Synopsis: Incredible views are to be earned on this walk, but earned is the operative word, since there are numerous stiff ascents to be negotiated. Tough, but highly rewarding walk.
Walk! Devon
This walk is route 23 from the book Walk! Devon. This is an excellent, recently acquired, book of mine, as the walks are very well written up, easy to follow, and each is provided with Ordnance Survey 1/25,000 maps. All the walks are ‘GPS Enabled’, by which is meant that each has a table of waypoint grid references that can be loaded to a GPS unit to facilitate easy navigation. This is my first walk using this guide, but as I walk more I will tag them as I have this walk. To see other walks from this book that I complete, use the link under Tags to the right.
So why this walk? The walk is to be from St Marychurch to Shaldon, then on into Teignmouth to catch a bus back home. Well, I was inspired by an engraving that I came across on the Internet. Giant's Rock, down Watcombe way. I didn't however come across this view during this walk; does anyone know precisely where this is? I had also stumbled upon some old photos on the Francis Frith web site. I thought it would be interesting to compare the then and now, and see what remains and what doesn't.
Torquay, The Giant Rock at Watcombe © National Media Museum
This is a photo from the National Media Museum collection that is also of Giant’s Rock I mentioned above. I’ve only recently discovered this photo and added it to this blog post. I note that this photo, held on Flickr, has been geo-tagged with its location. I think today it’s not possible to gain quite the same view as these old images, but I feel an inclination to return someday soon and have a little exploration of the area.
See additional notes regarding the location of Giant’s Rock at the foot of this post.
This was to be another early start to catch the bus, this time the No. 2 to Teignmouth, from where I connect with No. 32 on to St Marychurch. The dew was on the grass and the mist was just lifting from the hills as I walked down to Topsham Road, Exeter, to catch my first bus of the day.
Oddicombe Beach
I was down in St Marychurch by 9 am, and set off for Oddicombe beach. Just a few dog walkers on the promenade at that time of day. Down on the beach however there was a diving school preparing to go out. I examine my old photos of Oddicombe Beach, and find the same vantage for my photos, which proved to be remarkably similar to the photos of old.
Beach 1889, Babbacombe © Francis Frith
This is the photo from the Francis Frith collection taken in 1889 from roughly the same vantage point as my photo above. For more old/new photo comparisons, see the description on my Flickr photo set, link above.
Torquay, Babbacombe Bay, from the Inn © National Media Museum
The photo left is thought to be circa 1880, taken by Francis Bedford, the photographer who took early photo of Giant Rock above. Some of the same buildings as in the Francis Frith photo above can be seen in this photograph.
The Cary Arms, in existence to this day, can be seen on the left.
The route was to be Oddicombe, to Watcombe, to Maidencombe, skirting around Labrador Bay, out to The Ness, then dropping down into Shaldon. Early light rain soon began to clear, visibility was good, and the day started to warm as I set out on the first of my steep climbs of the day, climbing out of Oddicombe.
Watcombe Beach
Near Watcombe I walked through the old quarrying site that once supplied the Watcombe Pottery, some of which was apparently in the possession of Queen Victoria. Watcombe beach was deserted; just a dilapidated cafe and it's owner tinkering with his car. It's a lovely setting all the same, and none the worse for my having it virtually to myself.
Maidencombe Beach
The next point of call is Maidencombe, which can be a little more popular than Watcombe being serviced by a car park, the Thatched Tavern, and a beach cafe. From Maidencombe the walk took me out onto the cliff edge from where some of the best views of the walk are to be had. Views both to the south and Torquay and the north and Teighnmouth are superb. A lot of steep cliffs, many stepped climbs, but spectacular scenery it proves to be.
View of Teign Estuary from The Ness
The view from The Ness was obscured by extreme vegetation growth, which spoils a normally stunning view across the Teign Estuary to Teignmouth. I climbed down a little from the point and sneaked a view between the trees, looking up the Teign Estuary (see photo).
Shaldon is a lovely place to stroll around, beautiful and peaceful. I searched out my old photo views and snap replica images, finding that things once again had changed little during the last 100 years.
My total ascent for the day was 850 metres, which confirmed my view that coastal path walking can be as tough as any around. This meant I had most of the walk to myself, as most people have more sense! Perhaps an odd aspect of this day was discovering that the photos of around a hundred years ago showed busier places than I was to see on my walk today. What are people doing today? It had been a hard but extremely rewarding day's walking. I caught the 4:40 pm bus out of Teignmouth for Exeter, arriving Topsham Road by 5:30 pm.
Notes [Giant’s Rock]: The location of Giant’s Rock, as pictured in the photo of 1880 from the National Media Museum, takes some fathoming, but can be determined from old maps. The web site Old Maps has a range of old Ordnance Survey maps and from these it is possible to see Giant Rock clearly marked. Visit the Old Maps web site and enter the coordinates: 292292 67526. View the 1906 1:2,500 map for this location by clicking on the appropriate Enlarge Map button on the right, then click once into the centre of the old map that is displayed to zoom in. On this map Giant Rock is clearly visible. This same location can be viewed on the modern OS maps for this location (centred on grid reference given above) but you will note that Giant Rock is no longer identified on the map. I would conjecture that this is the position at which the photographer stood to take the photograph of 1880. I returned on a later trip and took a closer look at this site today, which I describe in my blog post 09 May 2014 - Walk: Giant Rock, Watcombe and Berry Head.
I do feel it is rather a shame that what was once quite obviously a view that attracted sightseers from far and wide is now virtually obliterated by trees to the point whereby it no longer merits mention on current maps. I’m quite convinced the Giant would be exceedingly displeased about the depreciation of his rock.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 11.6m
Total Ascent: 850 metres
Total Walk Time: (moving): 4 hrs 46 mins (elapsed): 7 hrs 26 mins
Maximum Elevation: 127 metres
Buses: Stagecoach 2 (to Teignmouth) & 32 (St Marychurch)
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