instow to westward ho!
SOUTH WEST COAST PATH
sunday, 5TH june 2022
The weather forecast for today is pure filth!
Yelland Marsh high tide 10:16
Yelland Marsh low tide 16:50
The weather forecast for today is filthy and it has rained heavily overnight but when I get up there seems to be a break in the weather so it is time to head back to Instow and continue the walk to Westward Ho!
The ferry is running from 09:30 to 11:40 today so I’ve arrived fairly early to catch the ferry at about 09:50. I have the ferry to myself, except for the crew that is! The journey over costs me a paltry £2 and they’ve gone card payments only and contactless!!
ferry at appledore
I reach the other side of the River Torridge at Appledore and walk along the waterfront and pass the parish church of Saint Mary's, just in time for the church bells to start peeling.
I reach the older part of Appledore at Irsha Street where I pass the Beaver Inn (@TheBeaverInn).
The houses are crammed in here and I take some photos of the house signs.
The Royal George (@trg_appledore) is close to the Beaver Inn and was shut and looking a bit run down the last time I passed here but is back up and running which is great to see.
royal george
I pass in front of the lifeboat station.
appledore lifeboat station
The coast path just past here had been undercut by the storms of 2014 the last time I was here but I’m able to walk along the beach again which takes me all the way to Northam Burrows Country Park, very close to Westward Ho!
northam burrows country park
I’ve got a bit of a trek though rounding the burrows and I walk along the grassy banks of the park, where skylarks are singing. I pass the site of what was once RAF Northam of which little remains except the concrete bases of radar masts.
raf northam
raf northam
After an uneventful walk I start to head back towards Westward Ho! again. I climb over the pebbly ridge to drop down onto the sand exposed at low tide and start to walk along the beach but it’s hard going as I keep sinking deeply into the sand.
pebbly ridge
I clamber back over the pebbly ridge and continue through the dune system, passing the golf course here and then Pebble Ridge Kitchen. The sun is even starting to come out which I wasn’t expecting.
I clamber back over the pebbly ridge one last time by the Lifeguard Station and drop down onto the beach at Westward Ho!
lifeguard station
It is now an easy walk along the beach into Westward Ho! but I was wrong. The tide is too far in for me to come ashore at the slipway so I have to climb over the pebbly ridge one last time (honest!) but it’s much easier at this end of the beach as the pebbles are much smaller.
westward ho!
I amble through a rather busy town to reach the car park where my lift awaits. I’ve somehow managed to dodge a decidedly dodgy weather forecast.
FLORA AND FAUNA
It has been such a short walk that I haven’t encountered much today but flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-
skylarks
PODCAST
The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via Apple Podcasts or listen using the player below.
MARKS OUT OF TEN?
According to my phone I've walked 5.3 miles which amounts to 11884 steps. It has taken me one and three quarter hours. The weather has been surprisingly dry and the sun even came out at one point. Seven out of ten!