woolacombe to braunton

October 01, 2017 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

wednesday, 27th SEPTEMBER 2017

Today's weather forecast looks to be on the ropey side and I can expect rain later in the day, a bit of wind and grey skies. It's not going to be very warm either.

Braunton high tide 11:01

Braunton low tide 17:14

A lot of today's walk will be spent trudging along sandy beaches, starting with Woolacombe Sands, followed by Putsborough Sands, then Croyde Beach and finally, possible a three mile trudge along Saunton Sands. It's a hard life but someone has to do the walking!

I start the day at Woolacombe where, except for a few dog walkers and joggers, I have the whole beach to myself. It's rather a nice start to the morning but I don't think it will last.

I head towards the sea before trudging along the beach for a good two miles.

The far end of Woolcaombe Sands leads directly into Putsborough Sands. There are quite a few surfers in the sea but they all seem to be old men with white hair.

At the end of the beach I leave the sand behind me and pass the refreshment hut before turning right onto a track over Napps Cliff. The views looking back over Putsborough Sands to Woolacombe Sands are lovely.

A grassy path goes through several stiles and onwards towards Baggy Point and there are signs of sheep with wool caught in the gorse and pooh everywhere.

I come across a memorial bench which has a magnificent view and a fitting sentiment.

“Nanna + Grampie
Here is a good place to sit and chat
About love and dreams and stuff like that”

It is starting to spit rain and the wind has picked up. The path becomes a lot rockier around Baggy Point before heading back in the opposite direction towards Croyde Bay.

I have one last view back over Putsborough Sands and Woolacombe Sands. It could be a while before I'm back this way again.

I now have views over Croyde. The skies look quite nice but the rain has picked up and it's not very warm.

I pass a restored pond, built by the Hyde family who were keen conservationists.

The path passes a preserved whalebone of a large whale that was washed up on Croyde beach in 1915. They were preserved by the Hyde family who gave Baggy Point to the National Trust in May 1939.

The path joins the road around Croyde Bay and at the National Trust car park I duck down on to Croyde Beach and head out across the sandy beach. It's now extremely windy. Although it's still early it's quite busy and there are plenty of surfers enjoying the waves here.

At the far end of the beach I climb a flight of steps and head along the coast where I pass a memorial to Joel Sanders. A quick internet search doesn't reveal any information about the gloves.

I briefly walk along the road and then cross the road to follow a grassy path above the road.

I now have lovely, but grey, views overlooking the large expanse of Saunton Sands before climbing down to the road at the Saunton Sands Hotel.

I manage to find the path behind the hotel and pass a tennis court, adventure playground and putting greens before dropping down to the beach cafe and car park.

There are colourful beach huts at the start of Saunton Sands which look even shabbier than I remember them.

I now have a decision to make. The official coast path heads inland and across a golf course but I usually walk along the three miles of sandy beach along Saunton Sands. Although it's not blowing an almighty gale I'm wet and cold and could do with some respite from the wind so I decide to follow the official coast path which I haven't walked in years.

I follow the car park access road inland before following a muddy path to the right. This rejoins the main road and I follow this, passing St Anne's Church and the entrance to Saunton Golf Club.

A coast path sign points to the right and I follow this path which then heads across the golf course. It has started chucking it down now. The path leaves the golf course and a military training area is now on my right. No training is taking place today.

I come to Sandy Lane Car Park and then head off down American Road. It is now a dreary walk along the road which just seems to keep on going. I can't win. If the wind subsides it is replaced by rain and when the rain stops the wind picks up again.

I walk behind Braunton Burrows which was declared Britain's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in November 2002. It's a rather lovely place when the sun is out but is decidedly murky today.

I'm now approaching the coast again where the estuaries of the rivers Taw and Torridge meet. I follow an embankment around Horsey Island, built in 1857 to reclaim the marshland. I'm now exposed to the wind again and am thoroughly damp. The embankment continues inland along the River Caen.

I reach Velator Quay, a rather stinky dump and my destination for the day! The old quay was constructed in 1870 as part of the marsh reclamation scheme. My lift awaits in the car park here.

It's time to stop off for some chips in Braunton to warm up a bit and then a couple of bottles of Doombar are chilling in the fridge back at our holiday cottage. The walk from Saunton Sands to Braunton has been thoroughly dreary but, heigh ho!, the rest of the week has been thoroughly pleasant.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

mermaid's purse
turnstones
herb robert
gorse
common toadflax
ragwort
knapweed
sea thrift
red campion
sea aster
red admirals
large-flowered evening-primrose
fennel
curlews
common dog-violet (although I'm not sure why it's flowering in September)

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 14.5 miles today which amounts to 32397 steps. The start of the walk was lovely walking along long sandy beaches but it's let down by a dreary section of the coast path walked in dreary weather. Seven out of ten!

My total ascent today has been 305 feet or 93 metres.

MAP

combe martin to woolacombe

October 01, 2017 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

tuesDAY, 26th SEPTEMBER 2017

Today's weather forecast looks to be rather nice and I'll probably be accompanied by hazy sun. Hang on a sec though! Barely any wind! AT WOOLACOMBE!

Ilfracombe high tide 10:13

Ilfracombe low tide 15:57

I start the day back in Combe Martin and head up Seaside Hill to leave the village. I head along what appears to be a new section of the coast path at the Parade Area where I come across a second beach. I think this must be Mermaid's Cove but it doesn't appear on my Ordnance Survey map.

I climb steeply up a minor road and pass Sandaway Beach Holiday Park.

I rejoin the busy main road and then follow a track beside the road to reach Berrynabor where I turn right downhill and follow Old Coast Road. I pass the Sandy Cove Hotel and a track which leads down to Golden Cove. I come across a seriously tall patch of japanese knotweed.

The road turns into a track which takes me down to an empty Watermouth Valley Camping Park. I guess it is late September.

I come to Watermouth Cove Holiday Park and pass through the campsite before returning to the main road and follow a path parallel to the road where I come across Watermouth Castle Theme Park.

I wander down to the harbour at Watermouth Bay and enjoy the beach for a while.

At a lower tide you can walk along the beach but the tide is in too far so I continue along the road before turning right along a path over a wooded slope.

The path continues parallel to the main road and at the edge of the wood I turn right and have lovely views over Watermouth Harbour.

I climb a steep flight of steps to the top of Widemouth Head and I have magnificent views back over Watermouth Bay. The path is narrow, muddy, slippery and nettle infested.

I walk down some steps and wander around Rillage Point before climbing up to a car park where I have my first view over Ilfracombe.

I walk parallel to the main road again and follow the road down to Hele Bay where I pass the Hele Bay pub (what a terrible website) and Snacking Kraken.

I wander down to the beach and enjoy the sand and shingle cove for a while. I retrace my steps and find a steep path that climbs up through woods onto Hillsborough Nature Reserve. The whole reserve is full of dog walkers.

The remains of a hillfort are here and I now have magnificent views over Ilfracombe from a view point.

I follow a path which drops downhill along bracken covered slopes. I encounter a large group of school children out on a trip so have to wait for a while to let them pass. I drop down to the left hand side of Ilfracombe Harbour where I pass the Benricks Skate Park and a group of school children having way too much fun in canoes on the water,

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I pass Ilfracombe lifeboat station and drop down to the sheltered sandy beach and trudge along it before climbing steps onto the harbour wall.

I continue around the other side of the harbour to visit Verity, standing at 20.25 metres and weighing 25 tonnes. She is on long term loan to North Devon Council as a gift from the London and Devon based artist Damien Hirst.

I'm quoting the pretentious blurb on the sign now :-

“‘The sculpture is an allegory for truth and justice. Her stance is taken from Edgar Degas’s Little Dancer of Fourteen Years (c.1881). An anatomical cross-section of her head and torso reveal her skull and the developing foetus inside her womb.’”

Now I'm all for public art and sculpture but, come on Ilfracombe, Damien Hirst?

I retrace my steps and head out along Capstone Road where I pass the former home of Henry Williamson, the author of Tarka the Otter. A path takes me around Capstone Parade and on to Capstone Point.

I pass Wildersmouth Beach and come across a mosaic celebrating the achievements of the triple jumper Jonathan Edwards who lived in Ilfracombe from 1976 to 1987. 18.29 metres is an awful long way.

I pass the odd looking Landmark Theatre and climb up steps next to it. A path leads up to a road where I follow Torrs Park Avenue and at Avoncourt I turn right to leave Ilfracombe behind me.

I'm now on Torrs Walk, a path hacked out of the bedrock when Ilfracombe became a popular 19th century seaside resort, which zig zags uphill and I have one last magnificent view back over Ilfracombe before heading off along grassy slopes.

I follow the utterly peaceful grassy path with only sheep and cows for company before it descends to a gate and a minor road which I follow to Lee Bay, where I enjoy the small rocky cove.

It's lovely around here. At least it would be if it wasn't for the derelict eyesore of Lee Bay Hotel. The hotel has been empty for 12 years but there are plans for it to be replaced with 23 homes.

I continue along the road which climbs uphill away from Lee Bay and climb onto Damage Cliffs and the path becomes a rollercoaster ride climbing up and down steps and across footbridges through a couple of valleys.

I come across a lovely beach, unnamed on my map, but possibly Bennett's Mouth.

I come across Bull Point Lighthouse, built by Trinity House in 1975 replacing an earlier 1879 lighthouse.

I cross Rockham Bay where I climb down some steep wooden steps to reach the beach. The beach is known locally as Mortehoe Beach and the low tide has revealed a sandy beach backed by rocky cliffs. I just have a couple of National Trust wardens and a dog walking couple for company.

I cross Rockham Bay. The weather was so bad last time I was here that I managed to get lost and headed in completely the wrong direction. Not today though! I spot a sign for Morte Point and the path becomes easier as it heads on the seaward side of the village of Mortehoe.

The path leads to a road between Mortehoe and Woolacombe where I have magnificent views back over Morte Point.

I pass the Watersmeet Hotel and the entrances to Combesgate Beach and Barricane Beach. They both look rather lovely.

I head along a grassy strip where I have lovely views over Woolacombe Beach.

I continue along the path next to the road to reach my destination for the day, Woolacombe, where my lift awaits.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

red campion
beech
hydrangeas
buzzards
hypericum
clover
red valerian
ox eye daisies
fuchsias
ragwort
japanese knotweed
bracken
himalayan balsam
red admirals
toadflax
bladder campion
stonechats
toadstools

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 14.1 miles today which amounts to 33199 steps. I'm not quite sure why it has taken me 7 hours although it has been tough going most of the day. It has been an utterly lovely day of walking. Ten out of ten!

My total ascent today has been, err, I don't know as my Ordnance Survey app has failed again. In fact everything has failed me today. Modern technology can be quite spectacularly rubbish at times. It has been a rollercoaster ride.

MAP

I suspect that my phone rebooted in my bag at around 11:00 am and so this map is the best I can come up with for the day.

woolacombe to braunton

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

south west coast PATH

saturday, 2nd may 2015

Today's weather forecast looks to be on the ropey side and I can expect rain, wind and grey skies. It's not going to be a great day for photographs.

Bideford low tide 12:25

Bideford high tide 18:00

It's been far too long but I'm finally back out on the South West Coast Path after an 11 month gap.

A lot of today's walk will be spent trudging along sandy beaches in manky weather, starting with Woolacombe Sand, followed by Putsborough Sand, then Croyde Sand and finally a three mile trudge along Saunton Sands. It's a hard life but someone has to do the walking!

I start the day at Woolacombe where, except for a few dog walkers and joggers, I have the whole beach to myself, Hang on a sec though! There's no way that wind is just 20mph as predicted. It's blowing a gale! I strap my hat on and head towards the sea before trudging along the beach for a good two miles.

The far end of Woolcaombe Sand leads directly into Putsborough Sand. At the end of the beach I leave the sand behind me and pass the refreshment hut before turning right onto a track over Napps Cliff. The views looking back over Putsborough Sand to Woolacombe are usually amazing but not so much today due to the grey skies.

A grassy path goes through several stiles and onwards towards Baggy Point and there are signs of sheep with wool caught in the gorse and pooh everywhere. I hear the sheep but never actually see them. The path becomes a lot rockier around Baggy Point before heading back in the opposite direction towards Croyde Bay where it's difficult to stay upright in the strong wind.

I pass wild flowers on the way to Croyde including bladder campion, gorse and sea thrift.

bladder campion

gorse

sea thrift

I pass a restored pond, built by the Hyde family who were keen conservationists and come across red campion and bluebells. The bluebells look suspiciously like spanish bluebells rather than our more delicate native bluebells.

The path passes a preserved whalebone of a large whale that was washed up on Croyde beach in 1915. They were preserved by the Hyde family who gave Baggy Point to the National Trust in May 1939.

The path joins the road around Croyde Bay but I duck down on to Croyde Sand as soon as I can and head across the sandy beach. It's extremely windy. Although it's still early it's quite busy and there are plenty of surfers enjoying the waves here as well as a load of people playing rugby.

At the far end of the beach I climb a flight of steps and head along the coast before having to walk along the road and then cross the road to follow a grassy path above the road.

I now have lovely, but grey, views overlooking the large expanse of Saunton Sands before climbing down to the road at the Saunton Sands Hotel.

I usually get lost here but this time manage to find the path behind the hotel which even has a coast path sign I haven't noticed before. The path passes a tennis court, adventure playground and putting greens before dropping down to the beach cafe and car park. The official coast path heads inland and across a golf course which is crazy when there are three miles of sandy beach ahead. I flip a coin and the beach wins!

There are colourful beach huts at the start of Saunton Sands which look shabbier than I remember them.

It is quite busy but I soon leave the crowds behind wandering down miles to the sea and then walking along the vast beach.

Braunton Burrows lies behind the beach and it is well worth an exploration if you have the time. Braunton Burrows and the surrounding coastline were declared Britain's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in November 2002. I might try and come back later in the week.

As the beach approaches the estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge it changes direction. Blimey! It's now blowing an almighty gale causing the sand to drift across the beach. I don't quite know how Braunton Burrows manages to survive in this wind.

At the end of Saunton Sands i rejoin the official coast path and from here it's a boring walk towards Braunton. I follow an embankment around Horsey Island, built in 1857 to reclaim the marshland. It stinks around here but the skylarks don't seem to mind. The embankment continues inland along the River Caen.

I reach Velator Quay, a rather stinky dump and my destination for the day! Velator Quay was built in 1853 as part of the marsh reclamation scheme and was a bustling little port until the railway arrived in 1874. There are plans to turn Velator Quay into a recreation area but I didn't notice any of the work having started yet.

Tomorrow I will return here and start to see some of the evidence of railways on the long walk to Westward Ho!

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

skylarks
swallows
sheep
cows
red campion
bladder campion
sea thrift
gorse
bluebells
dog-violets

PODCAST

Unfortunately, there's no podcast available for this walk. My recording equipment failed to stand up to the blustery conditions. You can subscribe via the iTunes store to the other podcasts.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 15 miles today which amounts to 32832 steps. It's been a blustery - did I mention the wind? - and grey day today but the rain has somehow managed to stay away. Despite the stinky end to the walk it has been a thoroughly enjoyable day. 8 out of 10.