles from the start of the main road in at the Ferrybridge Inn from where I would pick up the path next time to Abbotsbury. The road onto the island follows behind the impressive bank of pebbles of Chesil Beach which extends for many miles down to Abbotsbury and beyond

After slogging along the 2 mile causeway path - the first point of interest on the Island is the new Osprey Quay Centre and Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy which will be the venue for the Sailing events of the 2012 London Olympics. An alternative path took you through this centre which seemed to be a hive of activity. From the harbour, I headed up towards Verne Prison where there were splendid views back towards Weymouth. It was good to be able to see a massive stretch of the Dorset Coast that I had already walked - all the way back to St Aldhelms Head.

Portland was a mix of scruffy MOD buildings, various establishments for offenders and some interesting coastline with an impressive escarpment which was obviously popular for rock climbers and abseilling teams. With it being a lovely sunny day, there were plenty of walkers, many doing the whole trip round the Island and others on various round walks from Portland Bill itself which was very crowded and spoilt by having a plethora of large Beach huts ( or small chalets) scattered around in a random fashion. It looked similar to the Shed/Summer Chalet area of a large Garden Centre.

The main feature was the impressive Lighthouse, in front of which was the sign (pictured left) showing Poole 49 miles!

The path from here along the western side of the Island was very wild and scenic along the top of the escarpment with far reaching views along Chesil beach and back towards Portland harbour. After 3 miles the path dropped down onto the promenade and I was heading back towards the Causeway. The 2 mile stretch back to Ferrybridge seemed to take for ever, but I had spotted that there was a bus stop within 50 metres of the path intersection, which would get me back to my car in Weymouth. My mood wasn't enhanced by 3 buses passing me in quick succession when I was still half a mile away from the Bus Stop! Fortunately I didn't have to wait too long.

I had decided to stay the night in Weymouth, but finding a vacancy wasn't that easy. I eventually plumped for a grotty looking pub and had the sort of bizarre incident that only really happens to me! After asking the barmaid if I could look at the room before deciding - she gave me the key to Room 9 and pointed me in the right direction. I had a bit of trouble getting the key to unlock the door - but it turned out to be a lovely large modern double room clean and bright - in complete contrast to the rest of the pub. En Suite but no bath unfortunately - but it seemed ideal for £35. Even so - I decided to try a couple of other places ( desperate for a bath!) No luck - so returned to the pub - paid for the room and she gave me the key back. I spent 5 minutes trying to get the door open again but eventually admitted defeat and trudged back down 2 floors to the young barmaid. I glanced at the key fob and could see that the key was for room 6! so I told the girl that she had given me the wrong key, an easy mistake, 6 for 9 . No she said - Room 9 is a double room - you are in Room 6 which is the single! She proceeded to take me back up the stairs to Room 6 - a grotty little poky hole with no en suite. I was too tired to argue - and came to the conclusion that I had probably been a complete plonker going to Room 9 in the first place which had obviously been unlocked, although mysteriously, my key had locked the door afterwards. I would swear she told me it was Room 9! Anyway, I crashed out on the bed and enjoyed "Strictly" and X Factor for a couple of hours - good recuperation fodder.

The pub had a live band on that night so there was no point in going to bed early - 3 ageing rockers doing covers - they weren't that bad - so me and the other 10 people in the pub quite enjoyed it! I would swear that the other 10 would have been propping up the bar anyway.!

SOUTH WALK:- From stunning cliffs to hot dog whiffs!

2008-09-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

I had planned to walk all weekend - but Saturday was a wash out after the torrential rain so on the Sunday, 7th Sept, I was up at 5:45am to get on the road early to Lulworth Cove, where I finished up on my very first weekend of walking from the Poole end. The roads were deserted so I was back on the coast path by 8:15am heading out from the Heritage Centre up towards Durdle Door. It was another cloudy day, but good for walking. The plan was to walk 11 miles to Weymouth. The first part of the walk was pretty up and down, but with stunning coastline. Durdle Door itself is one of the most photographed areas of the Jurassic Coast with it's unusual semi circular bay and massive natural arch caused by erosion. Apart from a couple of dog walkers, the place was deserted . The next few miles were just as scenic with sheer drops of white cliffs. It was quite comforting being able to see my destination ahead of me at all times. Weymouth stretches out to sea with a long curved bay ending with Portland Harbour and the Isle of Portland Bill joined to the mainland by a long causeway built next to the raised pebble ridge of Chesil Bank to the West.

After a few miles, I reached the village of Osmington Mills. Bizarrely, at this point there was an alternative "inland" coastal path which goes for 16 miles to the village of West Bexington - so for 16 miles you see no coast at all!! - an inland coast path!! - that's ridiculous - so it was a no brainer to give that a miss and from here on - the path meandered through a series of fields and woods until it reached the outskirts of Weymouth at Bowleaze Cove. With all the rain, the paths were slippy and progress was slow - I slowed up particularly after an unfortunate incident where my feet went one way, my body the other and suddenly I was wearing a hedge! Fotunately, or otherwise, there was no witnesses to the undignified nosedive. A few miles further on and I suddenly realised that within a couple of hours, I had been transported from Jurassic natural beauty to Moronic grockle territory.

Candyfloss, hot dogs, stripy deckchairs, and fat Northeners were suddenly in abundance. On a grey September day - Weymouth looked pretty grotty.

Suddenly I had reached the main promenade - which followed the curved bay. I seemed to attract a few strange looks as I marched along with my walking poles, map around my neck, backpack and knobbly walking knees! Which mountain had I just descended from - I could see them wondering. By this time, I felt I'd walked far enough, so was glad when I reached the Jubilee clock on the Esplanade- my end destination of the day. From here, I headed for the train station, and within 20 minutes was on the Weymouth to London train getting off at Wool. Unfortunately, being a Sunday, the only way to get to Lulworth Cove from here was to use a Taxi. I upset the taxi driver by trying to barter with him - £12 seemed a bit steep for a 5 mile journey - but it was either that or walk! So after a 5hr walk - I was back where I started in 40 minutes. Next weekend - it's back to grotty Weymouth - and carry on around the Isle of Portland.

NORTH WALK:- Mein Head takes a bashing - only another 580 miles to go!

2008-08-31T03:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday August 26th: Well - here we are - a motley crew it has to be said - at the Official start of the SW Coast Path in Minehead - where I was starting my "North" walk of the entire path. The start of the path is commemorated by a metal sculpture representing a pair of hands holding a map. A map was definitely needed as painted on the path by the sculpture were two arrows going in completely different directions! - but it turned out that they have changed the official route since putting the sculpture up.

I was joined by (L-R) my brother Roger, an old friend (in both senses of the word) Bill Duncan, sister-in law, Teresa and my eldest brother Keith - plus their faithful hound Ed for whom it was just another "walkie" It was Tuesday 26th August - and we were all still recovering from a weekend of excess, celebrating my 50th birthday! Friends and family joined me at "The Great House" in Timberscombe, nr Dunster for a House party and BBQ. A good time was had by all, one of the highlights being me cracking my head on a beam, when I got a little over enthusiastic during a Karaoke/Air Guitar competition with my friend Michael Ricketts. We won, as it happens - all down to my guitar technique of course! But Timberscombe was also the perfect location to carry on with my walk, only being 5 miles from Minehead and with plenty of willing Taxi Drivers to pick us up at the end of the days' walking. The first stretch from Minehead was a modest 9.5 miles to Porlock Weir.

Notable absentees were Bill's partner Patricia Radway - who spent the day preparing for a forthcoming Job interview AND more importantly - preparing to cook us all a Pasta supper on our return. I think the sight of my knobbly knees and varicosed legs at breakfast confirmed that she had made the right decision - the pasta was good by the way! Also unable to join us was Roger's partner, Kim Laughton who was distinctly unwell with some sort of virus/stomach complaint all weekend, which was a great shame. Roger and Kim had come over specially from Holland for the party and enjoy the week in Exmoor - but the bug laid her pretty low.

So the five of us set off and after a couple of steep climbs through woods out of Minehead we were on the cliff path heading for the village of Bossington. It was not long before we came across an alternative path - there seems to be quite a few of these - permissible options to the Official SW Coast path - often more scenic and closer to the actual coast. This one was described as "Rugged" and in theory was an additional extra hour of walking - but unfortunately was also supposedly prohibited to Dogs - being an area of wild conservation. Ed was pretty wild about it himself to be honest - he loves a rugged path. So we decided to split up and Roger, Bill and myself - (3 more rugged guys you would be hard to find!) took the alternative, whilst Ed, Keith and Teresa stuck to the official path.
NOTE PIC : Roger - Rugged Aussie Hat - "Sheila" Backpack
It was a beautiful walk through heather laden valleys - strenuous in parts - but worth the detour - and we met up with the others at Hurlstone Combe for a lunch stop

After that - it was on to Bossington Village and then a steep incline down towards Porlock Marsh - a saltwater marsh which had formed after a terrific storm many years ago which breached the Pebble ridge on Porlock beach and flooded a large area inland - which still floods periodically after spring tides when the path becomes impassable.

From here it was level walking all the way to Porlock Weir, where we joined the pebble beach for a short stretch and could soon see arms being waved at us manically from the Car Park. My parents and Kim were waiting for us - we had agreed it would be about 4:30pm by the time we got there - in fact it was 4:29 - that's what I call timing - and we were greeted like long lost adventurers having crossed the Antarctic, when really we had just strolled along the coast a few miles - but we all wagged our tails appreciatively and headed for the Ship Inn for some well earned refreshments.

What should have been a simple round of drinks turned into a drama, as the Barman, who was Polish of course, and had been breathing rather heavily and sweating profusely, proceeded to inform us that he had just been stung by a wasp to which he was allergic, and was in the throes of anaphalytic shock. Expecting him to keel over at any moment - we made sure he finished our order promptly, and then left him to it. Personally, I think he had just been having a dalliance with a member of the kitchen staff - and had rustled up a cunning ruse to elicit sympathy and a fat tip!

TWO DAYS Later we came back to Porlock Weir for the next stretch - a 12.5 mile walk to LYNMOUTH.
This time, it was just myself, Keith,Teresa and Ed who was now a big fan of the SW Coast Path

Much of the days walk was through woodland areas - just inland, with occasional glimpses of the coast through the trees. The path had been altered due to landslips - which seems to be a common problem throughout the route. After a couple of miles we came to the delightful thatched Worthy Toll House - still taking tolls from car owners - and a little bit further on - Culbone Church, which appears in the Doomsday Book and is the smallest church in England, still holding regular services. Not enough room to swing a choirboy - you could just about get 30 people in apparently - or perhaps just 15 American Tourists. The woods surrounding the church once housed a Leper Colony - but they weren't allowed in the Church - there were too many fingers inadvertently left in the collection bowl apparently.

After a brief stop - we headed on towards the Glenthorne Estate where there was a delightful Lodge with very impressive Boar Head Gateposts. Some steep paths up and down followed as we then headed for Foreland Point - where there was an alternative and apparently very strenuous path to a lighthouse, suitable for people with Mountain Goat like qualities. Having just walked 10 miles - we decided to give that the body swerve - and pressed on towards Lynmouth

The last stretch was perhaps the most scenic - or would have been on a nice day, with views stretching out across Lynmouth Bay. We finally bowled into Lynmouth about 5:00pm and were met by Roger and Kim who had spent the afternoon there. We managed to have a nice cup of Tea without encountering any Anaphalytic Poles and headed back to "The Great House" Timberscombe.

Another leg of the walk had been done - next up is to head back to Lulworth Cove and from there walk to Weymouth and around Portland Bill - I'll keep you posted .

SOUTH WALK:- The Start - Only 602 miles to go ....

2008-08-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 2nd:- After boring everyone for months with my idea to celebrate reaching the half century - by doing something a bit different - I have finally started my SW Coast Path walk and will now continue to bore you with blogs and numerous pictures of cliffs, beaches, large areas of blue sea, and other coastal attractions. The idea is of course to raise some money for a good cause - so I hope you will also visit my Charity Page - check out the Widgety Didgety Wotchamacallit Doofer link which is at the top right hand corner of this page. My chosen Charity is The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation - who work on environmental projects throughout the world. Their Patrons include David Attenborough, Dame Judi Dench , Gary Lineker, David Gower, Phil Collins - a good line up for "A Question of Sport" ! There are some useful links at the bottom of this page.

I actually started at what officially, is the finish of the SW Coast Path - South Haven Point - just across the water from Sandbanks, Nr Poole. It was Saturday morning - August 2nd - raining persistently of course. Note the splodgy drops of rain on the accompanying pics! I was joined by my old friend, Mike Ricketts and his brother-in-law Paul Foreman who together with his wife, Karen very kindly put me up for the weekend. Not only that but Karen was our Daily Taxi service - so many thanks to them both and to Mike for arranging it. The plan was for all 3 of us to walk all day Saturday and see how far we could get - and then start again from the same place Sunday- well that was the plan!

The first part of the walk was across the beach at Studland Bay - a notorious haven for Naturists apparently. How many naked bodies did we see - not a single wrinkled winkle - not a single sagging mammary, but then it was 8:30am in the morning and pouring with rain! ! - still after that disappointment we cracked on up onto the cliffs, passing the dramatic Old Harrys Rocks, and after several miles, our spirits were bolstered by arriving in Swanage ( and how often does that happen!) where we had a quick coffee stop and lo and behold Mr Sun put his hat on! On the path down to Swanage - we had passed a young lady in a hurry. She was on her final stretch to complete the whole path, having started on june 16th - 6 weeks flat out - about 15 miles/ day which seemed pretty good going.

As we started to climb out of Swanage and onto the dramatic cliffs of the Jurassic Coast, my good friend Mike , started to suffer from blisters, a bad knee, itchy bottom - you name it - he had it. Nothing to do with the fact that the following day was the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix , I'm sure! For Paul, however - this was literally a walk in the park. Having spent 20yrs in the forces, Paul had always been fit - but has recently taken part in the Dorset Doddle - a race from Weymouth to Swanage - just a mere 31 miles - and also completed The Three Peaks challenge. That involves walking up and down Snowdon, Scafell and Ben Nevis in the same day!!! He and his daughter Harriet, completed the challenge and also raised £1000 for a local charity - brilliant. Paul is not only fit but also well prepared - so Mike's blister was soon patched up and we cracked on through Durlston Country Park and headed for a well known landmark - Dancing Ledge where the waves "Dance" over a flat ledge in which has been carved a small swimming pool!

It was a beautiful afternoon - the sun cream was plastered on and we headed for Winspit and St Aldhelm's Head. At Winspit - Mike veered off and limped inland to Worth Matravers where there was a Pub and a possible cream tea! Resisting the urge to follow, Paul and I carried on, our end target for the day was Chapmans Pool beyond St Aldhelms Head, which was close by to a Car Park - hence the ideal picking up point!

Along this stretch of coast - there are numerous old quarries and remains of war time buildings. Also Tilly Whim caves - long since closed to the Public. Tilly was apparently the name of a former Quarry worker - and a Whim was the name of the wooden hoist used to move the Quarry stone into the waiting boats.

The view towards Chapmans Pool Bay was superb and we rounded the headland to reach the path inland to our meeting place at West Hill. We had walked 16 miles - that felt like quite enough to me, for the first day. Our "Taxi Service" arrived pretty much spot on time - and we headed to Corfe for a well earned Cream tea - the first, but definitely not the last of the walk!

DAY 2

Paul and I were up at 6:30am - ready for an early start - no rain - but damp and misty. As for Mike - he carried on snoring - victim of the Dodgy F1 Knee. The plan today was to try and reach Lulworth Cove . We drove to West Hill, left the car to be picked up later, and by 8:00am were back on the very damp path with the outstanding views obscured by the mist. We were going to walk a modest 12 miles - but along the way - there were several demanding climbs and this section of the path was described as "Severe" by my SW Coast Path handbook. The first climb got rid of the previous day's aches and pains. The initial part of the walk was along a stretch known as the Kimmeridge Ledge where the dramatic cliff are composed of Kimmerdige Clay, a blue-gray shale traversed with distinctive bands of cementstone and a 3ft thick band of bituminous oil shale.

Slightly off putting was the fact that the path was not only quite close to the sheer cliff drop in places - but also had massive cracks all along it . That section of the path is disappearing into the sea on a regular basis apparently. I shall recommend it to Mike, as a walk that he MUST do!

Just before we reached Kimmerdige - we passed Clavel's Tower - a lighthouse shaped folly from the 1800's - it has now been dismantled brick by brick and moved back 25 yards from the crumbling cliff top. It will soon be a superb Self catering unit - completely isolated on the cliff top.

Kimmeridge itself was a hive of activity. The Dorset Wildlife Trust were setting up for a "Seafest" day - celebrating Marine Life . Kimmeridge has an excellent Marine centre - and years ago had a thriving shell fish industry. What it doesn't have is a single bench or seat of any kind - so we sat on a wet log and refuelled.

The next point of interest was a "Nodding donkey" a small oil well - which apparently was once the most productive on-shore field in Britain. And then we entered the Lulworth Army range - a part of the coastal path which is sometimes closed - but always accessible at weekends.

At some point we bumped into a few fellow walkers - there weren't many as it was a pretty foul day - but one of them tagged along with us - a "diamond geezer of a cockney" called Ray. It turned out that he was training for a trip to Everest Base Camp! - so he was walking most weekends - up to 8hrs at a time - and this particular stretch of coast was ideal - with several short but "Everest" like climbs - although slightly lacking in snow, and despite advertising extensively, he had yet to find a Sherpa to hire!

Ray walked with us all the way to Lulworth Cove - and seemed pretty fit already for a 56yr old.

One of the most scenic areas was around Mupe Bay, and then we walked along what is known as the "Fossil Forest" - where you can see large fossilised tree stumps all along the beach - and ammonites are quite common. Millions of years ago - this area was an inland lagoon surrounded by forest apparently - all very well documented at Lulworth Cove Information Centre - a popular Tourist spot - which we reached at about 13:00pm after tramping across the pebble beach - always a killer!

Our "Taxi Service" arrived - slightly late - so wont use them again. Mars Bars and coffee all round went down a treat and the first part of my walk was over - 28 miles - we worked out that we had walked about 2.5 miles / hr - across quite a varied part of the coast - so knowing that I can now more easily plan my start and stop points.

There will be no "Taxi Service" in the depths of Cornwall.

Next walk will be from the START of the path - up in Minehead - where I shall be heading for Lynemouth. - I'll keep you posted!