Monday 30th August 2021

Jill tells me that today is Day 121 since I left Berwick-upon-Tweed. So we have walked for a third of a year or thereabouts.

The hotel in Cardiff is only about a mile by road from the Coast Path but that mile is along fast dual-carriageways and motorway intersections which no right-minded person would risk walking. Also pedestrians are not allowed on the roads anyway. The alternative walking route is extremely devious having to avoid the fast roads and find a bridge across the river Rhymney. It would become a 3-4 mile walk. So we drove to the little car park on the Tredelerch Nature Reserve having arranged for a taxi to meet us there and drive us back to the RSPB reserve at Uskmouth. 

We were dropped at the Newport Wetlands Centre at Uskmouth and set off. The first little part was through the nature reserve thus avoiding the road, then we crossed some farmland before coming to a road. Here we could have gone left to the Transporter Bridge but it is closed whilst being refurbished and will not reopen until 2023. This was roughly the problem I had with the Middlesborough Transporter bridge two years ago. Perhaps I will have to visit the Warrington Transporter Bridge on my way north – but perhaps I would rather get the Mersey Ferry and save a lot of walking.

We carried on up the road past the various industrial units. At the top of the road on the opposite corner we spotted a Morrisons and so we headed across there to buy some sandwiches for lunch and the paper, then we went to the café for coffee and some toast (for me not Jill). Morrison’s may lack in style but it was there and it was open. We did not pass another café until 1pm.

The Welsh Coast Path is very well signposted especially in towns where it is all too easy to miss a turn and get off route or even lost up a blind alley. We followed the finger posts, ducking and weaving our way through Newport, making sure we did not find the finer parts of the city.

Eventually we turned on to a farm track that took us back to the sea bank near the West Usk Lighthouse.

From here on we were on the sea bank more or less the whole way to Cardiff.

As the haze cleared we were able to see across to Somerset, to Sand Point and Brean Down. The latter looked like an island because the adjacent estuary is so flat and the refraction of the light on the sea made the estuary marshland disappear from view. We found a suitable rock to settle on for our lunch and amused ourselves watching a little wren flitting amongst the rocks making up the sea defences.

The final three miles along the sea wall was much like the previous three – only the blackberry bushes along the embankment wall top were laden with perfectly ripe fruit so we stopped every few yards to pick and eat the blackberries. We noted the wooden stakes in the salt marsh. The map says they are breakwaters but it seemed that there is very little in the way of waves to need disrupting. We had wondered if they were fishing traps as we had seen in Essex.

We turned inland for the last mile to the Parc Tredelerch where we had left the car and drove the the mile or so back to the hotel.

Sunday 29th August

We packed up at the Ibis Budget in Portishead and set the Satnav for Chepstow. As we approached the old Severn Bridge, motorways signs announced that the bridge was closed and no reason was apparent. So we had to navigate our way to the new Severn bridge and then shoot up the M48 back to Chepstow – rather a long way round. The reason was the Severn Bridge Marathon for which, amazingly, they manage to close a major motorway bridge even though there is cycle/walkway up both sides of the bridge. It also screwed up us getting back on to the coast path.

Unfortunately the finish of the route is along the Wales Coast Path just where we had finished last night. Fortunately we managed to work our way back on to it without too much of a diversion. I shouldn’t complain too much because, as marathon runners ourselves, we know the importance of a good route but we did feel that they should have put up diversion signs for walkers and cyclists.

The Welsh coast path is well signposted and seems easy to follow. The path followed around a small industrial area before getting on to a sea bank and following its way down to the Severn estuary itself. Walking along the sea bank was relatively simple, if not full of interest. Though the tide was in there was quite a wide salt marsh margin.

At Sudrook there is an attractive statue to Thomas Andrew Walker, the engineer who oversaw the building of the Severn railway tunnel. The GWR tunnel runs immediately beneath Sudrook as it dips below the Severn Estuary. In a building immediately above the tunnel is a museum and information centre appropriately called Tunnel Centre.

After a while we came to Rogiet Moor. Up ahead I could see a red flag and hear rifle fire. Rogiet Moor is the site of a rifle range, formerly run by the MOD. I am not sure whether it is still owned by the MOD but it is run by the NRA (National Rifle Association) and being amateurs they shoot at weekends whereas most MOD ranges are open to the public then because the army doesn’t work at the weekend.

I did wonder if we might be able to sneak along on the foreshore under the sea wall but in the end common sense prevailed. As Jill said; “We don’t want to take the risk – after all these are a bunch of amateurs not professional soldiers.” We took the very tedious diversion mainly along tarmac or gravel around Rogiet Moor.

Back on the sea bank once more we made a bee-line for a log on the foreshore and sat on it to have our belated coffee stop. We then made good time along the sea bank. We stopped for a relatively brief lunch and then continued to Goldcliff. There is a basic café at Goldcliff and so we each had a mug of tea. The path then moves inland to follow the edge of the Newport National Nature Reserve.

They have a few hides but do not want visitors. All the potential routes have notices barring visitors. We followed the official coast path and it then comes into the RSPB wetland reserve and here they positively encourage visitors. The route was pleasant enough and took us past the East Usk Lighthouse. We did not see much in the way of birdlife though we did see a swan with her cygnets on a rather weedy canal.

I had rung ahead for a taxi to meet us at the RSPB carpark at 5:45 and so we had plenty of time to walk the least three or four miles. We were both pleased to finish the walk; 21 miles is a long way.

Saturday 28th August 2021

I knew from my route planning and also from when I cycled from Lands’s End to John o’ Groats that today’s walk would be less interesting than most of our recent walks. It proved to be so.

We walked down the side of the marina to the coast path. The path is part of a cycle route and so it had a hard surface and was about six foot wide. After a very short distance on the coast the path turned inland and was initially confined between hedges. Later it was alongside the huge car parks of cars that have just been imported and the wire mesh security fences. There were rows and rows of Dacias from Romania and rows and rows of Hondas presumably from Japan.

From there on things just deteriorated. I am not complaining; it is just not easy to have attractive footpaths through industrial areas. This was part of the Avonmouth Cycle Route and we were travelling roughly parallel with the M5 and then eventually we actually joined the M5 on the cycle/walkway which crosses the R. Avon. From the bridge we did have views of the surrounding industrial sites and a view into some gardens way beneath us and a cat who seemed to be watching us.

After the bridge we continued on the cycle track but that was then diverted because of a building site.  We called in at the local Lidl to use the loos but they were out of order. Footpaths through urban and industrial areas lack fields with hedges where ladies can withdraw when necessary. Seafronts, by contrast, usually have regular conveniences. Eventually we turned north  and crossed back under the M5. I was looking forward to reaching the coast cycle path I used fifteen years ago on my trip to John o Groats. When we got to the road I reassured Jill we would soon have some views. Passing through the gate to the path it all looked very derelict and overgrown. It soon became apparent the path was no longer in use and so we retreated and continued along the road. There was a section of cycle path that took us past the Seabank Power Station.

At last there was a bench we could sit on and have coffee, albeit at well gone noon. It transpired that the coast all the way to Severn Beach is no longer accessible due to redevelopment of the coast.

After a rather long and tedious walk along the A403 road we came to Severn Beach and walked down to the promenade/sea wall and walked about a mile passing under the newer Severn Bridge and then settling on to a bench to have lunch.

We set off after lunch only to find that the coast path to the old Severn Bridge is closed for “Flood and Environmental Mitigation Work”. There is no alternative walking route but there is a long, circuitous Cycle Route 41. I asked a middle-aged man walking in our direction about the closed path and he said that there was no real alternative path and advised that it was best to walk up to the main Avonmouth road (A403 – again) and walk the few miles along it to the M5. He did warn that it was a fast road but the grass verge was quite wide to make walking safe. He said he had walked it a couple of times himself.

Walking a couple of miles along the overgrown, rubbish-strewn side of the A403 Avonmouth road as it approaches the M5 interchange was not much fun.

Fortunately being a Saturday afternoon there was probably not as much traffic as there would have been on a weekday and we walked on the road whenever possible but had to retreat to the verge when vehicles passed but walking along the verge itself was difficult and slow. Jill did manage to scrump some apples from an overhanging apple tree.

At the end of the Avonmouth Road a cycle track leads to the cycle/walkway alongside the M48 and we crossed the Bristol Channel and into Wales.

We did not stay long in Wales because I had pre-ordered a cab for 17:00 to return us to Portishead. As luck would have it, the taxi was ten minutes early and we had only just finished our ice-creams when it arrived.

On balance; not a day to remember.

Friday 27th August 2021

We packed up the car as we were moving on again. Christopher suggested that we should get the car moved up to Portishead before the day’s walk because we would need to use the M5 which famously is reduced to a standstill on Friday afternoons and likely to be even worse on a pre-Bank-Holiday Friday afternoon. We thanked Christopher and Debby for their wonderful hospitality and bid them and Otto farewell before driving up to Portishead. We parked at the Ibis Hotel where were staying for the next two nights and had a prearranged taxi to take us back to Sand Point.

We started off up the small hill called Middle Hope which stands out a little into the Bristol Channel and it is thought it was a tidal island back in the Middle Ages. It has a different character from the surrounding area and is more like a piece of Devon. We then followed a series of footpaths across fields until we reached the road near Ebdon. Here I phoned the owner of Yeo Bank Farm. Three weeks ago I had asked him if we might cross his land and in particular cross the sluice which would be very much easier and shorter than following public footpaths – which would have involved getting through a permanently flooded underpass under the M5. We had read various blogs reporting that this part of the walk was particularly frustrating with a combination of road walking and various poorly-maintained or rarely-walked paths that made it quite difficult.

We then had a mile or so across more farmland to reach Yeo Bank Farm where we were met by the owner who had unlocked the gate for us. He chatted for a few minutes, checking we were happy that we knew our onward route and advising us that when he had walked the coast path into Portishead a couple of years before, it had been very overgrown and parts of it had dropped away into the sea. In ten minutes we had crossed the farmland and sluice on the River Yeo and were walking along the roads to the coast. The farmer had confirmed that there was no alternative but to walk the roads until could get on to the sea wall near Douglas Farm shortly before Clevedon. The small roads we walked along were very quiet though popular with cyclists. For any future coast walkers you may be interested to know that apparently this little “cut through” will be becoming a proper cycle path in the next year or two.

Time was marching  and so it was about 1.30 when we eventually got to the sea wall and found a log to sit on and had lunch.

We had a short walk to the River Blind Yeo and crossed that over the sluice which brought us into Clevedon. It is a town that feels as if it has a bit of style.

From here on the path was either on tarmac through built-up areas and past beaches or a narrow, dry mud path which was extremely over grown. This was the section of the path that our friendly Yeo Bank farmer had warned us about. At one point Jill tripped and fell cutting her hand and getting her leg extensively stung by the nettles.

We came to a section of path which had been closed for the installation of new bridges along a length of path. The diversion was another road walk with neither footway nor verge but fortunately it turned out to be only about 3/4 of a mile. It seemed like a long walk into Portishead but I think that was more a reflection of fighting through overgrown paths and a general lack of views to distract us.

And tonight we had fish and chips down on the Portishead Marina.            

                                                   

Thursday 26th August 2021

This morning Christopher joined us with Otto for the the first couple of miles of our walk up the beach at Burnham-on-Sea which was great fun; Otto was picking up sticks which he then attempted to bury in a variety of holes he dug for the purpose. The day was cool and overcast but with the prospect of the day warming as the cloud cleared later on.

The tide had just turned and so we could walk comfortably along the damp margin of the sand with Otto chasing sticks and keeping us entertained. At Berrow, Christopher and Otto turned off into the sand dunes to return home and Jill and I continued up the beach.

We hoped to walk on the beach all the way to Brean Down but the tide was still too far in to walk the last quarter of a mile on the beach and so we cut in to the road for the last little bit.

We have seen lots of sea anglers during the course of our walk but this was the first time we saw one with a catch.

Berrow Flats is a popular beach but the receding tide leaves a light covering of coal dust presumably washed over from Wales, though there were coal pits at Midsomer Norton in Somerset only about 30km away.

Brean Down is a rocky outcrop, effectively the end of the Mendips. Whilst it is not very high at all (97m), given the remarkably flat land around it the views are really good.

There is a Victorian fort at the far end of Brean Down. Having made a circuit of Brean Down, we then followed the Brean Trail which has become a popular cycle and walking route. The route is compacted gravel and a little bit hard on the feet. Fortunately after crossing the clyce (the local name for a sluice) on the River Axe there is footpath along the dyke/bank of the river which we followed through to Uphill. At least it separated us from all the cyclists. There is a nice café at Uphill where we stopped for a cold drink. 

From there it was a short walk to the beach at Weston-Super-Mare. The tide was so far out we really couldn’t see the sea. We strode right up along the beach to the far end where we got on to the promenade and sat on one of the modern rounded stone benches to eat our late lunch. The sun was now fully out; it was very hot with the heat being reflected off the promenade.

Lunch done, we only had three miles to go to our provisional stopping point at Sand Bay. We turned round the corner by Birnbeck Island where an old pier runs out to the island and left Weston-Super-Mare behind. The road to Kewstoke is not a good one to walk along with no footpath and, this afternoon, in full sun. Fortunately we spotted a footpath which runs parallel to the road through the trees and it was delightfully shady. 

We came to Sand Bay and walked along the dunes behind the beach. At our provisional stopping point we paused on a bench when who should appear but Christopher, Debby and Otto who were planning to pick us up but had decided to make it into Otto’s walk as well. So we walked on together towards the further car park which will take a mile off our walk tomorrow.

Then it was back to Stoddens Road for another wonderfully relaxing evening.

Wednesday 25th August 2021

After another very hot, sticky night in the Premier Inn; it was a relief to get out into the fresh morning air.

We walked through the car park to the coast path on the R. Parrett and continued down the east bank. It was a broad, grassy path on the sea wall. Near Dunball, the path turns on to the footpath by the A38 for a short distance before diving into an industrial unit recycling plastic from recycling bins. Once through this we were back on the sea wall retaining the R. Parrett all the way to the mouth of the Parrett (presumably a beak). The tide was almost fully in and the river looked very different from the muddy rivulet we had seen yesterday.

We stopped on a bench for coffee and then continued but there was really very little to say about the east bank of the R. Parrett any more than there was about the west bank.

At Highbridge we crossed the R. Huntspill via the sluice and then had lunch on a bench. We only had another 3 miles to go to Stoddens Road, where we were staying with Christopher and Debby, our son-in-law’s uncle and aunt.

By the time we reached Burnham, the tide was fully out and there was a vast expanse of beach. It was difficult to distinguish where sand gave way to bands of mud. We were quite happy to heed the warning signs of “Sinking Mud” but we were amazed at the number of people who wandered all the way out to the water’s edge. A beach marshal turned up and used a klaxon to alert these wayward beach wanderers and wave to them to come back. We did get on to the beach but certainly did not venture very far down it.

We walked along the beach as far as the lighthouse and then turned inland to go to Stoddens Road.

When we arrived at Christopher and Debby’s house, we received a rapturous welcome from Otto their dog even though he had never met us before. Christopher and Debby made us feel very welcome and, after chatting over a mug of tea, Christopher drove us back to Bridgwater to collect the car.  Then it was a short stroll to Debby’s parents’ house for a swim in their pool before returning to enjoy chatting over a lovely supper.              

Tuesday 24th August 2021

We got a taxi from Bridgwater to Shurton where we finished last night.

Today we had no expectations of a stunning walk and we were not disappointed. We walked down the other side of the Hinkley Point power station site which is huge. It has a campus  with accommodation and sports facilities. It also has an impressive array of cranes including Big Carl, the biggest in the world – though from a distance it was difficult to appreciate quite how big it is; according to the Daily Mail it is 250 metres tall and it can lift 5,000 tonnes (but then who believes everything they read in the Daily Mail?).

We reached the shoreline and turned right along the sea wall. The tide was in and so it looked very different from last night.

We continued along the sea wall which was variably a shingle or grassy bank – but the summer grasses and reeds had grown tall and progress was not always easy.

We were approaching Steart village beyond which is a nature reserve that encompasses the whole spit of land between the River Parrett and the sea. In winter it would be alive wading birds but in the summer it was really a bit dull. At Steart Point itself there is an impressive elevated bird hide which looks a bit like a windmill with no sails.

From there we turned almost 180 degrees to walk up the other side of the peninsula. Eventually we were only about 150 yards from where we were an hour before.

The path from Steart Point is a wheelchair friendly and cycle route. That unfortunately means it is a 6ft wide compressed gravel path which is quite hard under foot and lacking in variety. We did take the title detours to the various hides and viewing points otherwise we would have seen very little indeed.

The cycle path continued as far as Combwich, the only village actually on today’s route. We had a slight misunderstanding about the timing and location of our lunch stop. We passed by two or three benches close to Combwich and carried on to the other side where all of a sudden there were no more benches and the sea wall was overgrown with grass. In desperation after a mile or so we settled down one on each side of a stile and had our sandwiches.

After our lunch we moved on and to our disbelief, what we had thought were just some old upright fence posts about 50 yards further along the path, turned out to be the back of an old but serviceable, driftwood bench largely hidden in the long grass.

The afternoon dragged on as we walked along sea wall enclosing the R. Parrett. The tide was now out and the river was very muddy. The sea wall was generally overgrown with lots of nettles and thistles. We did see a kestrel, a buzzard, a heron, a swan, some geese and a collection of small birds but that hardly compensated for the tedium of the walking. As we approached the outskirts of Bridgwater, the grass had been mown for hay but left across the path to dry meaning we had to lift our feet high as we walked to avoid getting it caught round our ankles.

Eventually we came to the bridge over the R. Parrett in Bridgwater. Having researched various maps I knew we could get on to the road bridge from the dyke by a short detour to the right. Once over the bridge we then crossed to the south side of the road and down a path back to the river and crossed under the road bridge we had just come across. Whoever had installed the official path signs must have been a bit confused by this part of the route because they appear to have got the finger posts for the Minehead direction and the Brean direction transposed.

We had  walk of about a mile down the east bank of the R. Parrett to where there is a convenient little path off the dyke straight into the Premier Inn  car park.

It had turned into a very hot day. I was glad I was wearing shorts but my legs were tingling from all the nettle stings well into the evening.

Monday 23rd August 2021

We drove from Wensleydale to Watchet ready to start the next leg of our coast walk with a long half day’s walk of about 10 miles. Unfortunately the M5 was running very slowly from near Gloucester down to Gordano and so it took us about an hour longer than I had expected. 

We didn’t arrive at Watchet until about 1.55 and we hadn’t even stopped for a bite of lunch. We got our walking boots and shoes on, put what kit we needed in our day sacks and headed off back to the coast path where we had left it at the Watchet esplanade. We had a short beach walk to Halwell Bay where we were impressed by the rock formations.

Then we had to weave our way through a static caravan site before getting back to the low cliff tops. We were able to drop down to St. Audrie’s Bay and walk along it for about 3/4 of a mile before climbing up to the top of the low, grassy cliff once more.

And I don’t understand the geology of the area but the beach is fascinating in the way the shallowly sloping layers of rock are stacked up like sheets but with the surface being broken up into lots of little squares as if pavers have been laid or a dry stone wall constructed. It reminded me rather of limestone pavement and indeed on researching, this is limestone. It is also known as Fossil Bay and is one of the most “productive” bays on Somerset’s Jurassic Coast. As we walked over the rocks we could see ammonites embedded in the rock and saw a number of people fossil hunting. We took advantage of a bench that we found as we climbed down to St. Audrie’s Bay so we stopped and belatedly had our lunches. We noted the red-striped cliff face which reminded us of Hunstanton in Norfolk.

As we came up from the beach on to the grassy clifftop path, we saw a bird fly up from the cliff face and across the fields. It didn’t have the right features for a kestrel but we didn’t get a good enough sighting to be certain what bird it was.

Walking the low, grassy cliffs, we came across a farmer cutting the long grass. He stopped his tractor to let us pass and struck up a brief conversation. We began to walk on and then he shouted back that there were peregrines circling over the cliffs – and indeed there were – confirming for us that it was a peregrine we had seen earlier.

Looking ahead, we could see the multiple cranes and other building equipment at Hinkley Point shining brightly white in the sun against a grey backdrop of cloud but we were never in danger of getting wet; the afternoon just got hotter and hotter. 

As we got closer to Hinkley Point, the sheer size of the buildings and cranes became apparent.

I am always surprised by what is and is not shown on OS maps. The substantial jetty at Hinkley point was approved in 2012 and became operational in 2019 but it is apparently a temporary structure and will presumably be removed when construction at Hinkley Point is finished. I assume its temporary nature means it does not warrant being mapped whereas lesser structure such as groynes and breakwaters are considered permanent features.

We walked right up to the perimeter fence and then turned inland, following the fence all the way and into Shurton where the taxi was ready to take us to collect our car from Watchet.

Friday 2nd July 2021

This was the last day of this walking session; tomorrow we return to Yorkshire to catch up with other things in our life, sort out the garden, do some dog-sitting and prepare for our next session.

We parked at Porlock Weir and set off in the sunshine across the marshes to the pretty little village of Bossington. Formerly one might have walked the shingle bank all the way but the sea breached it a few years ago. 

The coast path misses Hurlstone Point so we deviated from it and took in the path to Hurlstone point and then continued around the headland.

There is a sign warning walkers to take extra precautions on this path. I wasn’t sure whether double underpants were required. The path is narrow and zig-zags up Hurlstone until it rejoined the main path but once again it was nothing to worry about for experienced walkers. Jill wondered whether the warning signs at this end of the SWCP were because the vast majority of walkers start from Minehead and walk south so this is near the start of their walk when they may not yet be familiar with the rigours of the terrain. Certainly these firm, well-delineated paths, however narrow or precipitous, were far easier to walk than much of the SWCP further south where we had seen no such warnings.

The day was warming up nicely and we sat on a bench at the top of Hurlstone Combe for our morning coffee. I took the opportunity to put on sunblock which I normally do before setting off but I had expected a cloudier day. 

The path then was a wide, easy path along the broad cliff top. There were a couple of major coombes to cross involving quite long descents and the inevitable climb back up the other side.

There is an alternative non-rugged route which can be followed but it is not very near the cliff top and may well be intended for walkers who have just started out.

As we approached Minehead, there was one other coastal diversion I was keen to take. There is a narrow path that descends steeply to the ruined Mediaeval Burgundy chapel. It is not a well worn path and loose stone and earth made it really quite slippery. There was disappointingly very little to see of the chapel when we reached it as it was all overgrown.

The path then continued almost level into Minehead. However, on the final slope we came across a group of three people, one of whom was laying head downward on the path with her face down on the ground. She had apparently tripped and fallen headlong.  She was conscious, breathing and essentially OK.  In fact as we approached we had heard her chatting to her companion and didn’t immediately realise she had fallen. Her friends had called for an ambulance and been told not to move her. We did not intervene. It was not at all clear by which route the ambulance would try and reach her on the path.

We then walked into Minehead and posed at the sculpture which marks the beginning  and end, in our case, of the SWCP.  A family were just passing and obliged us by taking the photo. We had lunch in a café and since it was only 14:30 we carried on walking.  We still have two or three thousand miles to go and so there was no point wasting a perfectly good walking afternoon.

We left the quay and walked along the promenade passing a couple of rather rustic looking pillboxes.

Then we walked around the golf course past Dunster Beach and on to Blue Anchor which is just a series of chalets and caravan sites.

We did stop for an ice cream. We met an elderly couple who enquired if we were going to Watchet. They then explained that there was a coast path diversion because of a cliff collapse which starts at the Smugglers Inn but is very poorly marked and one might not realise the path was diverted until much later on. Despite their warning, we too missed the diversion sign but decided we would walk along the B3191 which was as close to the coast as we could get.  Fortunately the road is fairly quiet  but, with neither pavement nor verges, we did occasionally have to jump into the hedge to avoid passing vehicles. On reading other walkers’ blogs it seems the path has been closed since 2012 and so I suspect it is a lost cause. However, the official diversion is twice as long as the route we took along the road. As we arrived at Watchet, we met a man who was putting up flags. In Watchet they have flag pole sockets on lots of the houses and commercial premises and, for special events, volunteers hoist flags of appropriate denomination to celebrate events both local and national. On this occasion they were  mounting the cross of St George in readiness for England’s match in the Euros against Ukraine which they won 4-0. (and we all know what happened after that).

We drank the remains of our coffee, ate the apples and anything else in our lunch bag as we waited on the esplanade for our taxi to return us to the car at Porlock Weir.

That was the end of another memorable walk.

From the start of the SWCP at Studland, we actually walked on 39 days but three of those days were short walks of 3-5 miles to loosen up after we had driven down to the West Country and we finished the SWCP at lunch time on our final day. On that basis we probably walked the SWCP in about 36 days. The standard SWCP guide book itinerary takes about 56 days with the more challenging alternative for experienced walkers taking 46 days.

Excluding this afternoon’s walk from Minehead to Watchet which was beyond the end of the SWCP, we have walked 650 miles and with an ascent (and descent) of about 125,600′. We were not carrying heavy loads but I am pleased with our achievement not least because it meant we are clear of the honeypot holiday destinations before the school holidays begin.

Now to return home and plan the next session which will take us into Wales.

Thursday 1st July 2021

We picked up the route at Woody Bay but it was a very different day from yesterday. It was comfortably cool and the whole area was draped in thick mist. We walked along the road and track seeing very little. Even if it had not been for the mist we would not have seen much because of the thick woodland – not to mention the occasional fallen tree.

We walked around Crock Point seeing nothing and then by Lee Bay we joined the toll road that runs between Lynton and Woody Bay. Shortly, we could see Lee Abbey through the mist. Lee Abbey is a Christian retreat, holiday and youth outdoor centre and looks very well maintained.

Just a little further along we came to the Valley of the Rocks where there were lots of goats grazing but we could see nothing of the grandeur of the rock formations. (We only saw the true splendour of the valley when our taxi brought back that way in the evening. There are plenty of pictures on the internet if you want to search).

We did get a brief glimpse of Wringcliff Bay below the Valley of the Rocks but anything higher was cloaked in mist.

Further on we came to Lynton and took the zig-zag track down to the base of the cliff, crossing and recrossing the cliff railway as we went. 

In Lynmouth we stopped for coffee at the visitor centre because we could sit comfortably inside and there was no queue. We both opted for a cooked brunch which stood us in good stead later on. Afterwards we crossed the footbridge and continued along the path toward Countisbury. 

Here the official SWCP path cuts across the base of the headland. I was determined to go around the coast path since we are walking the coast of Britain not the SWCP. At the start of the path there is a notice advising the need for extreme caution especially in bad weather. 

The path is very narrow and crosses some scree but it was not anything to worry seasoned walkers. I enjoyed the walk down to the lighthouse which oddly was not illuminated despite the mist all around; I guess it may have been that the lighthouse and sea were below the cloud base and so the visibility at sea level may have been quite good.

From the lighthouse there is a tarmac road up Coddow Combe where we rejoined the SWCP. Then the path goes through woodland once more and so between the woodland and the mist we had no views at all. There were some pretty little coombes with streams running through them but with everything closed in by vegetation I found it difficult to get a sense of the geography of the area and we were just following the SWCP signs.

Near Glenthorne there is a pile of stones and a very rustic cross. This is Sister’s Well. It is a spring and legend has it that Joseph of Arimathea, on his way to Glastonbury, was in need of water and struck the ground with his stick and a spring poured forth. Now if this had been France they would be making a pilgrimage (and money) out of it.

There were quite a lot of people on the path. There were several solo backpackers as well as duos but then there were the inevitable DoE students in bigger groups. I know Jill tends to feel rather sorry for the DofE students as they are often carrying what appear to be unnecessarily loaded packs and often give the impression that they are not enjoying the experience and are simply fulfilling what is nowadays expected as a standard inclusion on their university application form.

We came into Porlock Weir at 16:30 to discover all the tea rooms shutting up shop. 

We managed to get a cup of tea at the pub where we dialled for a taxi to take us back and collect the car.