LEJOG
Distance walked – 37.5km (23.4miles)
Total Distance – 276.3km (172.7miles)
Slip slidin’ away
Slip slidin’ away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you’re slip slidin’ away
Paul Simon – Slip Slidin’ away
Blood on the Tracks
Today we bade farewell to the South West Coast path, which we have followed for most of the last 11 days. The day was, to date, the longest distance we have covered in one day at 37.5km. The first half had some very muddy and treacherous sections, while the second consisted of 15 kilometres of a hard bitumen rail trail. These factors combined with the length have left us pretty foot sore, tired and looking forward to our first rest day tomorrow.
Hobby Drive
It all started quite pleasantly as we left Clovelly along the Hobby Drive which is a private road that winds around the cliff edge through the lands of the Clovelly Estate. It was originally constructed for injured Napoleonic war veterans to be taken for rides, being wide enough for a carriage to pass. We made good time on the well graded, gently rising road that curved through woodland with occasional glimpses of the sea below.
Back to Clovelly
At one point, the view widened to a vantage point where Clovelly was visible back around the coast. After five kilometres, the drive ended, and after a few field edges we entered an ancient woodland. The coastal path was quite different today with long stretches through woodland on the steep hillsides above the sea. The nearly twenty-four hours of rain yesterday had left the paths, particularly the sections through the woods, extremely muddy and slippery so that the going was very difficult and slow, and we would have fallen over multiple times if it wasn’t for the walking poles.
Woodland walk
Buck’s Mill
We descended into the little village of Buck’s Mill after which we encountered the first serious up of the day, as the path ascended sharply back into a further long stretch of woodland. The woods were covered in bluebells (we must be reaching peak bluebell any day now), however, what would have been a very pleasant walk, was slowly turning into a trial of endurance by the muddy conditions. The mud was the wet slippery type as opposed to the drier sticky type. It managed to turn any small downwards incline into a major hazard. We persevered, and slipped and splattered and slid our way along the hillside.
Eventually we reached Peppercombe where we had morning tea in the National Trust shelter (no flat white today). From Peppercombe we left the woods behind, the coastal path reverting to its usual ups and downs over open hills and cliffs. At one stage we came out on the top of a cliff with a beautiful view where I proclaimed “Ah, this is the reason we do this”, to which Louisa responded hopefully “Cake? Where’s the cake?”
Goodbye Coast Path Selfie
A long descent down a mudslide and some steep steps took us onto the grey stones of the beach at Greencliff where we bid farewell to the coast path. We were quite sad as we turned away from the sea which has been our near constant companion, always on our left, since we commenced the walk. The sound of the waves rolling on to the pebble covered shore slowly disappearing as we walked up a farm lane. We will not see the sea again until we reach Inverness in Scotland in, hopefully, about sixty days’ time.
Road Walking
From Greencliff we cut across country via a mix of quiet lanes, bridleways and a few footpaths. It was good to be away from the mud. We refused one field that did actually have a bull in it (actually we counted three from the safety of the gate) and then luckily, met a man walking his dog who warned us against using the road we had chosen to walk into the town of Bideford, as it was too dangerous. We managed to re-route to a quieter road, where only 2 vehicles passed us over the three kilometre stretch, and after several more kilometres found ourselves in the centre of Bideford at an outdoor cafe.
Cats crossing and crazy garden art
From Bideford we took the Tarka Trail, which is a cycle/walking rail trail that goes all the way into Barnstaple, our destination for today. It was 15 kilometres (bad) of flat walking (good) on hard bitumen (bad) after a difficult hard morning (bad). We found the going tough. A particular low point was looking down to see a red blood stain on the toe of my shoe. I had been aware of a worsening pain for the past few kilometres but didn’t want to stop as we had been finding it difficult to get going again. An enforced stop and inspection of my foot revealed that my big toe had herniated through a hole it had worn in my sock. The end of the toe had been rubbed raw and was slowly oozing blood into the shoe. We patched it up and limped on.
Tarka Trail
The trail passes along the edge of a river estuary and has much to commend it: apple trees in blossom, rolling green countryside, several pretty villages, a well preserved neolithic walkway. I’m sure that if you experienced it on a bicycle on a sunny summer’s day it would be a delight, but we found it tough and monotonous. Louisa’s low point was when a man walking a dog settled in just behind us. He dramatically and loudly coughed and cleared his throat every ten seconds like a man dying from consumption. After a few minutes of this, Louisa forced us to stop and wait until his hacking barks were out of earshot.
Run (no chance) towards the light
We limped into Barnstaple, found our Airbnb, and collapsed onto the sofa. Tomorrow is our first rest day, and we are looking forward to a sleep-in and some clean clothes at last.
Barnstaple at last
Today’s Route
Accomodation – We stayed in Harbour View B and B last night in Clovelly. It was very nice and reasonably priced. We had a lovely view of the harbour from our room which was warm, comfortable and had good wi-fi. As with many places in England, and many of the places we have stayed so far, the power-shower was a bit ropey. There was also an included breakfast which we didn’t have as we left early. (There was also a beautiful black and white cat which made Louisa happy).
5 Responses
you shouldn’t put feet pictures on the internet for free! love you guys, hope you’re well! xx
Lol!
Thanks for the advice, I will charge for such delightful pictures of your father’s feet next time!
That toe Nigel… not a good look!! Trust you were able to treat it well and throw away the sock with the hole in it.
Socks gone, new shoes and toe all healed! xxx