Synopsis: Summer come early. Ramshackle bus ride from Plymouth to Newton Ferrers, then skirt around Yealm estuary to Noss Mayo, ferry crossing to coast path, and then beaches and sea.
This was going to be a short walk, but one long day. The reason I say that is that it would involve a considerable amount of bus travel to achieve this walk. The weather forecast for the day was really good, with lots of sun predicted, so I was keen to set out on this walk.
As the walk, if it were to go to plan, required a ferry crossing to negotiate the River Yealm early in the walk, I was quite keen to find out if this ferry was likely to be running. I had 30 minutes to spare on arriving in Plymouth, so I attempted to find a tourist information office in the city centre, where I might ask about the Noss Mayo ferry. No such luck! Not a tourist information office in sight. Can it really be that there is no tourist information in the centre of Plymouth? If there is any office, it is certainly well hidden.
Having given up on finding information about the ferry, I returned to my bus stop to wait for my number 94 bus. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but one thing was for sure, I wasn’t expecting the piddling little ‘Country Bus’ that turned up. It was one of those old Ford Transit mini buses that Exeter used to operate, but ditched years ago. I have a feeling I know who Exeter sold them to! It did get me punctually to my destination,, and on my Stage Coach ticket too, so despite the bone shaker experience, I shouldn’t really complain.
Newton FerrersI had some old Francis Frith photos of Newton Ferrers on my mobile phone which I was hoping to locate, but I was baffled as to where most of these had been taken. I couldn’t afford too much time doing this, so I had to give up on the idea and simply enjoy the stunning locations of both Newton Ferrers, and its neighbouring village which it seems to flow into, across the river, Noss Mayo. These places are a stark contrast to Plymouth.
Noss Mayo
I dropped down the hill, past Newton Ferrers church, down to the River Yealm. Here at least was one photo that was easy to identify – it really couldn’t be anywhere else.
Noss Mayo
I then picked up the road through Noss Mayo in the direction of the ferry. I passed some beautiful and strangely shaped cottage en route. As the tide was out I was able to use a footpath across one of the creeks that saved me some time.
Noss Mayo - ferry landingOn arriving at the ferry jetty, I was pleased to see it was wet, suggesting travellers had come this way. There was a notice board at the entrance which said it would be running 10am to 4pm. It was only a very short time beforeI could see the ferry boat approaching me from across the river. It deposited some passengers on the jetty and I, sole passenger, boarded the ferry (£2.00).
The ferryman asked me where I was going. I explained that I’d caught the bus out of Plymouth with the intention of now walking the coastal path back. He said the day would be fine and that I should get a following breeze to help me on my way.
Yealm estuaryIt was quite a steep climb up from the ferry jetty, which took me to a vantage point where there was a bench that faced out to sea. It was nearly 1pm by now, so I chose this place for my lunch. The National Trust is using Dartmoor ponies to graze the land as part of some land management scheme, and a number of these kept me company over lunch.
Wembury
The path follows the hilltop for a while before dropping down into Wembury, where there is a beach that was quite busy on this day. The place had a real holiday atmosphere to it. It could have been a summer’s day. Unfortunately no time for me to rest and soak up the sun, so I plough on.
Bovisand
It was very picturesque along this next stretch of the walk. Just a wide expanse of open coast line with nothing to interrupt it. Just past Heybrook Bay I came into what seems to be a holiday camp with many holiday chalets dotted here and there. A lovely location for them,, but a bit of shame a part of our coast line has been given up to this. The beach of Bovisand is nearby, and obviously a major attraction for the holiday camp.
I went a little wrong after this, missing a coastal path sign and ending up in what appears to be some disused fort of monumental proportions. Really quite a surreal place, as the money that obviously had been poured into building it must have been phenomenal, with all those granite blocks, and yet now it appears to stand derelict. And it’s location is absolutely amazing. Anyway, I shouldn’t have been there, so I backtracked to get myself on the path proper.
The path then went through a woods before opening out on a large expanse of parkland, obviously a very popular destination for the denizens of Plymouth. Well, there was an ice cream van there, so what more could you want.
Mount Batten Point passenger ferryFrom here it was only a short drop off the hill down to Mount Batten Point, from where I was hoping for yet another ferry, this time to take me across the River Tamar. I was reasonably confident this ferry would be running, and it was, so I immediately made the crossing (£1.50).
Plymouth Barbican - street cafe lifeI had slightly over an hour before my bus, and so, as I was tired, selected a bench on the Barbican Quay and had a snack. The place looked a bit rough, and as might have been expected, I was soon in the company of a wino. He spoke to me in elongated one word sentences, “Haveugottasmoke?”, which I interpreted to mean, “Do I have a cigarette?” I couldn’t oblige, and I suppose he reckoned he’d not get much out of me, so soon grabbed his bottle and was on his slurring way once again.
I really enjoyed this walk. It felt like a summer’s day. As mentioned, it wasn’t a great distance, but it took me through some lovely villages and along splendid coastline. This would make an extremely good undemanding bus-walk for anyone wanting to give the idea of a bus walk a try.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 11.7 miles
Moving Time: 4hrs 17min
Stopped Time: 1hr 08min
Total Ascent: 490 metres
Maximum Elevation: 92 metres
Buses: X38, 94 (Note: Stage Coach day ticket inclusive of route 94 on Country Bus)
Ferries (passenger): Noss Mayo (£2) and Mount Batten Point (£1.50)
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