Day: 130 1/4/95 Seaton to Lyme Regis

Weather: Sunny intervals, warm.

Distance: 10.5 km, (6.5 miles)    Total Distance:  miles

I had arranged with the lady who ran the B&B to help myself to breakfast so I could make an early start in order to catch the bus in Lyme Regis at 11.30 back to Exeter. I was left cereal, a banana and packed cheese and biscuits - very adequate. I also left 15 pounds even though she had only charged £13 instead of the advertised £15, but only because I did not have any change.

The first part of the walk was over one of the oldest examples of concrete bridges in the country according to the guide and then up a steep road to a golf club and a marked path through the club. At the end the path was meant to take a right, down to the coast and a six mile walk through Undercliffs nature reserve, a wooded area resulting from a large land-slip in the last century. I was disappointed to see a notice under all the other information saying the path was closed due to a recent land-slip.  I thought of trying it anyway hoping that the path had been repaired and they had just forgotten to take down the notice or that they were being overcautious, but the permanent signs warned what hard walking it was and there was no access except at either end. I did not feel like getting over half way to Lyme only to find I had to backtrack it all so I did as they said and went inland.

The first part of the walk was OK, along quiet county lanes and through the grounds of an expensive public school. The next part was however along the main road, before the path cut down to the coast into the wooded  area for the last half mile and then into Lyme Regis.  A man walking his dog told me the path had been closed for about six weeks and was prone to such land-slips. 

The cob at Lyne Regis was disappointing - a bit tacky with closed amusement arcades close by and no sign of Meryl Streep. The town was better. I quickly made the discovery that a more sensible route home would be to take the bus to Taunton and pick up my train there. I had a little time to kill so walked along the front for a bit so I could miss that bit next time, bought some newspapers, a tide timetable for the year and then the bus turned up. Although marked as the bus for Taunton it necessitated a change of bus in Axminster.

At Taunton I had to walk through the busy Saturday shopping crowds to get to the train station and then wait 40 minutes for a train. I got home about tea time.

A good enough three days walking - not long distances but the sort of terrain which is hard to do in long stretches.

Day: 129 31/3/95 Sidmouth to Seaton

Weather: Sunny intervals, warm.

Distance: 14.5 km, (9 miles)    Total Distance:  miles

The cooked breakfast was OK, but I suspected the orange juice was off because it was slightly fizzy and the were six Kelloggs cereals to choose from - no muesli or bran, just six large Kellogg’s varieties. When I was leaving the owner told me his sorry story of how his wife and children had left him and gone back to Canada.  He was planning to sell up and return too.  Now there's a cheery way to start the day.   

There were three large hills to the east of Sidmouth so I prepared myself for the climbs. Walking on the beach did not seem a possibility at first because the tide was still in.  The first part of the path up the cliff was in fact closed and a  small detour led around a well-to-do area of Sidmouth. At Salcombe Mouth I chanced going down onto the beach. The tide was evidently going out so I chanced walking the beach to Western Mouth.  I thought I was OK until I rounded a corner and found the tide just too far in to make it OK.  Another person was on the other side  of the 10 yard blockage so we both waited patiently for 15 minutes for the tide to retreat. I  don't know how long he had been waiting there.  When I did cross he appeared a local man out for a long walk and informed me I could walk all the way to Beer in the next couple of hours since it was an especially low tide that day. I had not had a day where I had walked so much on the beach for a long time.  It was hard walking and I kept going mainly because I forgot to ask the local man what time low tide actually was. At the Beer end there were a couple of places were a lot of rock hopping was required and I had to go under rock arches in a number of places.  Past Beer, a place I did not really see because I was on the beach, I continued on the beach, over wave breakers, and onto what appeared to be clay interspersed with a turquoise mineral.

It had been a pleasant walk if hard going, a real test for my foot on which I had been receiving physio in work. I had tea and a piece of marble cake outside a seaside cafe before heading along the prom into Seaton. I was very early - it was only 1 o'clock. I explored the town, but wasn't as impressed as I'd been with Sidmouth.  The town had a bit of a run down appearance and a fair share of charity shops.  I surveyed the "what's on" boards and found that The Pirates of Penzance was on that night. I waited for a shop to open to buy a ticket and then bought some newspapers and went to the Sleeper pub serving a nice local bitter, Beer Engine Real Ale.

I stayed in the Harbour House B&B on the east side of the town. It was a pleasant terraced house overlooking the harbour, well part of it probably was, but my room overlooked the Shell garage and the Racal Electronics works. I had a shower and went in search of food. I feared another chip shop meal since I had seen nothing else in my tour of the town that afternoon.  On my way into town however I happened to stumble on an Italian restaurant. It was very pleasant though being 6.30 I was the only customer. The cannelloni was a smallish portion but adequate and very tasty. The restaurant was actually opposite a Haven Holiday park which did not seem to match somehow. I thought of the park a couple of days later when the whole of the Northern part of the Isle of Portland had to be evacuated to make safe a large wartime bomb and the evacuees were sent to Haven holiday parks in the area.

The Pirates of Penzance was pleasant enough though like many operas I lose interest in the less famous bits. I had a headache which did not help. Being very scruffy amongst people out in their best togs meant that I became almost transparent as people tried hard to ignore me!

Day: 128 - 30/3/95 - Budleigh Salterton to Sidmouth

Weather: Sunny intervals, warm.

Distance: 10.5 km, (6.5 miles)         Total Distance:  miles

This was the start of the three day backpacking trip to the South coast.  Public transport was prominent on this trip. I walked to Coventry station to catch the 7.40am train to Birmingham and then the 8.30am train to Exeter St David's, armed with newspapers and a Bill Bryson travel book.

The sun was shining in Exeter as I strolled up through the town to the bus station, calling at the bank and a shop to buy a sandwich and chocolate, the main motive being to get change for the bus. There was a bus to Budleigh waiting in the station. It was a lengthy journey of about an hour via Exmouth.  I strolled through Budleigh and up the banks of the River Otter which I had to go about half a mile inland on a path to cross. Once on the other side I changed my daps for my boots as the ground became rougher. A wildlife trust warden stopped for a chat and wished me all the best in my walk. Once back to the coast it was sharp left onto the coastal path and up onto the cliff.  What a marvellous day for walking, so good I stopped to take some photographs.

The coast at Ladram Bay is scattered with spectacular rock pinnacles full of sea birds. The views were only spoilt by a caravan site stretching down to the coast. A steep climb then followed up onto high peak which went into woods half way up. The coast path appeared to lead slightly inland and circumvent the highest point, so I took a minor path through woods up to the trig point and then down again on the cliff edge for a while.

It was a pleasant enough walk down into Sidmouth, initially through scrub then on the road. A path went down to the sea by an English Heritage relic but when I tried to get into SidmouthSidmouth. I was very early and had some three hours to explore before going to the B&B.  I walked along the front, looking at the flood defence work by huge rock grabbing machined.  The town was pleasant, busy, not too twee. The highlight was finding a great coffee shop with homemade puddings.  I dug into a good helping of a delicious bread pudding and custard.

The B&B, on Fortfield Place was OK but had a bit of a strange feel to it.  The owner had an American accent and the reply to everything was "You're welcome".  By the morning I had the feeling I could have walked off with all the towels and bedding and he would have still said "You're welcome".

I had a bath, phoned home and eat tea in a chip shop which consisted of sausage, egg and chips and processed peas (even though I did not ask for them). I was planning on going to  see a police male voice choir I'd seen advertised but when wandering in that direction I stumbled on a cinema and chose to go to see Nell, a Jodi Foster film, where she portrayed a girl who grew up in isolation in a wood. I must apologise to the singing policemen if I ever bump into them.

 

 

Day: 127 5/3/95 Exeter to Budleigh Salterton

Weather: Cold, calm mainly sunny.

Distance: 27 km, (16.8 miles)    Total Distance: 1578 miles

It was a good day for walking; calm, cold, dry and sunny.  I made a decision on the previous night to go down for a day's coastal walking just for the day, as a similar day's walk back in November had been successful.  It had snowed everywhere on Thursday night but the sun on Friday had cleared most of it.  The forecast was for a sunny morning with snow and showers coming in in the afternoon.  It was frosty when I left Coventry.  The start of this walk was easily accessible - just at the end of the M5.  I got up early and was on the road by 6.45 am.

The first part of the walk was along the banks of the River Exe.  The guidebook said this was flooded at high tide.  It was certainly muddy and the undergrowth and dead reeds were dense, but that was not the main problem. There was a swollen stream some four foot wide which I leapt across and got one foot wet. Further on there was an even wider stream so I had to backtrack and got the same leg wet crossing the first stream! Not a good start to a walk especially considering that I had had a bad foot for the previous month and had been receiving treatment at the work's physiotherapist.

I back tracked and tried again to cut along the estuary near a trailer park, but it was heavily labelled up as private.  I thus returned to the main road and walked south, under the M5 and just as I was consulting a map, an elderly cyclist stopped and offered help.  He told me to cut down to the Exe again through a shipyard.  The walkway along the bank was just passable as the tide was going out.  Skirting around a playing field and I ended up in Topsham, a very pretty village, crowded even with visitors at that time of year.  At the end of the quay, I followed a country lane that doubled back into Topsham also crowded with people out for a stroll in the sun.

The road bent again over the River Clyst, and then a new footpath only recently opened judging by the posing of planning applications, led me onto the main road to Exmouth. I followed this making a detour through the expensive village of Exton, and then past the Royal Marine barracks before cutting down into the village of Lympstone, another nice looking place.  Failing to find a shop I stopped at the pub for a pint of shandy and some dry roasted peanuts.  A blackboard advertised the Wales vs. Scotland rugby international match on that afternoon - I was tempted to stay!  I had mainly dried out by then except inside my boot!

The next part of the walk was first along the beach and then along a path besides the single track railway line.  The path was badly flooded and one lady came wading in the other direction carrying a puppy.  I kept on the line side of the fence to avoid the water but I knew it was safe since a train had just gone past.

The trek around the outskirts of Exmouth was pleasant enough. It went past the bus station, a park, the docks (part of which I ended up backtracking trough), and then around the corner and back to seaside resort type views, large hotels and lots of evidence of recent winds having blown sand onto the coast road.

I was making good time so decided to carry on to Budleigh Salterton.  A steep path took me up to cliff height. Two ladies were walking the stretch looking as if they were going all the way to Budleigh, but one was wearing what looked like brand new suede shoes - not quite the thing for a muddy path, so she soon turned back.

I had been hoping for a pleasant cliff-top ramble, but not long after leaving Exmouth, I came upon a large caravan camp. The best thing that could be said of it was that it was mainly deserted. The coast path went straight though the park, on the landward side of a marine firing range. I went down a path and considered the possibility of cutting down onto the beach here since it looked clear all the way to Budleigh. Weather erosion of the red clay meant that the last part of the drop to the beach looked less than possible. I retraced those few yards, took a picture on behalf of a group of youngsters out for the weekend and headed off to the cliffs.

The remaining part of the walk into Budleigh was pleasant enough.  I took the path to the far end of the town and only felt tired when I turned back and entered the town to search for the bus stop back to Exeter.  The TIC was closed. I was tempted to stop in the pub where there was a TV showing the rugby game. I managed to catch a glimpse of the score before I got asked what I wanted to drink. My country was loosing so I headed out again.  Wales were having a bad year. They ended up with the wooden spoon and no championship points.  Only the second time ever I was told that they failed to get at least one point.

An elderly lady informed me the bus stop was only just around the corner.  Now being quite foot weary and my strained tendon in my toe was complaining by now, I could have done without the less than helpful bus driver who drove past my stop at Countess Weir.

A successful days walk. Darkness began to fall as I was having a cup of tea at he services near Bridgwater. I arrived home in time to see my kids before they went to bed. 

 

Day:126 25/11/94 Shaldon to Exeter

Weather: relatively warn, overcast, still.   

Distance: 27km, (16.8 miles)    Total Distance: 1561 miles

It was reported as being the mildest November since records began some three hundred years ago. I thought the coast was now in reach of a days outing from Coventry which would be especially useful in the Winter when the roads were clear.  I had been keeping an eye out for a good weather forecast for a couple of weeks and here it was, a mild and windless day.  I got up at 6.00 and was on the road at just after 6.30am.  The journey presented no problems and I was in Shaldon at just after 9.40. I parked the car in a narrow street next to the church and made a short trek into Shaldon to the place I had stopped walking previously.  I then strolled back to the car and then over the bridge and onto a footpath that ran alongside the railway line and the Teignmouth rugby ground.

The next part of the walk, south onto the little peninsular, led to houses, holiday cottages and shacks that opened out directly onto the beach.  Although they pointed west there was still evidence that sandbags were needed in stormy conditions.  Once around the tip of the headland I headed North, along the Teignmouth promenade. There was still some evidence of holiday makers being here here even in November.

At the end of the promenade the path followed the railway line on the seaward side, on a raised platform over the beach. There were signs stating that it was not passible at high tide, echoing the message in my guide book, but it looked OK to me even though it was less than 30 minutes to high tide. Fortunately it was OK.  At the far end, the path went down steps and through a tunnel under the railway line; this was also jjust about passible. I concluded it must have been a low high tide that day helped by a windless day.

There then followed the only climb of the day, initially up a lane onto the main road past a couple of side streets that led nowhere so were not worth following and then out again towards the coast into fields.  The grass was lush and the birds in full song.  I spotted what I think was a wren.

Down through some lanes led to a view overlooking Dawlish, not nearly as nice a Teignmouth and lots of evidence of closed up hotels and amusement arcades.  I pressed on, crossing the railway again to the seaward side and along the front all the way to Dawlish Warren, once again the tide was kind and the route passable.

The first place I came to on the Dawlish Warren nature reserve was an amusement arcade!  I stopped for lunch - a cup of tea and five doughnuts for £1.  The doughnuts were surprisingly nice but large and I only managed four!  I had decided to walk as far down the warren that was easily passible.  There was an RSPB HQ in the middle and close to that the amusing sight of some thirty twitchers looking into a bush.  I later learnt that a rare bird had been spotted.  The Warren got more and more sandy and hard going though I made it quite a long way to the end to where it was apparent I had to retrace my steps because the northern side led just to the golf course and bird hide. Once back in the village I stopped at a shop with virtually bare shelves - running on winter stock I guess.

Next was a long section on roads, initially quiet, then busy through Starcross and then on minor ones again up towards Powerham. Near Starcross, I was walking along the road when I saw some large fish in a stream next to the road.  I was unintentionally chasing them.  Further down the stream, an oil slick appeared but by this time the fish had turned back.  Wise fish. 

The one thing that dominated this walk were the trains on this busy section of track.  The path followed the track for long periods of time.  At Powerham, the path left the road and passed along the estuary front.  I thought this would be deserted but it was crowded with locals out for an autumn walk or cycle.  The Turf Inn at the start of the canal was closed for the Winter.  I made the mistake of crossing the canal and taking the path on the seaward side up towards Exeter. Although this is a footpath on the map it was very poor underfoot and anyone with any sense was using the path on the other side of the canal.  I crossed back over at the fist bridge onto the better side.  It was here that I began to realise that if I hurried I had a chance of catching the bus at 3.10 which stopped at Shaldon rather than the one at 3.40 that stopped on the Teignmouth side of the bridge and then went onto Newton Abbott.  It was a very fast walk and I only just made it - fortunately the bus was a bit late.  When I got on the bus and sat down the window next to me began to steam up.  This effect then began to work its way down the bus.  I have steamed up a car before now but never a whole bus.

I got back to the car at just gone 4.00 pm and then drove back to Coventry in time to see the boys at 7.30 pm before they went to bed. It had been an excellent days walking.  I had walked almost 17 miles and only stopped once.

It had been a very good years walking, my second best in terms of overall distance, helped by the fact that I had made a good few trips down.

 

 

Day:125 - 26/9/94 - Torquay to Shaldon

Weather: misty, damp and calm    Distance: 11km     Total Distance: 1544 miles

I was now in conference mode even though the lectures themselves didn't start until after lunch.  I wondered down and joined some of the other delegates at breakfast.  I think I should probably have dressed a bit smarter but I very much wanted to make a quick get away after I'd eaten to get a half day walking fitted in.  I mentioned  to a Norwegian delegate what I was doing and he told me later in the conference that he had taken my advice and been for a cliff walk that morning and enjoyed it. I can't imagine it was anywhere near as picturesque as a fjord.

The weather was very damp but it was not actually raining. Visibility was poor. This was only a relatively short section but it was surprisingly hard going.  I found the path back down to the cliff from the hotel no problem - it was only a short walk after all.  This led out onto open ground before heading down to sea level.  I had a great view of a cormorant busily fishing off a rock just yards away.

At Oddicombe beach, I had to climb steeply, parallel to the cliff railway, to get onto the cliff top again.  The next couple of miles was through woodland, sometimes with steep paths, where it was easy to take the wrong path which I did a couple of times.  The guidebook said Maidencombe was an opportunity for refreshment but there was nothing in sight, so I pressed on.  And again the book lied - it said the rest of this walk was straightforward, which I suppose it was, but it was very up and down.  The last climb before reaching the main road was a killer and I had to stop for breath a couple of times.  Even my trick of going into a low gear did not work this time.

The next part into Shaldon, after going up and down Ness Ho was more pleasant and I was in a good enough mood on reaching Shaldon to appreciate what a nice village it was.  My next mistake was to buy some chocolate and a strawberry flavoured milk. A mistake because when the bus came and drove all over the hills I had just walked over it made me feel sick!

I got back to the hotel in time to have a quick bath, change into a suit and go down to lunch, though I had a very poor appetite - too full of strawberry flavoured milk I guess.  The conference was good and by the afternoon the mist had burnt off and the conference breaks were spent out on the hotel  veranda. The hotel grounds were marvellous with a nine hole golf course mainly being played mainly by people who could hardly walk let alone hit a golf ball very far.

The evening meal was excellent if a little formal.  I travelled back the next day having been for a tour around the Brixham Laboratories.  The laboratories themselves were impressive but they were so pressed for space that their conference room was a portacabin out the back under the cliffs that had to be protected from falling rocks with wire meshing.

 

Day:124 25/9/94 Brixham to Torquay

Weather: cool with heavy shower later.    Distance: 18km (11 miles)    Total Distance: 1537 miles

I was attending a two day conference at Torquay, organised by Zeneca, concerning toxicity based consents for effluents. I thus decided to go down early and get some walking in before the conference started. I left Coventry early on the Sunday morning and drove down to Torquay, parking the car in the Palace Hotel, the venue for the conference, and then immediately hoping on a bus into town.  I then had to wait quite a while for a bus to Brixham, but it was all worth it not to have any travelling to do at the end of the walk.

The streets of Brixham were much more deserted than the last time I had seen them in the summer holidays.  I walked down to the harbour via the multi-storey car park to the place I had stopped walking previously.  I was hungry by now and bought a bag (polystyrene tray) of chips before strolling up the hill out of the town.  The road soon led back down into a car park and infront of the Zeneca Environmental Laboratories - a very picturesque setting for laboratories, and a place I would come for a tour on Tuesday.  There can't be much better views from your office window than from this building. 

 

Zeneca labs in Brixham

The next part of the walk was quite pleasant, through wooded areas, across coves and along paths bordering a golf course.  The pleasant walk lasted until Broardsands where there were a number of people braving the blustery conditions.

 

At Broardsands it was necessary to head inland, under a large railway viaduct before climbing up to the level of the railway itself and following it to Goodrington Sands.  It was from here to Torquay that I was relieved that I was walking this section at this time of year rather than in summer when the crowds would be out in force.  At the end of Goodrington Sands, only being braved by a number of surfers, the path goes right, through a shrubbery, and onto the cliff top before falling again into Paignton.  There was more life here and there appeared to be some sort of race about to finish on the promenade, so fearing that I may get squashed by a torrent of bikes or marathon runners I sped up.  At the north end of the beach, the path went through a little parkland then up onto the main road that leads into Torquay. There are a number of residential streets on Livermead Head itself, but none that lead anywhere so I kept to the main road feeling a bit disappointed about being forced so far inland.



A view towards Paignton from Torquay
 

I was now keeping an eye out for afternoon tea since I had walked non-stop from Brixham.  I walked along the promenade in Torquay, though some gardens and then down onto the harbour front.  It was looking like rain by now so I popped into my chosen cafe (there were quite a few to choose from). I made the wrong choice!  A dismal place it was.  I was the only customer and I had to pay when I got served with my tea.  Added to that, the teenager assistants and owner nattered loudly as if I was not there.  I could not help thinking what a nice place it could have been turned into and what a high rent they were probably having to pay for a shop in such a dominant position. 

There now followed what would have been a tolerably nice section had it not been for the weather. It looked like rain so I did not hang around.  The path went around Torquay front and then almost into the Imperial Hotel before entering a series of gardens.  Once out of the gardens the path led down onto the road and along a beach front and up again.  At the end of the road section it started to pour - absolutely pour.  I got out my waterproofs and initially headed for a phone box only to find out it was a folly in someone's garden.

My new waterproofs were working very well, the first time they had been put to the real test.  There was then a short road section and back into the woods for a short time.  It was then time to leave the woods and take the short walk to the hotel - or so I thought!  I got completely lost and what would have been a short walk was another mile and a half wandering through the suburbs of Torquay - no wonder I keep to coast path walking!  I eventually asked someone and found the hotel, grabbed my clothes from the car and went to register.  I must have made a sorry sight dripping all over their foyer carpet, but they didn't bat an eyelid.  

After reviving, having a bath and watching Rugby Special I headed out find somewhere to eat.  I didn't intend to, but found myself in the centre of Torquay with a number of restaurants to choose from.  I chose a fairly full one on the basis that it must be good as opposed to a deserted one.  I had a fine Mexican meal.  That evening I drove back to the hotel and then went for a walk to have a drink.  The pub I ended up in had a quiz night and I joined a team about half way through and had an enjoyable evening, though I doubt I contributed much to the team score.

Day:123 22/7/94 Kingswear to Brixham

Weather: Hot & sunny, hardly any breeze 

Distance: 15km, (9.3 miles)    Total Distance: 1526 miles

I took the 7.45am bus again to Dartmouth and then the ferry over to Kingswear.  The school children on the bus that had been making a terrible din a couple of days previously were a bit more subdued today I'm glad to say. Maybe it was because some of the more noisy amongst them had decided to skip the last day of term!  A mother and toddler did however get on the bus and when they got off I was stunned to see that the little boy had a pet snail sliming all over his hand - yuck!  There were only two of us on the ferry which appeared to run at frequent intervals even at that hour in the morning.  

The first part of the walk out of Kingswear was along country lanes lined with cottages.  The first climb of the day was at Mill Bay Cove.  There was a memorial here to Harry "H" Jones of Falkland war fame.  The next couple of miles were tough walking, especially as I took the lower path options that went close to sea level in some instances.  I thought the undergrowth was getting thick but just as I thought it was going to be a tough morning I passed a group of four National Trust volunteers cutting it back which made it much easier from then on. I gave them a heary thank-you.

 

The area was littered with concrete Second World War defence buildings.  The air was hot and still making it difficult to walk and added to this I kept thinking about the warning in the guide book that there was a very hard section coming up!  The sea birds on Mew Stone were noisy and those nesting on the cliffs were agitated by me walking past.  I thought they may even try attacking me at one stage. Also along this section I came across five small ponies who looked to be suffering as much as I was in the heat.

 Close to the National Trust gardens at Colleton Fishacre, I stopped and talked to a walker who was backpacking the whole path in 33 days and collecting for a kidney charity. I was so impressed and not having any change I gave him £5, after all he must have been authentic if he was putting himself through that!

The climbs up to there had been relatively short and obscured by bends etc.  The next section was much more open and I could see the steep climbs up Ivy Bay, Scabbercombe Cliff and Southdown Cliff way in advance.  I went into very low gear and took my time on the climbs, speeding up on the flats.  This way I actually found these bits easier than the climbs earlier in the day. 

The quality of the walk gradually deteriorated into Brixham. The initial views into St Mary's Well Bay were fine but the walking became a series of narrow paths hemmed in by hedges and trees and getting dirtier and dirtier, smelling strongly of dog excrement in parts due to the hot weather.  I skirted the extensive fort building before turning the final corner into Brixham.  The beaches were crowded with sun worshippers. The people looked more and more unhealthy as Brixham approached!  Added to this the harbour smelt as it was low tide!

I asked in the Tourist Information Centre on the front the way to the bus stops.  There was a good bus service back to Kingswear; in fact the buses all week had been excellent. This was the first week where I had made extensive use of this mode of transport.  I had time to rush into Woolworths to grab an ice cream and drink to make sure I did not dehydrate in the heat.  This day and the second day had been the best walking days of the holiday.  The days walking along the estuaries had not been bad, but it had been too hot to enjoy the small villages to the full extent.

The bus took me back to Kingswear where I caught the ferry back to Dartmouth which was much more crowded than at 8.45am that morning.  I was in Dartmouth at 2.00 and waited for a while for my wife and sleeping son to turn up who had spent the morning at Blackpool Sands.  I talked to some elderly ladies on a day out from Brixham enjoying an ice cream.

We spent time in the local park in the shade then went to have afternoon tea before returning to Kingsbridge calling into the supermarket for last provisions for the journey home.  England were starting to struggle in the test match against South Africa - the first game since the ban had been lifted.  I went out for fish and chips later to save cooking on our last night.

 

 

Day:122 21/7/94 Totnes to Kingswear

Weather: Hot and little breeze      Distance: 22km (13.7 miles)      Total Distance: 1517 miles

I caught the 7.50am bus from Kingsbridge to Totnes, which was much more civilised than the Dartmouth bus I caught earlier in the week and got there faster.  Any time I saved however I lost again getting out of Totnes because I got lost on a housing estate. I wished I had invested in a local street map similar to the one I had used in Plymouth.  I asked a couple of people the way and eventually found my way onto a country lane/path down to Fleet Mill.

 

The lady in the Tourist Information Office in Totnes had told me the previous day that she had once driven down this way to avoid a traffic jam. Unless she was driving a tank she was very much mistaken; it was an overgrown path and not a farm track, but at least it appeared to be a right of way. I had to keep moving because in the hot and humid weather, the horse flies were everywhere and would settle on me if I had stopped. The only sign that anything else had ever used this isolated path was a few horse prints in the mud. 

 

Just before I got to Fleet Mill, the path became a mud bath and there was no way I could get through unless Id been prepared to let the mud get well over my ankles. Instead I jumped over the fence and into a stream for 10 yards, after which I came out at Fleet Mills, which seemed to be a holiday cottage. The man exercising his dog in the garden had a look of incredulity on his face when he saw me.

This days walk would have been much nicer in slightly cooler and breezier conditions to keep off the horse flies.

The track back up to Ash was also hemmed in by hedges but perfectly passable.  It was a shame that the hedgerows prevented me from seeing anything else other than the path in front.  A track from Ash then took me into the back streets of Stoke Gabriel.  On a second attempt, and after seeing another family out walking, I found the path that led down and along the estuary. This path had only been opened a month previously according to a public notice I saw in Ash. 

This led to a weir which formed a lake inland.  I asked the car park attendant if there was a public right of way on the other side. He said not officially but would be very surprised if I were challenged.  I had a pot of tea and caramel slice in the cafe next to the weir before crossing the slippery weir with caution and up through the woods on a good track - the best part of the day.  There than followed a road section before I cut off down to Galmpton Creek. 

 

I was unsure from the map what I would find because it looked like a quarry but was in fact a series of boat yards heavy on security to the extent of having a gate-person.  There was then a stroll through some fields coming out on the road at a farm.  I headed south thinking that I may be able to cut through some tracks but it was a private estate house, so I headed back up the hill towards the Youth Hostel entrance, and then up another hedged in path up to the main road.  What a pity there is no public right of way along the estuary at this stage.

The walk along the main road, initially up to Hillhead and than down again to the estuary to the main road, was the most dangerous of the week and only some of the views made it at all interesting.  The last part was steep down to one of the ferry points.  I met a backpacker heading up the hill for the Youth Hostel - pity help him if he walked the way I had along the main road.

The last part of the days walk was along beside the railway and just as I was coming into Kingswear I was passed by the steam train and only just avoided getting a drenching when the train released a sizable quantity of water next to my feet!

I had to wait a while in a queue for the ferry to Dartmouth since it was jammed with people who had just got off the train.  Once over the river I bought an ice cream and a paper and waited for the bus back to Kingsbridge.  I got home to High House farm at 4.20, the only time on the week where I did not join the family for afternoons activities.  There was no sign of the farm manager where I thought my wife may have left the key, and just as I was contemplating a hot wait in the sun I realised that the patio door had been left open.

 

Day:121 20/7/94 Dartmouth to Totness

Weather: Fine and hot       Distance: 20km (12.4 miles)    Total Distance: 1503 miles

I caught another early bus from Kingsbridge this time to Dartmouth.  The school children on this trip were particularly noisy and kept badgering the driver.  A short walk along the front in Dartmouth bought me to the Navy College.  I tried to find a way around the estuary side but it was all labelled MOD property and well guarded.  Rather than risk imprisonment I took a long climb up the main road out of Dartmouth before turning into a housing estate which led to a country lane loosing the height I had recently gained.  A couple of water company trucks were finding it hard to manage the sharp bends on the very steep decent.

I cut down a lane which led to some boat yards and then discovered that a path through some woods to the right had a stile and arrow into them appearing to indicate a right of way. The trek through the woods was very difficult and overgrown in parts as well as seeming longer than it was on the map! The last mile was a steep hot climb through a dense path.  I came out on a country lane.

A strange metal platform looking like a ships crows nest overlooked the estuary from here - it was labelled as a fire beacon.  A path then led down through some corn fields and some small woods.  I must have lost the official path because I came out on a track and when I asked the way from a man there I was informed that the path did not drop that far down.  Anyway, he did not appear upset so I continued on my way and was able to direct a couple of walkers heading in the opposite direction, the correct way to go.  I told them about the walk through the woods down at Old Mill Creek, and they sounded like they were determined to head that way - I wondered at the end of the day if they were still in the woods - not only was it tough going but it was not very well signposted in the opposite direction to the one I had walked.

Dittisham was another very pleasant looking village. The estuary villages always look nicer than those on the coast around here.  Out of the village and down by the creek, I saw a heron and a buzzard within a minute of each other.  I sheltered in the shade of a farmhouse at East Cornsworth to have a drink.  The walking had been quite tough and it was now very hot.  I was another mile of road walking before I cut off down a path to the estuary again.  It was along this section that I got badly bitten by horse flies.  There was no breeze and I had to keep walking to stop them biting me even more.  I am not badly effected by horse fly bites, unlike some people are, but they did make my calf muscle tight and uncomfortable the following day.  

I had decided to call into the pub I saw marked on the map at Tuckenhay to cool off a bit and rehydrate.  I was shocked to find it was the Maltsters Arms, Keith Floyd's pub, originally called Floyd's Inn. It took a while to dawn on me where I was and even when he first walked past and said hello, I was not convinced!  It struck me as amusing that people had obviously travelled for miles to visit the pub and I had just stumbled upon it.  I don't know how appreciated I was stumbling in, all hot and bothered, and in my walking gear.  He is a charismatic fidgety man who chain smokes and but likes to be completely involved in the running of his pub.  I was disappointed to hear hime say that he tends not to recall the places where he goes on his trips aboard, they are just a place to go to film.  I sampled his Exmoor Ale, and discussed my coastal path walk with his barman.  I did not eat there since even his pork pies were £2.50!  Had a couple of words with him about his recent trip to Ireland before setting off on the road again to Totnes.

Keith Floyd

 

The next part of the walk was through another quiet village of Ashprington and then down through fields to the river.  I could hear the commentaries on the pleasure cruisers going up the river. If I had gone on such a trip I think I would have wanted it to be silent not commentated on all the while.

The walk into Totnes itself was disappointing; not up the edge of the river but behind a timber yard and then next to yet another marina type development being constructed

I went to the Tourist Information Centre where I had arranged to meet my wife.  I took the opportunity to ask about the route the following day and about buses from Brixham on the last day.  I was relieved to find that there was a regular bus service between Brixham and Kingswear.

My wife was late in the end because my son had been slow in getting off the beach at Thurlestone Sands and the TIC was not well signposted.  I sat on a bench in the shade opposite and watched the people go by - it was still too hot to do much else.  When they arrived we had a drink outside the pub next door in the courtyard before walking back up the main street. We called in a good wood turners exhibition and bought a light-pull for the bathroom.  Totnes looked a pleasant town but it was too hot to explore it in full.

We drove back to Kingsbridge calling in the supermarket on the way to buy tea.

Day:120 19/7/94 Torcross to Dartmouth

Weather: Fine and warm   Distance:  15km (9.3 miles)     Total Distance: 1491 miles

The 7.40 bus took me to Torcross.  The walk along the front at Slapton was pleasant in the early morning.  I kept on the path on the sea side of the road for most of the way until the ground got sandy when I crossed to the other side where the nature reserve was, though I must admit to not seeing much bird life.  The reeds beds at the reserve looked very healthy indeed.

Slapton is famous for being where the Allies practised for the Normandy Invasion, but part of the exercise went wrong and up to 1000 American soldiers had been killed.  Someone had dragged a tank out from the sea in the last ten years and made it into a memorial to those troops who had died there.  The mock landings area had also meant the five of the villages in the area had had to be evacuated.

At the far end of the sands I was lucky enough to find a path that led up on to the top of the high cliffs but from there on my rules meant that the closest right of way to the coast was in fact along the main road for about three miles.  The official coast path goes inland at this stage along much quieter roads.  Anyway, I was in no hurry and could take it very easy, getting out of the way of any oncoming traffic in plenty of time. The road climbed and fell a couple of times, at one stage giving good views over Blackpool Sands, a popular sandy beach even at the time I walked past it.

Once past Stoke Fleming, a side road cut down eastwards.  It was marked closed but I took a chance which paid off since it was some road works taking place on a very quiet bridge, but gave me plenty of room to walk past.  Along the road a bit a black BMW came out of a large estate on the right.  Looking at the map it was these landowners that prevented the footpath from going much closer to the coast which would have been much more pleasant.

From the National Trust car park, a path led down to the cliff top path.  I stopped here to celebrate getting back off the road.  It was around here that I remembered it was my wife's birthday today!  Further along the cliff top I met up with a backpacker and his dog called Gizmo.  He had spent the past couple of summers walking sections of the path and had one more to go after this year to complete the path.  We walked into Dartmouth together.  He was a heating engineer from Taunton and appeared very tanned obviously having been walking for quite a few days up to then.  One coincidence was that he had eaten in the Fisherman's Arms in Averton Gifford a couple of days perviously and enjoyed it very much, so much so that he had had to then take a taxi to Thurlestone where his digs were.

The path came out at Dartmouth Castle, where Gizmo had a drink of water after which we strode along the promenades into Dartmouth. Gizmo was a collie alsatian cross and very lively when he saw another dog.  I left them both heading up to the Tourist Information Office where ha went to find out about accommodation in Brixham - having walked that route in a couple of days time, I pitied them, because it was a difficult section on top of what they had already walked.

I dashed into a newsagent to buy a card for my wife and a pen to write it with and then into a florist before getting a newspaper and sitting down, writing the card and jumping on the bus back to Torcross where I met my wife nad son in the good tea shop I had found on the previous day - this lunchtime it was empty.

After lunch we drove back to Dartmouth, parked on the front and strode along the front.  My son wanted to go on a boat, so we went on the short ride down to Dartmouth Castle.  We did not bother to look around the castle but had a cup of tea instead and a play around before catching the boat back.  My son was ever so quiet on the boat and worried he would loose his hat in the wind.