The bus got me into Exeter at about two-forty in the
afternoon. The route is now very popular with many alighting at Weymouth but
refilling with trippers to Bridport and
Lyme Regis, standing room only. It was a pleasant walk along the Exe estuary, a
route I’d walked before whilst staying at Bex and Tony’s flat in 2007. This is
also the route that Emily cycled to work from Starcross to Exeter. The bed and
breakfast in Starcross (“The Chimneys”) was pleasant and a great full-English
breakfast to set me up for what turned out to be a long day’s walking. I was on
the road again by nine-thirty to Dawlish Warren to find the sea-wall path to
Dawlish, again in the sunshine. Here I stopped for a coffee and break before
finding the sea-wall to get to Teignmouth (pronounced “Tinmouth”!). There is
another path inland and the signs warned that the sea-wall route was too
dangerous at high tide. It is difficult to imagine a tide that is high enough
to cause problems but there had been cases when the sea swept over the rail
line that run parallel with the sea-wall.
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| The "Double Locks Hotel" a Pub on the Exe Valley Way with the Exeter canal in the foreground. |
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| Evening drawing in with a view across the Exe estuary to Exmouth in the distance. |
The SWW just touches the edge of Teignmouth along the beach
to reach the ferry with a view looking out towards the road bridge. A couple of
fishermen pointed me to the jetty for the ferry and within a few minutes the
ferry had returned from Shaldon. This was £1.50 single in a small boat across
the Teign with a ticket advertising Shaldon Zoo. I’d originally thought of
camping just south of Shaldon, but it was only about one-thirty and too early
for that so I continued on alongside Babbacombe Bay towards Torquay. This was a
pleasant walk over Labrador Bay to Maindencombe and Watcombe Head. Here I met
several showers, one heavy enough near Oddicombe beach for me to have to put
on wet gear and protect my rucksack. By this time I was thinking of places to stay
or camp. The only B&B’s I saw were full and so I looked at the peninsular at
Hope’s Nose for camping as there are no campsites in this area. This looked
ideal with an area which had obviously been used by campers and fishermen
although there were signs requesting “no camping” at the entrance. Anyway, it became academic as I’d run out of
water and forgot to refill when passing through Anstey. I thought it would be
easy to find accommodation in Torquay but soon found that the places were
either full or ridiculously expensive. After wandering around the streets near
the railway station for a while, I found the “Red House Hotel” with B&B for
£35, and one room left, so my lucky day. It was very pleasant and the breakfast
put me in good stead for another day on the trail.
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| Sunny morning in Dawlish and a coffee break. We had a holiday here when the family were younger; good place for swings! |
Bex had contacted me and suggested meeting at “Man Sands” south
of Brixham so we could return to Totnes for the night and then walk together on
Friday towards Slapton. Paignton beach was splendid in the morning sunshine and
I soon found myself in Elberry Cove (a nice place to camp with a flat area
beyond the tide line). From here the path led to the top of a wooded ridge and
with undulations to Churston Cove where it dropped down to the beach. From
there it was a short distance into Brixham harbour for lunch amongst the
day-trippers and tourists. Everyone seemed to be out and about milling round the
harbour and the large Marina inside the Breakwater (that can be spotted from
Paignton).
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| The Breakwater at Brixham, also the place to find the "Golden Hind"; blue sky! |
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| In Brixham Harbour where I sat for lunch. |
I was disappointed to find that the route to Berry Head was mainly
on the road, with only the last section on a track to the two forts. I went to
the south fort and sat for a while to see if I could spot any Whales as this is
a good place to see them. Anyway, not for me so I found the path south towards
Mary’s Bay and Sharkham Point. It was a roller-coaster path now and I
identified “Man Sands” from far off but saw that the coastal path south was a
series of ascents and descent with streams cutting to the coast. I stopped on
my descent to “Man Sands” as I had plenty of time and got into talking to a
couple who had come from the opposite direction. They were heading to Brixham
for the night and told me the next section was difficult with the steep ascents
and matched the terrain in North Cornwall. Anyway for me the day finished
nearby so I descended onto the pebble beach, had a paddle and then watched as
two horses were spurred unwillingly into the sea. It was nice to make a coffee
and enjoy the sunshine before making my way to the National Trust car park to
meet with Bex. She’d had a busy day and had managed to get Friday off to walk
from “Man Sands” to Blackpool beach before going on holiday to Eire to do some
surfing.
We left Totnes by seven-thirty and were on the lane to “Man
Sands” before eight. It was cool to start with but we soon warmed-up climbing
out of the cove to Crabrock Point and to Scabbacombe Sands a little further on.
The path was a series of serious “ups and downs” to reach Pudcombe Cove (NT)
still in the sunshine. As we progressed the weather changed with a cooler wind
and dark clouds but this soon cleared as we approached Kingswear. We had a
short wait for the ferry (there is also a vehicle ferry nearby which is towed
across the river by tug boats) and then a stroll through Dartmouth to find “Alf
Resco”, a café near the front, where we had a pleasant early lunch.
From here the route followed the coastline, first through
woods on an undulating path before diverting inland on roads to Stoke Fleming. From here it is a short walk on or near the
road to Blackpool Sands a very pleasant spot with a sand beach lined with
conifers. After refreshments, we parted company, me to find a campsite at
Slapton and Bex to meet Tony ready for their dart to the ferry. If I thought
the ascents were over, then I was wrong as the next stage took me down steep grass
hillsides and up again before finally giving up and pushing me to an “A” road
through Strete and then a lane to the beach at Slapton. A little later I had
set up camp in the club site at Slapton, showered and preparing yet another
recipe from nut burger, dried peppers, mushrooms and biltong. Not a great success
I’m afraid as the peppers made the dish too spicey…more work needed on that one
then.
I left camp by seven-thirty to reach Torcross to catch the
shop opening to get a baguette and supplies for the day. After Beesands, a
short hop to the south, there are few supplies near the route. The tide was in
so I couldn’t take the beach route so climbed out of Torcross to descend to Beesands.
Here I found a few people wild camping in vans and getting ready for a sunny
day by the sea. My route went on to Hallsands over another rise and then gently
climbed up to Start Point with its Lighthouse that I’d seen from some distance.
I’d done part of the next stretch to Salcombe with Helen and Bex when we went
to East Prawle on a day hike leaving the car at the car park near Start Point.
It is a very scenic section of the path with rock outcrops and small sandy
coves but the path seems to undulate and contour around the cliffs rather than
the usual “full-on” frontal approach of straight ups and downs. Hence the
walking was quite easy and I made good time before stopping for lunch at Prawle
Point shortly after passing Kate Bush’s house. Here I met the couple I’d spoken
to near “Man Sands” and they had diverted east for the day to avoid the chaos
on the roads caused by the “Tour of Britain” cycle race.
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| Looking to Gammon Head from just west of Prawle Point, lunch spot nearby. |
The route is pretty good all the way to the Salcombe ferry
with good views across to Bolt Head. There is a steep climb to Gara Rock (this
has a hotel where you can get refreshments and meals but is a little off the
route), but after that, the Way undulates around the cliffs to reach the
woodlands and beaches near East Portlemouth and the end of my journey. Helen
arrived and after refreshments we wended our way home (Helen had tried to find
a B&B but they were all booked or a fantastic price), stopping on route for
a celebration meal..the end of the SWW for me, although I’m sure I’ll be on the
route again especially as we live so close to Devon and of course we have our
own Dorset Heritage coast.
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| The end of the walk at the "Venus" cafe looking over to Salcombe at the ferry point. |
If you asked me “what is the best section of the SWW?”, I’d
have to say the wildest sections in North Cornwall but the sections between
Brixham and Salcombe are difficult to beat as a rugged coastline and free from
development, especially from Slapton to Salcombe.
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