Synopsis: A rather short but highly concentrated walk with much to delight the entire length of the route. A day of late summer warmth and sunshine made this a most splendid walk.
Walk! Devon
This walk is route 27 from the book Walk! Devon. This is a favourite 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. To see other walks from this book that I have completed, use the link under Tags to the right.
This has to be one of my earliest starts ever! I'm up at 4:45 am to catch the 6:30 bus to Totnes - now how is that for dedication? Well, I looked at the options, and by far the best bus connections were to be had if I started early. As I walked to the bus stop across Ludwell Valley Park in Exeter a heavy mist lay all around. I very nearly missed my bus, only seeing it come out of the mist at the very last moment.
The Riverside Promenade
I'm walking in Dartmouth by around 8:40 am. The town is still and quiet at that time of a Saturday morning. I wandered along the waterfront and through the town for a while before heading off on my walk. It was a beautiful crisp morning and there were few people about which made for very enjoyable sight seeing.
The Promenade c1955, Dartmouth © Francis Frith
There are quite a number of interesting old photos of Dartmouth in the Francis Frith collection, and I quite like comparing the then-and-now of these as I walk through a place. This photo of The Promenade shows a Dartmouth not greatly changed today. For more old/new photo comparisons, see the description on my Flickr photo set, link above.
Bayards Cove
I walked along the cobbled quayside of Bayard’s Cove which is where Dartmouth’s lower ferry operates (the ferry ramp is just visible in this photo). Someone was up before me, as the flowers in the hanging baskets had evidently already been watered.
Dartmouth Castle
I thought Dartmouth Castle and St Petrock's Church quite charming. The light was quite stark and bright this early in the morning making Dartmouth Castle silhouetted prominently against the deep blue-green coloured water.
Castle Cove
The coast path ascends from behind the castle, leading into small coves just out from here. These coves exemplify the most quaint picture postcard Devon coast and are quite lovely. From here the path hugs a steep sided cliff snaking around these coves until leading out towards the headland of Blackstone Point.
Castle Cove 1930, Dartmouth © Francis Frith
There seems to have been a little shack built, quite incredibly, in the steep sided Castle Cove during the 1930s, as can be seen in this photo from the Francis Frith collection.
Looking towards Slapton from Warren Point
I stopped for lunch at Warren Point, which afforded a wonderful view out to Slapton Sands. There was no shelter from the noonday sun here on the point, so I was soon part baked by the unremitting rays.
View from Gallant's Bower, an old Civil War fortress, c.1649
The path from Warren Point climbs to the National Trust car park, from where it heads back in the direction of Dartmouth. I passed Gallant's Bower, the old earth mounds of a fortress erected during the time of the Civil War in 1649.
From Gallant's Bower the path dropped steeply through woods into Dartmouth. I caught the 3:00 pm bus from Dartmouth for the first leg of my journey home to Exeter. A brilliant day’s walking.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 7.7m
Total Walk Time: (moving): 3 hrs 13 mins (elapsed): 5 hrs 50 mins
Total Ascent: 460 metres
Maximum Elevation: 121 metres
Buses: Stagecoach X64 (to Totnes) & 111 (Dartmouth)
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