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.

 

Day: 119 18/7/94 East Portlemouth to Torcross

Weather: Fine but blustery         Distance: 18km (11.2 miles)        Total Distance: 1481 miles

Since there was no public transport to East Portlemouth and because I wasted to make an early start so I could join the family in the afternoon, I caught the bus to Salcombe and then the first boat of the day over to East Portlemouth.  There was no sign of the small ferry to start with but it soon appeared as did one other person who seemed to be using the ferry as a means of going to work.  What a great commute!

The tide was out so for the first part of the walk I was able to walk along the beaches rather than along the country lanes.  At Mill Bay however I had to cut up at the back of the beach, festooned with sailing boats and onto the National Trust path which gave good views back over the river to Salcombe and South Sands.  It still seems a very sobering thought that a couple of days later, while we were still on holiday in the area, the police found a body of a young waitress on the coast path next to the YHA on the other side of the river.

I took the lower path option and again it was the path with the most climbs and dips.  This first section of the walk was in very isolated picturesque countryside and took quite a bit longer than I thought it would because of the fairly tough going.  It was however a relief to be walking in such a beautiful area compared with yesterdays walking, which although along quiet roads hadn't been all that scenic.

Part of a rusting wreck of a tanker dominated the view at Gammon Head.  The front part of the wreck had been salvaged, but apparently once the rear section was reached it was thought too dangerous to proceed any further with the salvage operation. 

The geography at Maelcombe was very unusual.  The cliffs themselves were a couple of hundred yards inland; in front of them was a flat plane which was being farmed very successfully and then just a short drop down to the sea.  It was as if someone had just pushed the cliffs inland out of the way.  The walking as much easier along this section since it was flat.

I had thought the beach at Lannocombe would be worth seeing because my wife had spoken to some people who had been there, but I was disappointed;  it was small and grey with only a couple of cars there full of people sheltering from the wind and overcast skies.  I subsequently advised her later that it probably wasn't worth the long trip down on narrow roads to visit it.

After some more cliff top walking I arrived at Start Point, though I didn't venture all the way out to the lighthouse.  A tarmac path led northwards and then a path led to Hallsands.  I passed the hotel where I had looked into self-catering but it was expensive, so we'd chosen Kingsbridge instead.  Hallsands itself appeared a little dilapidated.  On he way down to Beesands the path went through a stretch completely covered by tall dense hedges making it very dark inside.

Beesands has a steep beach covered in tiny pebbles with a single row of cottages along the front.  At the far end of the long beach the path turned in land, past a house, and climbed steeply around a disused quarry.  Although the climb was steep and at the end of a days walking it was pleasant and enjoyable.  The path then dropped down into Torcross.

I was some 40 minutes early for the bus back to Kingsbridge, so I found a good tea shop just down an ally by the bus stop and went in and grabbed the last table.  I eventually managed to order a cream tea and ended up having to rush it, afraid that I would miss the bus.  People were whispering that the very well spoken young waitress looked like Barbara Streisand and I had to agree.

I took the bus back to Kingsbridge and then walked the ten minute walk up to High House Farm and our cottage.  As I was walking up it was starting to drizzle which turned into more persistent rain soon.  This meant that we stayed inside in the afternoon, which did not matter much as we were all tired so took it in turns to grab a sleep and look after our son.

Later, when it brighten up a bit and stopped raining, we went out for tea at the Fisherman's Arms in Averton Gifford. We had the Fish Pie and our son helped himself to our chips and garlic bread.  Afterwards we went to see the swans and six signets on the River Avon which I had seen on my last walking holiday.

Day: 118 17/7/94 Kingsbridge to East Portlemouth

Weather: Fine and sunny     Distance: 17km (10.6 miles)    Total Distance: 1470 miles

Time for another family holiday near the coast.  We travelled down to Kingsbridge on the Saturday.  It was a good journey considering it was a summer Saturday.  We stopped at Exeter to eat our packed lunch in the sun and then drove the final hour or so arriving at High House Farm not long after three o'clock.  We liked the look of our cottage, one of a series of converted farm buildings. It had a large kitchen/dining room/lounge with two double bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.  The other people gradually began to arrive including a couple from Warrington staying next door. He was a chatty individual who told me he thought he had the worlds largest collection of hammers, over two thousand!  And I thought I was odd. 

I went for a walk into Kingsbridge over the fields and then down through a housing estate. I went to the Tourist Information Office and bought a bus timetable and then up to the supermarket for fresh milk. I also bought a raffle ticket - from which I heard in November that I won a prize. I was so shocked when they phoned to tel me I had won I forgot to ask what it was.  I was expecting a new car to turn but instead a pyrex dish did - a major disappointment.  On the way back I walked along the main road instead of taking the short cut up through the fields.  Although this was a more unpleasant walk back to the cottage, it was actually part of my coastal walk, being the closest right of way to the coast, and meant that I did not have to walk that 2km the following day.

On the Sunday, I got up early and after breakfast started the weeks walking in earnest.  A walk down to the river and over the bridge bought me to the village of West Charlton. It was not long before I cut off the main road and down through fields down towards the estuary.  A a kind man stopped in a car and offered me a lift. I politly declined after expalining what I was doing. I reckon he must have lived in the isolated house on the banks of the estuary with his wife who I saw later in the coppice, walking her dog.  Once out of the wood, the path initially led along the river bank but soon cut up into the fields.  I got a little lost coming into Frogmore and came upon the main road a little early - I reckon a footpath may have been blocked off.

Once off the main road, most of the rest of the day's walking was on quiet roads, pleasant enough except towards the end where the roads got a little busy and narrow with cars going to the beaches.  The roads around Coombe were very quiet. At South Pool I walked over the stepping stones.  The section after that was hilly and dangerous since the roads were so narrow and busy with cars.  The dip down to the estuary at Goodshelter and then up again was very steep indeed, though we had been warned of that by a friend of ours. 

I caught the ferry back to Salcombe and set about finding the Tourist Information Office where I had planned to meet my wife and son.  As I was passing a tea shop however I heard her call out so went in and joined them for a pancake.  My wife was not overly impressed with the town of Salcombe; a little too twee for her liking, and said we had made the right choice in staying in Kingsbridge, a little more of a normal town.

In the afternoon, we drove down to South Sands along the narrow steep lanes of Salcombe, though I had to sample the local ice cream first from the dairy which was next to the car park at the top of the town where the car was parked.  We stayed at South Sands only for about 30 minutes, since it was so windy making the sand blow in our eyes.  This was enough time for my son to have a play in the sands and throw stones into the sea. 

We drove back through the back roads up to Malborough before returning to Kingsbridge.  

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