Week 2

Day 6 - Barnstaple to Westward Ho! Mileage 18 miles. Cumulative mileage 84 miles.

Having had a restful day yesterday on my day off and recuperated by having a decent couple of night's sleep at the Old Vicarage B &B I set out with renewed vigour. A continuation of the cycle path lead all the way to Bideford, a lovely town with a narrow street and quay wall. This was once a thriving port. Some larger houses suggest wealthy suburbs.

Looking at Appledore from Instow 

Passed through Appeldore, a village once noted for its ship building until the works were destroyed in a fire. However I did also walk past a Babcock operation, which continues to build sections for ships.
On arrival at the quay I saw the ferry (a 12 seat motor launch) returning passengers to Instock, just across the water. If I had taken the option to use the ferry myself I could have saved 6 miles walking down one side of the estuary to then return back on the other side to reach Westward Ho! (I should have felt guilty for doing this).

Westward Ho! (the only town in the UK to have an exclamation mark) was, on initial impressions, a town full of amusement arcades, not unlike the campsite where I have pitched tonight. However I did enjoy a beer in a swanky new bar; and an excellent meal in the pub adjacent to the campsite.

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Day 7 Westward Ho! to Clovelly 11.25 miles Cumulative mileage 97.75

No more rain just sunshine for today's walk. However the walk was muddy underfoot making my pace a little slower. Today's walk took me ever so close to the cliff edge with warning signs indicating potential rock falls always in view. Few people were out today so my company today was provided by a flock of pheasants running along the path in front of me. If I got to close to them they would fly off a rejoin me a little further on. They thought this was a great game.

Looking back at bay near Peppercombe

Pheasants were my companions for the day

Tonight's campsite contains just 2 camper vans and me in a large field with no pubs to visit. I am therefore on the Internet catching up with emails and news plus weather websites to while the time away. Will have an early night allowing me to make time to visit Clovelly Village, known for a very steep cobbled street and not permitting cars.

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Day 8 Clovelly to Hartland Quay 11.5 miles cumulative mileage 109.25

The villagers had obviously left the Queen's Diamond Jubilee bunting out for my arrival

Pleasant walk down the cobbled street of Covelly. Very quiet as nothing seemed to open until 10:00. Even the pub did not open until midday so I had to make tracks and leave the village to the tourists. The first half of today's walk took me through pleasant woods and fields along the coast where the sea was so blue and the track was a little less muddy except for areas where cows ate at their troughs. They have 4 hoofs, we have only 2 feet. Amazing how they therefore churn up the mud to leave me with red mud all over my shoes and half way up my legs.

Having stopped at a small refreshment hut at Hartland Point I changed course to follow the coast down to Hartland Quay where I discovered just one pub but a great campsite whose residents included a friendly Dutch couple in their early 30s. Shame I could not accept their invitation to join them at the pub for a meal but I had things to do like have a shower, microwave a pasty and write my blog.

The coastline is now more rugged and undulating so I look forward to tomorrow's trip down to Bude. It is supposedly the most challenging walk on the SWCP!

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Day 9 Hartland Quay to Bude 15.5 miles cumulative mileage 123.75

Excellent day. Had a mixture of easy going roads and fields ; plus strenuous hill and sometimes rocky climbs and then descents. It always amused me that no sooner do you walk down to a stream and cross a bridge do you then have to go up again, but that is the nature of these rugged cliffs on the coastline border betwen Devon and Cornwall.

Had an "out-of-mind" experience. Stopped for lunch, perched on a very blowy cliff top. Spoke with the couple sitting there at a table. Discovered that the wife, Karen was an old schoolmate of my Sister's! How coincidental is that?!!!

Karen with her husband.

After today's challenging walk I was able to relax after a shower and a very large cheese and coleslaw salad with a refreshing raspberry and mango smoothie.

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Day 10 Bude to Crackington Haven 10.2 miles cumulative mileage 134 miles

Having had a filling breakfast including scrambled eggs and a berry smoothie I first walked into Bude to explore the town, which is built around a sandy quay. having passed some pretty houses (one built in 1820) I climbed a steep, hilly grass covered path to reach the grass covered cliffs to proceed onto Widemouth Sand (another surfing beach).

The remainder of the walk was along steep but pleasant grass hills up and down between various cliffs that dominate this area of the Cornish coast, with only the occasional day walker or herd of cows to communicate with.

 One of the steepest climbs of the day was the climb up Pencannow Point before descending down a steep decline into the village of Crackington Haven. The vegetation was coarse but included a blanket of heather in purple and yellow.

Having had a hard day yesterday and having discovered that the only pub in the village of Crackington Haven provided B&B, I could not resist the landlord's offer of a hot shower, wi-fi and large screen TV, to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics.

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Week 1

Well here we go!

I shall also let you know how I feel having completed the walk, in my last post.

Anybody interested in viewing further details about the South West Coast Path can locate them here.


Fantastic "boyhood - type" journey into Minehead on a steam train. Journey commenced at Bishops Lydeard where there was an Aladdin's Cave of train kits for railway model enthusiasts.

Steam trains run from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead

South West Coastal Path - Minehead to Poole

Upon arrival at the quay in Minehead I realised the challenge ahead and knew the direction I had to take.

Only 630 miles to go

After a couple hours walk through the undergrowth I eventually find the first night's campsite and unrolled my new tent. Goodness knows how I managed to erect it but I did.

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Day 1 - Minehead to Porlock Weir - 9.5 miles - cumulative mileage 9.5
Will take sometime to become accustomed to carrying the weight of the rucksack comprising tent, sleeping bag, mat, clothes et al required to carry out my mission to walk the 630 miles from Minehead to Poole.

Today's journey was relatively short and level so made the ideal starter walk, crossing gorse bushes and grassland, to arrive at the Ship Inn for a thirst-quenching drink and lunch before walking a further couple of miles to locate my campsite for the night.

The most attractive sight was that of Bossington, a village maintained by The National Trust and local craftsmen. All the cottages had thatched roofs.

Having made a poor show of putting up my tent, my new neighbour, Andy was happy to erect the tent for me to show me how it should be done properly! I therefore treated him to a beer at the local that night whereupon I heard all about his travelling experiences.

Porlock Weir

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Day 2 - Porlock Weir to Lynmouth, through Exmoor. 12.5 miles. 22 cumulative miles

The sea views were absolutely stunning. So was the blue sky through the trees and even rhododendron bushes that grew out from the hillsides.

Castle Rock

Having arrived in Lynmouth I was then directed to the local campsite - a 1.5 mile walk up a1:4 hill! God, was I knackered!

Now in the local pub having a cauliflower cheese lasagne and Carlsberg to relax and replenish the energy supply; and to start writing this blog.

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Day 3 - Lynmouth to Combe Martin - 13 miles - 35 cumulative miles
Second half of my trek through Exmoor included some strenuous climbs and steeper declines made easier by the sunshine on my body; the sight of blue sky and the constant view of the turquoise/blue sea lapping up against the beaches below my path through forests and over hills.

Climbed to 308 metres (1,010 ft) at Selworthy Beacon, which is one of the highest points on Exmoor. Took every opportunity to freshen up in the crystal clear streams that punctuated my tiring walk.  In fact, it was "our" tiring walk as I constantly met up with a friendly German couple, who were kind enough to share their food with me and to join me on the way. The last hour was spent with a Belgium couple with whom I enjoyed a berry and cream ice cream to celebrate the end of the day's walk.

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Day 4 - Combe Martin to Croyde Bay  -15 miles - 50 cumulative miles - 8 hours
This has proved to be an excellent day as the morning section of the walk to Ilfracombe was on paths less strenuous than those experienced so far.

Having not had any breakfast I stopped in Hele Bay. Had a fried egg, bread and beans. The energy gained gave me the impetus to surge on ahead.

Ilfracombe had a delightful fishing harbour, where boats leave to visit Lundy Island.

Looking down on Ilfracombe harbour

Further on I walked through a delightful village, named Lee Bay, where families were pottering in amongst the rock pools and others were on their kayaks including one man and his dog.

Then onto Woolacombe, a more typical seaside resort but with an extensive sandy beach and a huge number of people making the most of the fine weather which continues to be sunny, dry and around 18C.

Having taken the advice of others I decided to push on to Croyde Bay, where camping facilities were supposedly excellent. The extra 3.5 miles was worth it! The campsite had a Costcutters supermarket, cafe, bar, fish and chip shop plus much more.

Met with a very friendly gent from Hull whose generosity knew no bounds as he offered me a burger, kebab and coffee. Luckily I did not succumb to food poisoning.

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Day 5 - Croyde Bay to Barnstaple  - 16 miles - cumulative 66 miles
It took me 3 hours from waking to departing for today's walk but the delay was worthwhile. I was advised to visit Baggees Cafe for breakfast. It was delightful. The staff were friendly; the food excellent and the vista of the bay and sea was stunning.

Commenced today's walk on the beach at Croyde Bay, in barefeet, through the golden, fine sand and then onto Saunton Sands, a stunning and very long beach used by surfers. It continued to be easy going today as the walk was mainly on stony tracks, through a golf course and along a cycle track for 5 miles, or so. This was a little boring as it meant that there were no cliff top views to admire today.

Saunton Sands

However I did walk adjacent to a military training ground in the dunes, where the allies had practiced their manoeuvres for the Normandy landings (see The Longest Day - a great film telling the story of this event). I also passed the Chivenor military base where the Sea King air and sea rescue helicopters are based (think "Prince William").

Having reached Barnstaple I discovered the most comfortable and friendly B & B where I should spend Sunday catching up with emails, washing and sightseeing before re-starting my walk on day 6.

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