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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