We’ve been away doing the Devon Coast to Coast cycle ride on our 41st anniversary and also our first long distance trip on bikes. We travelled over to Totnes on Tuesday 6th September with our camper and stayed at the Caravan Club site in Totnes which is situated next to the river Dart and close to the town centre. This gave us a chance to see Bex , Tony and also Ems as well as she’s volunteering nearby at Sharpham Outdoors.
On Wednesday we took our bikes by train from Totnes to Exeter changing to get the train to Barnstaple in north Devon. This was the first time we’d travelled with our bikes on trains but it went very smoothly as we’d pre-booked them for both journeys. There is no train line between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe (there was a line but that fell under the Beeching Axe in the 1960s I guess) so our plan was to cycle the 20 miles from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe using the upland route of the Cycle route 27, and on Thursday start the journey from Ilfracombe but this time taking the coastal variant to Braunton (this is also the most hilly of the two routes) and then onto Barnstaple to reach Bideford for the night. The weather was predicted to be “lively” with rain and wind but in the event we did get a few showers but nothing to warrant overtrousers. We stopped in Barnstaple for a drink and Braunton for lunch before climbing onto the Downs to find the old railway track near Lee bridge and the descent into Ilfracombe which incidentally goes through a grave yard!. Here we stayed at the Merlin Hotel which was pleasant enough but in need of renovation but at least our bikes were securely locked away. Again, we got caught in another shower in the evening and we decided that in future we’d carry an umbrella.
We left Ilfracombe in the drizzle to climb on the old railtrack up to Lee Bridge and shortly after this, divert on roads to the coast via Morthoe. Unfortunately, the visibility was poor so we missed the view along the coast at Morthoe; the first photo shows Helen descending the hill to Woolacombe (yes, you’ve guessed, another coffee stop!). The #27 stays above the long sandy beach mainly through a long car park perched above the beach and eventually becoming a gravel track to Putsborough. Here we faced a road climb to Georgeham and a few 4WDs squeezing us against the tall hedges, to regain our route of the previous day into Braunton and joining the Tarka Trail to Barnstaple for lunch. Route #27 joins the Tarka Cycle trail from Braunton to Petrockstowe and is pretty level and mostly tarmac or at least a good surface for cycling and giving great views of the Taw and Torridge estuaries. After lunch we headed for Bideford and with better weather is was plain sailing stopping at Fremington Quay besides the Taw, for a tea and cake (see photo).
In Bideford we stayed at a B&B, “The Corner House” which is centrally situated and use to cyclists travelling though.

The following day we set off after nine along the Traka Trail, past the old Bideford train station and passing several seats with wooden figures or tiled seats (one example is shown) and stopped (yes you’ve guessed) for a coffee at Yarde Orchard. Here they have yurts, camping and dorms for travellers or visitors but for us it was a welcome break and a chance to drink their home-made apple juice. Before Petrockstowe, route #27 and Tarka trail part company as we continued on minor roads to Sheepwash (see photo of village green) and onto Hatherleigh, our lunch stop. The route was now quite hilly with a continuous series of ups and downs with a longer climb to Abbeyford Woods before free-wheeling into Okehampton and a tea stop at the museum. We had an evening meal at “The White Hart” (which incidentally means a female white deer) and probably the most pleasant B&B of the trip. Watching the weather forecast at night wasn’t too inspiring as a hurricane was heading to the UK with the met office issuing a yellow alert. Looking at the route there seemed to be a little uncertainty about the western route through Tavistock. We didn’t fancy pushing our bikes up muddy hills in the rain to reach Yelverton but we decided to leave the decisions on the route to see how the weather developed and if they had any information on the state of the cycle path at the information office in Tavistock.

After breakfast we were faced with a steep climb out of Okehampton with no opportunity to warm our rested muscles! However, it was a relatively short climb to the well-surfaced “Granite Trail” to follow the valley to Lydford. Again we were on an old rail track that gradually gained altitude before we were diverted downhill to Bridestowe. Later we were told that this was unnecessary and we could have continued on but all the signs and guide book said otherwise. We’d been to Lydford before so went to the tea rooms at the NT entrance and had a break before deciding that we had made good progress and would be in Tavistock by lunch time. In view of the bad weather predictions we decided there and then to bypass Tavistock on the eastern route of #27 to reach Drake’s Way into Plymouth (also part of the Coast to Coast route). The route continued with a series of sharp ups and downs through North Brentor (we didn’t use the summer route as the ground was soggy), Mary Tavy and Peter Tavy. On the way to Peter Tavy, the route went off-road on a narrow muddy track that wasn’t good going for loaded bikes. Anyway, at Peter Tavy we read a large yellow notice warning cyclists that the Tavistock route, the western option of the route #27, was closed near Grenofen Bridge and not open until the Spring of 2012. This didn’t affect us as we’d already decided on the eastern route through Walkhampton which wasn’t affected by the on-going work. After Meavy we had another off-road experience on which cyclists were warned to dismount on the steep rocky path that led down to a cycle path following the Ply Valley (mostly on tarmac but off-road). This section to Plymouth was very pleasant, free-wheeling most of the way and now meeting Sunday trippers and dog walkers. The weather had been variable with some drizzle but as we approached Plymouth it seemed to improve with a glimpse of the sun now and again. I won’t describe our route to the railway station; we clung to #27 as long as we could but eventually lost it in the traffic and chaos of road works etc. The railway station isn’t well marked and neither are the cycle paths that seem to disappear at the slightest hint of a junction or roundabout.
We returned to Totnes on Saturday night having completed the route in three days and in spite of predictions to the contrary, we didn’t get wet merely damp! The “accelerated end” meant that we had Sunday for Ems to show us around the Dartington Estate, especially the gardens and trees and enjoy a sunny stroll aside the river before returning home on Sunday evening.