The pub did not serve breakfast before 9am (a bit strange when many of the guests will be coast path walkers) so I had to make do with a tray of cereals and toast that was left outside the room before setting off just after 8. There was a fine view of Burgh Island in the early morning sun and I passed above Bantham Hand, a 10m sea stack that had given a memorable little adventure back in 2014. (The Hand is on the left in this photo).
A level walk past the Thurlestone golf course and then across a beach took me to Outer Hope, a Cornish fishing village that had somehow ended up in Devon, and on to the slipway below the lifeboat station at Inner Hope. Even at 9.30 am there were quite a few bathers so I joined them for a swim before climbing the hill to Bolt Tail, with its iron age hill fort and a fine view back to Hope Cove.
The path from here over Bolberry Down was a pleasant and almost level cliff top stroll before a very steep descent to Soar Mill Cove.
The sandy beach is a secluded gem and a steep 1 mile walk from the nearest car park keeps the crowds away. Of course I stopped for another swim. After a long ascent to Bolt Head, the path turns north into Salcombe, passing this beach at Starehole Bay (only accessible by boat) and the rocks at Sharp Tor, which has a few easy climbs that I have never got round to trying.
Distance today, 18 km.
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