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

braunton to instow

September 10, 2022 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

saturday, 4th june 2022

I have been keeping an eye on the weather forecast for this week for a while and, except for tomorrow, it has been pretty good so I’m a little surprised to wake up this morning to find it raining, grey, overcast and not very warm. I mean, seriously?! Why is the wind blowing from the east in June?

Barnstaple high tide 09:41

Barnstaple low tide 13:47

Today’s walk is a walk 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 lovely.

I start the day at the car park at Velator Quay and walk up to the roundabout at Velator on the way in to Braunton. It’s overcast but at least it’s not raining.

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.

I pass a sign threatening that I could be arrested and prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act.

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.

The flowers are out in all their glory and I see plenty of ribwort plantains, knapweeds, cow parsley, buttercups, ox-eye daisies and hogweed.

I manage to take a photograph of a skipper butterfly but they look so alike that I’m not sure which type it is.

The walking is easy and I pass RMB Chivenor, home to Commando Logistic Regiment Royal Marines and 24 Commando Regiment Royal Engineers and 22 Squadron ‘A’ Flight Search and Rescue Force RAF.

I pass under bridges and pass by the Waterside Cafe.

waterside cafe

I pass a wrecked boat and the wooded path gives way to views across the River Taw over towards Fremington Quay. I have plenty of cyclists and runners for company as I approach Barnstaple.

I pass behind Heanton Court Pub and Restaurant.

I pass Tarka Trail sign number 3 with a link to an audio clip. I somehow missed Tarka Trail sign number 1 at Velator Quay and Tarka Trail sign number 2 at Heanton Court. I’ll try and look out for more later on in the walk. The signs were installed in January 2016.

The route continues by an industrial estate where a flock of geese rises up from the River Taw.

I come across a song thrush perched on a wall who doesn’t seem to mind my presence.

The route continues along the tarmac path underneath the Taw Bridge carrying the A361.

I cross Yeo Bridge to reach Barnstaple where I pass The Watergate. A wedding seems to be taking place there but everyone seems to have paused for a fag break!

I walk across the ancient Long Bridge.

I leave Barnstaple behind me via a tarmac path but it’s been seven years since I’ve been this way and things have changed a bit. There aren’t any signs and I can’t remember which way to go so firstly choose the wrong path (possibly) next to Oliver Buildings. A sign informs me that the development here is coming soon but judging by the state of the building it won’t be any time in the near future.

I retrace my steps when I don’t recognize anything and choose another path which is immediately more recognizeable and come across murals by Mel Saggs in the underpasses. These murals have been gaffitti-ized themselves since the last time I was here.

I join another path along old railway tracks along the south side of the estuary of the River Taw and I’m now back on National Cycle Network 27.

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.

I pass Tarka Trail sign number 4, Tarka Trail sign number 5 and Tarka Trail sign number 7 but somehow manage to miss Tarka Trail sign number 6.

The path moves away from the river and goes through Fremington Cuttings.

I 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 and see a solitary curlew, and continue along the trackbed away from the river.

I pass a Gaia Trust Nature Reserve at Home Farm Marsh and then Yelland Stone Row, a Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age double row of paired stones. I then pass Tarka Trail Camping.

The coast path turns right and heads across the salt marsh but I’m quite happy to keep going along the Traka Trail.

I come across the site of the former Yelland Power Station, once a vast, coal fired power station, built in 1955 and now I can’t see any remains.

I come across foxgloves and flag iris and then pass Tarka Trail sign number 10 at Instow Pond. I seem to have missed Tarka Trail sign number 8 at Fremington and Tarka Trail sign number 9 at Isley Marsh.

I visit the North Devon Cricket Club (@instowcricket) tucked away behind the path. The thatched pavilion is a grade 2 listed building dating back to the late 1700s. There’s a game in play but the action is very slow so I don’t stop for too long.

It has now started raining but I can’t really complain as I’m close to my destination and I’ve managed to avoid rain all day long.

I go through a car park and drop down onto Instow Sands. We were early travelling down yesterday and so popped here for an hour in lovely weather when it was pretty busy. Today though there is only a few hardy dog walkers.

The tide is too low for the Instow to Appledore ferry to be running at all today, so I’ll attempt to come back later in the week when the ferry is running to complete the walk to Westward Ho!

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

blackcaps
robins
wrens
hogweed
ribwort plantain
knapweed
ox-eye daisies
herb robert
dog rose
common dog-violet
red campion
canada geese
song thrush
tufted vetch
curlew
goat’s beard
bird’s-foot trefoil
cow parsley
swallows
speckled wood butterfly
skylarks
foxgloves
yellow flag iris

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 12.7 miles which amounts to 28601 steps. It has taken me four and a half hours. The weather has been a bit on the dull side and the walking has been very easy but it has been a thoroughly enjoyable walk mostly along old railway tracks. Nine out of ten!

WALK DETAILS

MAP

lyme regis to seatown

May 31, 2022 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

wednesday, 4th may 2022

I should have much better weather today than the previous two walking days with perhaps even a bit of warmth and sun and with very little in the way of wind.

Lyme Regis high tide: 09:24

Lyme Regis low tide: 14:59

Start location: Charmouth Road Car Park at the top of Lyme Regis DT7 3DR SY343925

End point: Anchor Inn, Seatown DT6 6JU SY419917

Map: Explorer 116

I start the day back at the Charmouth Road car park above Lyme Regis. A sign here tells me that there are 114 steps down to the foreshore. I climb a few of the steps down where I have a view of the Black Ven landslip and the coast path walk for the day is laid out in front of me.

I can see over to Golden Cap but the rest of the coast is still in a bit of a haze. This is one of my favourite stretches of coast on the whole coast path.

The birds are making an awful racket and I even manage to spot a bullfinch.

I climb back up to the Charmouth Road car park and head towards Charmouth Road.

Today's walk has typically in the past been dogged by landslips resulting in several inland diversions starting with an inland diversion at Lyme Regis.

I head upwards through fields high above Lyme Regis, photographing the wild flowers and I have a final view over the Cobb.

I enter a wood full of bluebells and wander through the wood following the signs. Part of the path here is very steep and would be difficult to climb in wet weather.

I continue along a minor road before reaching the main road into Lyme Regis. I continue along the road for a little while until a sign points me to a path through Lyme Regis Golf Club.

I continue walking through the golf course following a stone path. I used to enter woods here to come out onto the main road into Charmouth next to the Fernhill Hotel but the coast path seems to have been re-routed and a coast path sign is pointing in a completely new direction.

What a pleasant surprise. There is now a decent coastal route out of Lyme Regis and down into Charmouth without having to walk along nasty, stinky main roads.

I come across a sculpture of what must presumably be Mary Anning in woods.

When I get home I find out all about the making of the sculpture.

It is a thoroughly pleasant walk now next to the golf course before I come across a viewing point looking back over the cliffs to Lyme Regis.

A signpost tells me that I’m two miles from Lyme Regis and just half a mile away from Charmouth.

It’s now time to descend down to Charmouth along a minor road. I throroughly approve of this re-routing of the coast path.

It is now an uneventful walk through the back streets of Charmouth following coast path signs.

I head off of the coast path and descend down towards the beach where I come across some beach huts and the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre.

I wander along the beach here which is very quiet apart from a few dog walkers.

I head up from Charmouth Beach and walk towards a bridge above East Beach. Hang on a sec! I’m used to being diverted miles inland at Charmouth but there’s a new coast path sign pointing in an easterly direction over the cliffs.

I have never been this way before. Either I’ve been going in the wrong direction or I’ve been following an old re-route due to landslides. With a spring in my step I start to ascend the cliffs out of Charmouth. This walk is going to be much shorter than I thought it would be.

I amble along the cliffs enjoying the views back to Charmouth and ahead towards Golden Cap as well as all of the wildflowers.

I come across a coast path sign at Westhay Farm and descend into a meadow full of green-winged orchids and some yellow rattle. It looks absolutely lovely.

I walk down through a field full of cows and calves with some trepidation after the experiences of the last couple of walks but they are as docile as anything.

I start to climb slowly up on to the top of Golden Cap. It's a long way up at 627 feet and the highest point on the south coast but it’s a surprisingly easy climb.

I enjoy the magnificent views from up here. In one direction I can see out to the Isle of Portland and in the other direction back to Lyme Regis and beyond.

Golden Cap is named after the distinctive outcrop of golden greensand rock at the tip of the cliff and is owned by the National Trust. There is a trigpoint s3752 on the eastern side which must have one of the best views of any of the trigpoints.

I hang around for a while admiring the views before taking the long descent down to the Anchor Inn (@anchoratseatown) at Seatown.

I enjoy the beach at Seatown and then head for the car park where my lift awaits.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

bullfinch
goldfinches
chiffchaffs
song thrush
blackcap
ribwort plantain
bluebells
wild garlic
herb robert
garlic mustard
swallows
speckled wood butterfly
stonechat
wheatear
green-winged orchids
yellow rattle

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 7.7 miles which amounts to 18706 steps. It has taken me four hours but I have been ambling quite a bit. The weather has been lovely and not having to divert massive distances around Lyme Regis and Charmouth has made the walk so much better. Ten out of ten!

WALK DETAILS

MAP

colyton to sidbury

May 30, 2022 by Mark Seymour in east devon way

east devon way

monday, 2nd may 2022

The weather forecast isn’t much good today and doesn’t look particularly warm but I shouldn’t have much in the way of wind. It’s not likely to be a very good day for photographs again.

Lyme Regis high tide 08:24

Lyme Regis low tide 13:52

Start location: Dolphin Street Car Park, Colyton EX24 6JT, SY246940

End point: The car park behind the village hall, Sidbury, EX10 0SN, SY138917

Map: Explorer 115 & 116

I start the day back in Colyton at the Dolphin Street car park. I cross over the road and walk behind The Colcombe Castle with the market square on my left and then along Vicarage Street behind St Andrew’s Church, with its distinctive lantern tower.

On my left I pass the grand wrought iron gates of Colyton House where, opposite, the East Devon Way rejoins me from the right.

I cross over the stone Chantry Bridge and turn immediately left into a field next to the River Coly.

I pass a large industrial building which is the last remaining oak tannery in Britain.

The next two or so miles is an uneventful walk next to the river, crossing several fields, passing through several gates and crossing small footbridges. Along the way I take photographs of some of the rather bedraggled flowers.

Eventually I exit the riverside fields and join Northleigh Lane. I follow this road towards Northleigh for a mile and a half and come across some early purple orchids.

I pass Road Pitt Farm and then, at Farwood Cross, I go straight over the crossroads past some stone cottages on my left.

I now have Northleigh in my sights and can make out the church with its distinctive white tower.

I go over a small stone bridge and continue up the lane past more cottages on my right.

At a junction I turn left where the signpost points towards ‘Farway, Southleigh and Honiton’ and walk towards Northleigh Church, passing a colourful garden on my left filled with tulips.

I enter the churchyard and then follow a footpath keeping the church on my right. I follow the path round to the left where it becomes a track before reaching a lane.

I turn right onto the lane, which goes uphill slightly. I turn left, go though a gate and continue across the field to pass through another gate.

In this next field I follow the hedge on my right and, before reaching the bottom corner, cross over a stile in the hedge to reach a lane, where you I turn left.

I cross over the lane and turn right into a field almost immediately opposite. I walk diagonally though this field aiming for a bridge in the centre.

I leave the field over the stiles at the bottom and turn right on to the road. I pass Netherton Cottage and in front of me is Netherton Hall with its large flint and brick wall. I follow the road as it curves to the right.

Just past Netherton Hall I turn left down a lane towards a ford, signposted Farway. I cross over the ford on the footbridge, and then walk through Farway village, with its thatched cottages.

I turn right at the cross roads, signposted Farway Church & Honiton. In front of me are two old fashioned petrol pumps.

I follow a lane to the right and pass a farm where a large marquee has been erected although I don’t see any sign of what it’s going to be used for.

Where the road bends to the right, there is dead end road sign to my left at Valley View Road. I take the footpath into the field in front of me.

At the bottom of the field I go over a stile and a wooden bridge, and fork left towards a thatched house, marked Tedbridge on my map. I pass Tedbridge Cottage and cross over a footbridge over a stream and then turn left in through a field and right to follow the side of the stream.

I turn right on to a lane, go through the gate at the end of the field and cross the stream. I follow a lane up to Church Green where I can see St Michael’s Church with its fine yew trees.

I leave the church behind and follow the road out of Church Green uphill, steeply at times, for three quarters of a mile to reach a t-junction. On the climb up I come across some more early purple orchids.

I cross over the t-junction and enter Farway Forestry Commission woodland where I follow a bridleway until I come across a large vehicle turning circle, where I take a track to the right and then a wide track on my left.

I turn left to reach the Ottery St Mary to Beer road, which I cross with care and walk to the right of a cottage and then through a farmyard.

Past the farmyard I turn left down a public bridleway, and enter Knapp Copse Local Nature Reserve. I’m now next to the babbling Roncombe Stream and the lane surface becomes a stony path where I come across a group of people out walking their dogs. The dogs are very friendly and surround me wagging their tails and jumping up on me.

I pass through a newly- planted orchard and pass signs for permissive paths on my right and left and the bridleway eventually swings right to reach a gate into Lower Knapp Farm holiday complex.

I go through a gate and then follow a gravel path between the holiday buildings and then follow an access drive with Roncombe Stream first on my left and then on my right, to reach Roncombe Lane where I turn right.

I turn left through Lower Mincombe Farm where I come across more friendly dogs, cross over the stream and turn right through a gate and up a track, which then swings left steeply uphill.

At the top I go right, still climbing, to reach a field with a threatening sign telling me that there is a bull in the field. Great!

I go diagonally across the field but don’t see any cows. I keep a copse on my right and suddenly, as I head towards the gate masses of cows suddenly appear and there is indeed a bull with them.

I calmly move towards the gate as the cows converge on me and make it to the gate just in time. As I go through the gate I am completely surrounded by cows although they seem to be pretty friendly.

I turn onto a lane and then turn right again over a stile, immediately after Oaklands Farmhouse, where I come across a public footpath sign to Sidbury.

I walk along a woodland track leading downhill, then along the top edge of an open field. This leads to a conservation woodland, which is quite boggy but has a boardwalk through the muddiest parts.

Once out of the woodland I go straight across a field and go though the metal gate into another wooded area. I should now see the Old Dairy House with its Victorian decorative bargeboards but it is completely obscured by trees. I reach a lane with Hatway Cottage opposite and turn left.

I follow a lane steeply uphill for a quarter of a mile and near the top follow a public bridleway on my right and eventually enter a pine plantation. I come to a wider vehicle turning area and follow a signpost on my left directing me to a public footpath on my right.

I follow the signs through the woods. The path now descends steeply through Buckley Plantation. The loose earth down this steep slope proves to be very slippery so I pack everything away in my bag and head gingerly downhill where I can now see glimpses of Sidbury with its church below.

I reach a field on the outskirts of Sidbury and walk straight ahead towards the church, cross a stile, and go through a gate and then turn left keeping to the left of farm buildings.

I go though a kissing gate and turn right on to the lane past Long Barn House. I turn immediately left down a lane to the village, cross the River Sid by the red brick bridge where we stayed in a holiday cottage in 2016. It is now a short hop and a step to enter the village of Sidbury.

At the main road I pass the Red Lion pub, the church and the butcher/convenience store, and turn left behind the village hall to reach the car park where my lift awaits.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

garlic mustard
green alkanet
greater stictchwort
wild garlic
bluebells
red campion
cow parsley
chiffchaffs
wrens
pheasants
early purple orchids
cuckooflower
ribwort plantain
tulips
primroses
robins
song thrushes
fig
blackcaps

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 12.7 miles which amounts to 29566 steps. It has taken me five and a quarter hours. The weather has been a bit dull and misty but at least my notes aren’t falling to pieces today. Despite that it has been a thoroughly pleasant walk and I’ll have to come back and complete the entire East Devon Way when the weather is better. Nine out of ten!