westward ho! to clovelly

September 11, 2022 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

monday, 6TH JUNE 2022

Should be in for a rather nice day today with little in the way of wind.

Clovelly high tide 10:48

Clovelly low tide 16:55

I start today's walk back at Westward Ho! and it’s a lovely morning so I amble slowly down to the seafront.

I follow the promenade passing some modern flats on the seafront before walking past a long row of colourful beach huts, decorated for the Platinum Jubilee.

I pass Rock Sea Pool, built in Victorian times, severely damaged in the storms of 2014 and refurbished in 2015.

I leave Westward Ho! on grassy slopes before reaching a tarmac path which was once the track bed of the Bideford to Westward Ho! railway.

I now have lovely views over towards Clovelly which looks a lot closer than it actually is. It must be at least twelve miles away.

At Cornborough Range the old railway track heads off to the left towards Bideford but my path continues along the cliff top and it's time for a roller-coaster ride.

I walk up and down over Cornborough Cliff, Abbotsham Cliff, Green Cliff and then Cockington Cliff, admiring the June wildflowers.

abbotsham cliff beach

I have plenty of birds for company including a load of stonechats and linnets. The views back to Westward Ho! and over to Clovelly are lovely.

I descend down to Babbacombe Mouth with its rocky and pebbly beach.

I climb steeply up onto Babbacombe Cliff and there are more lovely views. I amble up and down the cliffs but the paths are very overgrown and fiddly to negotiate. It doesn’t help that my walking pole is broken and won’t open.

After almost an hour of scrambling up and down the cliffs I finally descend to reach Peppercombe, where there is a pebbly beach. I have the whole beach to myself.

The cliffs at Peppercombe are carved from 280 million year old red Triassic stone (unusual around here) and I have lovely views eastward back towards Westward Ho! and grand sweeping views westward towards Hartland Point. I can just make out the Isle of Lundy out to sea.

Clovelly can now be clearly seen clinging to the cliffs in the distance.

The wildflowers are lovely and I pass scarlet pimpernel, herb robert, gorse and hypericum (or st john’s-wort).

I come across a group of orchids on a slope. They look like southern marsh orchids but I can only get to one. There’s also some lovely ragged robin here as well.

ragged robin

I’m now just two and a half miles away from Bucks Mills, a route almost entirely through woods.

I climb steeply out of Peppercombe, admiring the views back from where I've come, and head along wooded slopes. The woods should be full of bluebells but they seem to have finished early this year. Chiff chaffs are singing their hearts out everywhere as well as a song thrush.

At the end of Worthygate Woods I descend steeply and gingerly down to the tiny village of Buck's Mills.

On the slipway down to the beach I pass Buck's Mills Cabin, used as an artist’s studio by Judith Ackland and Mary Stella Edwards, from the 1920’s up to the 1970’s. The National Trust became custodians of the Cabin in 2008.

I’d normally wander down to the pebbly beach and admire the stream tumbling over the cliff before ascending back up to the village. But today I’ve been having problems with my knees and my left ankle - don’t know why, must be old age - so I head back up the slipway instead.

The coast path climbs uphill between houses to reach Buck's Valley Woods.

The path between Peppercombe and Hobby Drive has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The walking is lovely and chiff chaffs, wrens, robins, blackbirds, great tits and many more birds are singing their hearts out.

The path continues, sometimes through woods, sometimes besides woods and there are pheasants everywhere. The woods contain a number of rhododendrons.

I come across a farmer driving a tractor, cutting the grass for silage.

Eventually the path reaches Hobby Drive and I come across a stone memorial bench …..

“The new portion of road measuring 833 yards was added to The Hobby by Frederick and Christine Hamlyn in the year of Our Lord God 1901.”

This area has inspired artists, including the famous 19th century artist Samuel Palmer, whose work 'A study of Trees' captures the characteristic woodland forms still found in this area. Nope, I've not heard of him either!

The path continues downhill through woods and there are now glimpses of Clovelly through the trees. As I approach Clovelly I come across more and more dog walkers.

I reach the ancient Wrinkleberry Lane and the coast path continues high above Clovelly but it's time for me to visit the village and end today's walk.

The village of Clovelly tumbles 400 feet down a steep hillside from the visitor centre down to the harbour. I suspect the village is going to be too busy for my liking today so I briefly walk down the top part of the village to take a photo.

I climb back up through the top part of Clovelly and leave through the visitor centre where my lift awaits in the car park.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

rabbits
honeysuckle
sea thrift
jackdaws
bladder campion
foxgloves
whitethroat
oystercatchers
stonechats
linnets
painted lady butterflies
meadow brown butterflies
pheasants
sweet chestnuts
southern marsh orchids
ragged robin
st john’s-wort
red valerian
bracken

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 13.1 miles which amounts to 33241 steps. It has taken me six hours but I have been ambling quite a bit and it’s a tough section of the coast path. The weather has been lovely but the same can’t be said for my dodgy body parts!. Ten out of ten!

WALK DETAILS

map

instow to westward ho!

September 11, 2022 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

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!!

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.

I pass in front of the 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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

WALK DETAILS

map

westward ho! to clovelly

May 06, 2015 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

Tuesday, 5th MAY 2015

Today's weather forecast looks to be a bit on the ropey side again. It was chucking it down when I woke and blowing a gale (again!).

Bideford high tide 07:22

Bideford low tide 14:04

I start today's walk back at Westward Ho! where the blustery winds are much higher than the promised 26mph and there's heavy rain. Westward Ho! looks filthy in the rain.

I follow the promenade passing some modern flats on the seafront before walking past a long row of colourful beach huts and then shelter from the wind and rain in a little hut while I prepare all of my equipment. I stumble out of Westward Ho! on grassy slopes before reaching a tarmac path which was once the track bed of the Bideford to Westward Ho! railway. The gorse is in full flower around here and there are lovely views towards Clovelly - well, there would be if the rain wasn't lashing it down and the wind wasn't blowing me all over the place.

At Cornborough Range the old railway track heads off to the left towards Bideford but my path continues along the cliff top and it's time for a roller-coaster ride.

I walk up and down over Cornborough Cliff, Abbotsham Cliff, Green Cliff and then Cockington Cliff. Suddenly I think that I spot a tiny bit of blue sky.

I was right! The winds blow away most of the grey clouds and suddenly it's a beautiful spring day. It's still blustery mind!

The views back to Westward Ho! and over to Clovelly are lovely.

I descend down to Babbacombe Mouth with its rocky and pebbly beach and stop for some breakfast. I admire the wild flowers here which include some bird's-foot-trefoil, dog-violet and sea thrift.

I climb steeply up onto Babbacome Cliff and there are more lovely views before reaching Peppercombe, where there is a pebbly beach. I have the whole beach to myself.

Clovelly can now be clearly seen clinging to the cliffs in the distance.

The spring flowers are lovely and I pass primroses, celandines, dog-violets and plenty more gorse.

I climb steeply out of Peppercombe, admiring the views back from where I've come, and head along wooded slopes. The woods are full of bluebells and wild garlic and chiff chaffs are singing their hearts out everywhere. Even the wind has let up a little.

I descend steeply and gingerly down to the tiny village of Buck's Mills.

I wander down to the pebbly beach and admire the stream tumbling over the cliff before ascending back up to the village. The coast path climbs uphill between houses to reach Buck's Valley Woods.

The path continues, sometimes through woods, sometimes besides woods and there are pheasants everywhere. Eventually the path reaches Hobby Drive and I come across a stone memorial bench …..

“The new portion of road measuring 833 yards was added to The Hobby by Frederick and Christine Hamlyn in the year of Our Lord God 1901.”

The path continues downhill through woods and there are now glimpses of Clovelly through the trees. As I approach Clovelly I come across more and more dog walkers.

I reach the ancient Wrinkleberry Lane and the coast path continues high above Clovelly but it's time for me to visit the village and end today's walk.

The village of Clovelly tumbles 400 feet down a steep hillside from the visitor centre down to the harbour. A shower passes over and I gingerly (my walking boots are more suited to rocks than wet, smooth cobbles!) make my way down the steep cobbled traffic-free (unless you count tourists!) street, passing all of the quaint cottages including the oldest cottage in the village, the former home of "Crazy Kate".

I pass the New Inn where the cobbled village street changes from ”Up-a-long” to “Down-a-long” and peak in to the little alleyways leading off to the left and the right. Charles Dickens stayed at the New Inn in 1860 and wrote about Clovelly.

There are lovely views across Bideford Bay.

I reach the Red Lion Hotel at the bottom of the village and the harbour with a small fleet of fishing boats where I rest for a while. The light rain is soaking my camera.

It's a damp end to a lovely day's walking.

I climb back up through Clovelly and leave through the visitor centre where my lift awaits in the car park.

There's only one way to end the day and that's with a cold bottle of Sharp's Brewery Doombar.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

rabbits
sheep
gorse
red campion
bladder campion
bluebells
dog-violet
bird's-foot-trefoil
pheasants
primroses
chiff chaffs
chaffinches
robins
great tits

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 13.5 miles today which amounts to 31347 steps. Despite a filthy start to the day and a damp end the walking has been great today. Possibly one of the best walks on the coast path. 9 out of 10.

braunton to westward ho!

May 04, 2015 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

Sunday, 3rd MAY 2015

Today's weather forecast looks to be on the ropey side again so I'm expecting rain but at least the wind should be lighter than yesterday.

Barnstaple low tide tide 10:55

Barnstaple high tide 18:45

It's a long, long walk today which, on paper, looks a bit on the boring side, walking largely on old railway tracks. But hey! The birds are singing and the wild flowers are looking almost at their best.

I start the day back at the car park at Velator Quay and walk up to the roundabout at Velator on the way in to Braunton. It starts to rain so I put my waterproofs on but it soon stops and they come off again. Mist clings to the hills around Braunton.

A sign here points to Barnstaple along a tarmac cycleway and there are plenty of signs around showing that the cycleway used to be a railway.

The Barnstaple to Ilfracombe Railway was built in 1874 by the London and South Western Railway as an extension of a rail network that stretched right back to Waterloo Station in London but closed in 1970. The line between Braunton and Barnstaple was subsequently bought by North Devon District Council and made into a footpath and in the late 1980s was upgraded to a cycleway and is now part of National Cycleway Network number 27.

One of the last Summer Saturdays before closure of the line. Shot on 8mm Standard Eight. Silent. These clips are on a new dvd at www.rail-dvd.co.uk/page_2469656.html

The spring flowers are out in all their glory and I see plenty of cow parsley, ferns, dog-violets, bluebells, primroses, wild strawberries, red campion and buttercups.

The walking is easy and I pass RMB Chivenor, home to the RAF Search and Rescue Base for the 22nd Squadron.

I come across my first orchids of the week, early purple orchids.

I pass under bridges and the wooded path gives way to views across the River Taw. I have plenty of cyclists and runners for company as I approach Barnstaple.

I come across some 'dalek zone' graffiti on the path but have no idea what it means.

The route continues by an industrial estate and then I walk underneath the Taw Bridge carrying the A361 where I find more 'dalek zone' graffiti. Kids are playing football on the sports grounds next to the bridge.

I cross Yeo Bridge to reach Barnstaple where I walk across the ancient Long Bridge.

I leave Barnstaple behind me via a tarmac path and come across murals by Mel Saggs in the underpasses.

I join another path along old railway tracks along the south side of the estuary of the River Taw.

The Taw Vale Railway and Dock Company laid the track between Fremington and Barnstaple in 1846 and was originally a goods line operated by horses. The company repackaged itself as the North Devon Railway who then extended the railway through Instow to the original station at Cross Parks at East-the-Water at Bideford. The Bideford Railway Heritage Centre website contains a full history of the railway.

The path is used by plenty of cyclists, joggers and dog walkers.

The path moves away from the river and goes through an old cutting to reach the old Fremington station which now houses the Fremington Quay Cafe and the Fremington Quay Heritage Centre. Fremington Quay was once a bustling port, importing and exporting goods all around the world.

I cross a bridge over a tidal inlet, where I hear curlews, and continue along the trackbed away from the river where I come across more orchids, although there doesn't seem to be as many as I remember from earlier years. Early purple orchids again.

Next to Home Farm Marsh is an upturned boat shelter and I then come across the site of the former Yelland Power Station, once a vast, coal fired power station, built in 1955 and now a dump!

I visit the North Devon Cricket Club (@instowcricket) which I've somehow missed on previous visits as it's tucked away behind the path. The thatched pavilion is a grade 2 listed building dating back to the late 1700s..

I follow the cutting in towards Instow where there's a lovely display of bluebells. I pass through a tunnel and pass a micro-orchard containing a number of fruit and nut trees.

I've reached Instow. The tide is too low for the Instow to Appledore ferry to be running so I'll have to trudge down the River Torridge to Bideford and head back up the other side to Appledore.

There are more signs of railways at Instow and I pass the preserved Instow signalbox and what used to be Instow station but is now home to the North Devon Yacht Club. Next to the signal box is Instow in Bloom's signal box meadow. The meadow contains 'Seat for Four Sleepers', designed and made by Hartland based artist Paul Anderson.

I trudge along the railway trackbed between the Torridge estuary and the road, disturbing more curlews at one point. The wind has picked up and is blowing heavily. I go underneath the bridge of the A39 before reaching the village of East-the-Water where I find the preserved station and signal box, which includes The Railway Carriage Visitor Centre and a restaurant in a restored carriage.

I walk over Long Bridge to reach the town of Bideford. I walk along the quay through Bideford and pass a statue of Charles Kingsley, before walking along a gravel lane to pass under the A39 bridge again.

A fiddly path heads towards Appledore but it is well signposted and the sun has suddenly come out. I pass through Burrough Farm, owned by the National Trust and I'm now in ship building territory. I pass the massive Appledore Shipbuilders to reach the village of Appledore.

I walk along the waterfront and pass the parish church of Saint Mary's.

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 is close to the Beaver Inn but is shut and looking a bit run down. Offers over £300000 anyone?

I pass in front of the lifeboat station but the coast path just past here has been undercut by the storms of 2014 and so I'm diverted onto Torridge Road which leads to Northam Burrows Country Park.

I walk along the grassy banks of the park, where skylarks are singing but it's too windy to do any recording, before climbing over the pebbly ridge to drop down onto the sand exposed at low tide.

It's a pleasant, if very windy, walk along the sandy beach and it is definitely kitesurfing weather. to reach Westward Ho! I watch the kitesurfers before coming ashore at the slipway by the amusement arcade.

It has been quite a trek even if the walking has been easy.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

little egrets
canada geese
primroses
wrens
thrushes
robins
great tits
ferns
orchids
skylarks
wild strawberries
oaks
chaffinches
chiff chaffs
pheasants
bluebells
rabbits
sheep
swallows
bird's-foot-trefoil
apple blossom
oystercatchers
greenfinches
curlews
wagtails
ox eye daisies
orange tip butterflies
navelwort
flag irises
speckled wood butterflies
peacock butterflies

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 24 miles today which amounts to 49139 steps. It's been a long, long old trek today mostly along metalled paths so the walking has been easy. A lovely day's walk. 8 out of 10.