Day 5. Woolacombe to Braunton, 29 October 2022.

 

It was raining heavily when I got up but had eased off by the time I had eaten breakfast and caught the bus back to Woolacombe. Even so, it was rather a grey and miserable day, as evidenced by the fact that I only took a couple of photos all day.

My unwritten rules for the coast path allow me to use beaches and the foreshore rather than stick exactly to the official path, so I took advantage of low tide by following the 3 km length of Woolacombe beach before walking out to the headland of Baggy Point, familiar ground due to numerous rock climbing visits. The photo is taken by the rocket pole that was intended to mimic the mast of a sinking ship and used by the coastguards to practise breeches buoy rescues.

I stopped for a coffee and cake on the way into Croyde Bay and then took another short cut across the beach, surprisingly busy with weekend surfers braving the weather. 

 A new section of path has been set up to avoid the road walking to Saunton, and a rather confusing route down through a holiday park took me onto the huge beach of Saunton Sands.  I took the beach for about half its length before joining the official path through Braunton Burrows and round to Crow Point on the Taw estuary. You can see Appledore on the far side; about 2 km as the seagull flies but two days and over 30 km by the coast path.

From Crow Beach there is a path leading directly back inland to Braunton but the OS map shows the Coast Path following the sea wall round Horsey Island. It seemed easier to walk along the beach for about 1 km and then climb up onto the sea wall. There was a notice about a path closure but I tend to treat this sort of thing as a challenge rather than a command so I just carried on. Big mistake. The sea wall came to an abrupt end with a 50 m stretch of mud and deep water. I had to retrace my steps for 2 km and follow the inland path to Braunton where I could get the bus to Barnstaple and drive home.

Memo to self - always check the SWCP web site for up to date information on path diversions.

Distance today - 28 km (about 4 km more than it needed to be!) 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4. Combe Martin to Woolacombe, 28 October 2022.

 A grand day with plenty of sunshine, good scenery and ground that was mostly new to me. The first section to Ilfracombe involved some road walking but with good views back to Watermouth and Great Hangman, and down into Ilfracombe.

  

 Ilfracombe was familiar territory as we had caught the ferry here on several trips to Lundy. The quay is now dominated by Verity, Damien Hurst's 20m tall sculpture of a pregnant woman with the foetus exposed. It's certainly a distinctive landmark though not to my taste.

After Ilfracombe the path follow low cliffs to the lighthouse at Bull Point and to Morte Point where the path changes direction from west to south.  

 

Woolacombe boasts a huge sandy beach but the village is a rather unattractive mix of modern houses and fast food outlets. I hadn't been able to find any suitable accomodation by the coast but had settled for a pub a couple of miles inland at Willingcott. This had the advantage of a regular bus link to Woolacombe but that was the only thing in its favour.

Distance today, 23 km. 

Day 3. Lynmouth to Combe Martin, 27 October 2022.

Transport for the next six sections of the path was going to be based in Barnstaple. I drove there in the afternoon and took a small bus over the top of Exmoor to Lynton. 

After booking into my friendly B&B I strolled down to the harbour where I had finished six months before and, for the sake of completeness, walked back up to Lynton by the steep zigzag path beside the cliff railway, a water powered masterpiece of Victorian engineering.  This was a tough section, with 1000 m of ascent and descent, but the first section was very easy along a tarmac path to the Valley of the Rocks, where I had been before to try a couple of its esoteric climbs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now things got harder, with continuously undulating terrain all the way to Combe Martin. This photo shows the biggest descent and reascent to cross the valley by Heddon Mouth.

 Near the end of the day I passed Great Hangman, at 318 m the highest point on the South West Coast Path. It is marked by a vast heap of rocks, as if someone had emptied a tipper truck on the summit. It needs a proper cairn; it's not as if there is a shortage of building material. Just below is a 250 m cliff that is supposed to be the highest in England, although it is vegetated sandstone that is not suitable for climbing. 

 

  The sun made a brief appearance as I descended into Combe Martin, and I arrived at my B&B before 4, having taken just over 6 1/2 hours from Lynton.

Distance today, 22 km.