Minehead & Beyond

We were dropped by the map shaped sculpture, which marks the start of the South West Coast Path, by Anya’s parents. “630 miles – 1014km” it reads. Quite a distance we’d set ourselves up for, will we be up for the challenge?

And then we set off. The first section to Porlock Weir we’d walked before the previous January. The path was a lot muddier back then, and after the summer’s dry spell is much drier under foot today. The walking is relatively easy going, and the hill climbs up to the top of the headland. We avoid the path signposted as the “Rugged South West Coast Path”. We took this option earlier in the year and it’s much more undulating and the path is not as well made.

Making our way down to Bossington, we cross over the tidal salt marsh, towards Porlock Weir. The stone beach was breached here during a storm in the 1990s, and the fresh water marsh was turned into a salt water one overnight.

After a brief stop in Porlock Weir we headed on, climbing into the wooded hills above. The woods were much more sheltered, with frequent glimpses of the sea and the Welsh Coast across the Bristol Channel.

After about 7km we found ourselves a small patch of flat ground in the woods. This would be our camp for the night. After some dinner, and with little else to do, we turned in for the night. At only 7pm.

Windy Wild Camping

After a quick breakfast of half an egg sandwich and some cereal bars, we packed up and headed for Lynmouth. The path was relatively easy going with a few big ascents and a lot of rhododendrons. Olly spotted a heard of red deer but not the pack of sea kayakers.

We made the steep descent into Lynmouth and just as it started raining made it to a cafe. In 1899 a ship had floundered off the coast and with it being too rough to launch from Lynmouth 100 men and 20 horses carried the life boat all the way to Porlock (the 11 miles we had just walked).

From Lynmouth we made the steep ascent to the valley of the rocks where long horned wild goats can be observed peering over from the top. We continued past Heddon Mouth and found a scenic but windy camping spot for the night (as I was too scared to jump a fence).

Heddon Valley to Ilfracombe

We were both awake before the alarm this morning, as the tent had been buffeted all night by the wind. We had managed to get some sleep, but it was far from peaceful.

We set off, along the shrub headland covered in browning, autumnal ferns. We wouldn’t see another person until a few hours later. We dropped off the headland into the “combe”, a word I’d been seeing in the place names and looked up, which means a small valley.

From here we headed up to Great Hangman, which is the highest point on the South West Coast Path at 318m. Not very tall, but the frequent ups and downs means a great deal more ascent and descent is covered with most days covering more than 1000m of ascent.

From here we descended in Combe Martin, and stopped at one of the open cafes (many of the others closed for the winter) for a coffee and sausage roll.

Next we headed towards Ilfracombe, where we had a hostel booked for the night. Here the footpath showcased some small, picturesque coves; but was hemmed in by human settlement, either between roads, houses or field boundaries.

After an unexpected climb over Hillsborough, just outside the town, we arrived at the harbour side. We treated ourselves to a coffee and cake, while waiting for the hostel to open.

Once checked in we made good use of the shower (our first in the three days) and washing machine. We then headed out for a fish and chip supper, before turning into bed.

Ilfracombe to Braunton(ish)

After yesterday's gentle mileage we had a tougher day today in order to get to Braunton such that we can make a short cut tidal ferry at Instow tomorrow.

We managed to miss this morning's rain by checking multiple weather apps and leaving 20 minutes later than planned. With a tricky bit of route finding we made it out of Ilfracombe and onto the cliffs once again. Today was quite blustery but a good temperature and after a few miles of dodging slugs on the path we made it to the quaint village of Lee.

A steep ascent out of Lee lead to some pleasant walking and we made it the 8.5 miles to Woolacombe. We picked up some provisions for dinner and continued the 2ish miles to Putsborugh before stopping for lunch. Thinking walking along the beach would be tiring we chose the coast path which turned out to be made of soft sand, we abandoned this part way and finished along the beach which was actually much easier going.

After a quick steak sandwich stop we continued around baggy point and descended into Cryode. Lots of walkers have been asking if we are doing the whole path (I assume due to the size of our rucksacks) but today we heard the best response. After we answered the usual question of where are you headed tonight, instead of the usual responses of "don't worry it's not too far now" or "it's easier going from here on" we got a "better keep walking then!"

So we did, after hopping over some rock pools and across the beach we passed a disappointing sign which said "9 miles to Braunton".

Undeterred we plodded on past Staunton, into Braunton burrows. We made it past the golf course and military zone just before sunset and decided to pitch up for the night. Whilst cooking dinner some military guys walked past, apparently we are in the military zone, but it doesn't matter because no one is around, probably less of a threat then the cows which are supposed to be grazing in here...

Braunton to Westward Ho!

We made an early start this morning, rising well before sun rise, and starting walking at 6:20am. We’d planned to catch the ferry from Instow to Appledore, which cuts 6 miles off the route by avoiding the estuary walk up to Bideford and subsequently the walk back. However, the ferry only runs at high tide, which today meant a 3 hour window between 11am and 2pm. So we had a long walk ahead of us.

Our walk to Braunton, and then to Barnstaple, and on to Instow. Could best be described, as being vastly improved with the addition of a bicycle. It was flat, tarmacked, and uninspiring. For most of its way it runs along an old railway line. We put our heads down and trudged along.

The weather had brightened by the time we reached Instow, and there were a couple of friendly volunteers who radioed the ferry to come and pick us up. The skipper was very chatty, and validated our decision by saying “it’s not cheating because it’s an option in the [South West Coast Path] book”.

We had an excellent full English for lunch at John’s in Appledore. We then continued on round a spit of land, Northern Country Park, a mix of golf course and grazing for sheep. From here we could see where we camped last night right across the water; quite a lot of walking to make it not very far!

We made it to Westward Ho! The only town in the UK with a exclamation mark in its name. We picked up a few supplies for dinner and carried on to our campsite a little further, past the town.