Synopsis: Sun, sea and sand. Not quite a day on a beach, but perhaps as close as a walker gets to such a day. Children were having such fun on the beach, which was lovely to see.
A glorious day was forecast, and a glorious day it was. The sun shone all day long, and it was warm enough for me to wear shorts! I thought it would be nice to take in some of Devon’s finest beaches along the south coast, so with that in mind I set off for Kingsbridge on the 7:10 am bus from Exeter. There was a little early morning mist laying in Ludwell Valley Park, casting halos around the trees.
Me in shorts, about to set out on my walk from KingsbridgeOn arriving in Kingsbridge punctually just before 9 am my first job was to swap my trousers for my shorts and get creamed up with sun tan lotion. Having a fair English skin means I wouldn’t cope with the amount of sun that was forecast. I stopped for a while to capture a photo of myself in shorts, something rarely seen, and rarely missed.
View over the estuary near Kingsbridge
The plan was to cut across country in the direction of South Milton beach, taking in the village of that name on route. As I climbed out of Kingsbridge I was presented with a fine view across the Kingsbridge Estuary. It was already warming up and I was glad to be in shorts. Traversing a mix of lanes and public footpaths I eventually gain sight of South Milton village.
South Milton
I can immediately recognise South Milton from the Francis Frith photos. There’s a lovely photo of two young girls standing in front of this cottage in 1927.
South Milton Church font
I was keen to hunt out the church as some of the churches in this area exhibit elements of their early history; I was glad I did. Immediately I entered the door of the church I was greeted with sight of an amazing font. At first I was rather taken aback, as it didn’t look like any font I’d seen previously. My immediate inclination was that it was of Norman origin from the style of the sculpting, but the images were unlike any I’d seen before. An information leaflet about the church confirmed my belief that the font was the most interesting thing in the church, but that its carvings were something of an enigma, but probably early Norman.
South Milton Church - what was once a previous reredos
I stared at this wall mounting for a while, not quite knowing what it was. Subsequent to the walk I discovered that it is the old reredos, now relegated to the south wall at the rear of the church. Its style is rather unusual, but it certainly drives its messages home.
I picked up a lane, which soon became a track, which took me out the back of South Milton heading in the direction of the coast. I was really faring well up until the time I came across notices about a footpath diversion which I thought I understood but obviously didn’t; I was completely thrown off course. I wound up on a route that took me down to the road to Thurlestone, which wasn’t all that pleasant as it was narrow and quite busy. By this time there was no going back, so I just had to plough on to the coast, which wasn’t that far ahead.
South Milton BeachThe sea looked beautiful; a deep blue expanse interrupted by flecks of white spindrift whipped up by the fair breeze that was blowing. There were quire a number of people on the beach, and the National Trust cafe seemed to be doing a good trade. The National Trust are managing South Milton Beach, hence the newly planted maram grass being used to create a dune system to protect the shoreline. There seemed to be no hope of my finding any shade, so I settled upon the hardship of encamping on the beach along with everyone else, and there I ate my lunch.
South Milton Beach
As soon as I’d finished my lunch I was on my way again. I once again creamed up for the sun, picked up the bridge over the stream and followed the coast path in the direction of Thurlestone. I was walking at a reasonable pace as I was unsure how long it would take me to complete my walk and I was keen to make the 15:41 bus from Aveton Gifford. I crossed the footbridge over a stream which is just visible in the distance.
The views all along this stretch of coast were delightful. As I passed Thurlestone I had golfers for company, but quite why they would want to be concentrating their attention on a small white ball when there was so much to see all around I do not know. I tried to capture something of the scenery by taking some panoramic shots of the bay, of which this is one.
Burgh IslandAs I approached Bantham and its beach, used by us on several family outings, Burgh Island with its famous Art Deco hotel came into view. The sand causeway was just visible as the tide was ebbing by this time.
On exiting from Bantham, I asked the car park attendant if the passenger ferry was running. He said it was, but it only ran Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 11:00, and 15:00 to 16:00. He explained that this was based on a theory that people are wanting to come across to Bantham at that time in the morning, and return at the designated time in the afternoon. I was prepared to take his word on that. It might be something to bear in mind for a potential future walk. Incidentally, the car park at Bantham appeared to be full.
Avon Estuary WalkPart way out of Bantham village I picked up what is named the Avon Estuary Walk. This is part of a circular walk that would take me back to Aveton Gifford along my planned route. In case you’re wondering; I discovered this whilst perusing a leaflet in the Kingsbridge Tourist Information office whilst waiting for my bus. As I set out along this walk I thought about my previous walk along the upper reaches of the River Avon when the daffodils lined the banks (04 April 2010, Walk: South Brent to Kingsbridge).
The walk route along the the banks of the River Avon afforded me some excellent views along the length of the estuary, right out to sea as far as Burgh Island. It was very hot by now and I was really quite thankful that the trail is relatively level along this stretch of the walk. I stopped briefly under a tree to have some water, but I could see that time was now running short.
Avon Estuary Walk - wild garlic laneI passed through a lovely woods that was carpeted with an enormous number of, strongly smelling, wild garlic flowers. The sun piercing the canopy was illuminating these flowers and creating a lovely vision of white.
Avon Estuary Walk - Stiddicombe Creek
The path crossed a creek where a pair of white egrets were busily fishing until I disturbed them. Then one steep climb, a ridge walk, followed by a gradual descent to Aveton Gifford. I risked my life walking the length of Aveton Gifford bridge, which offers no protection for pedestrians. The bridge however is interesting in itself, in that it dates from medieval times, thought to have been built around 1440. Looking at my watch I see that I shall make it to the bus stop about a minute before the bus was due, which as it happens was just enough, as the bus was extremely punctual!
On arriving in Kingsbridge I had an hour to spare and hunt out a second-hand book shop, as I’m looking for a copy of Nicholas Nickleby, which I’m ashamed to say I’ve not read. The Oxfam shop came up trumps!
On the bus home I noticed that the sheep and the cattle were all seeking out whatever respite from the sun the could find by way of shade under trees, as the heat was obviously too much to bear. As usual, I’m sat on the bus, grappling with my netbook as I’m jostled all the way home. But it was a beautiful day; as fine a day as you could wish. I shall rest contented when I get home tonight.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 12.8 miles
Moving Time: 4hrs 05min
Stopped Time: 1hr 15min
Total Ascent: 582 metres
Maximum Elevation: 100 metres
Buses: X64 & 93 (additional £3 as this is a First bus for which my Stagecoach ticket was not valid)
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