Synopsis: Glorious sweeping coastal scenery and slightly faded seaside resort. Plus cricket on a cold and rainy day. This walk has it all, or at least the potential for splendour.
On a warm sunny day this would have been a great walk. Today, wet and cold as it was, it was simply a good walk. The weather forecast wasn’t good, so the weather wasn’t a surprise. There was a suggestion that there might have been some sun in the afternoon, but this never looked like materialising. I did actually cut the walk short, as it was raining at 2:45 and there was a chance of catching a bus out of Westward Ho! Don’t you like that? The name of this place has an exclamation mark in it! I don’t suppose there are many places that can lay claim to that.
Crossing the River Yeo just out of LandcrossOne of the problems with North Devon walks by bus is that it takes 2 hours just to get there. I’m a little inclined to favour walks closer to Exeter for this reason, which is a shame, as it is such a beautiful area.
I requested a stop in Landcross from where my walk would start. The bus driver was a little perplexed as to where to stop. He explained there was a little square of concrete somewhere, that marked the spot, and there was. I said to the driver, “You obviously don’t stop here often.” He said not.
Littleham church - intricate bench carvings
I was effectively cutting across this peninsula to join the coastal path just south-west of Westward Ho! The first village (or is that hamlet?) that I came across was Littleham, which has a quaint row of uniform cottages. The church is a little outside the village, down a little lane. It has some quite splendid carvings on the end of its pews. At first I was thinking this is more of a Cornish trait, then it dawns on me that I’m close to the border with Cornwall, close enough for this trait to have strayed across the border into Devon.
First sight of the North Devon coast
From here the walking is mostly along lanes which are a bit busier than I might have anticipated, but not so much as to be bothersome. It was nice to surmount the ridge near Rixlade and have the sea come into sight. I suppose I hadn’t seen this stretch of coast since I came by this way early on my trek around the South West Coast Path, which was some years previous. By now it was just after noon. I decided to make Westward Ho! my destination for a lunch stop, a little over two miles away.
A thin shaft of hard rock
The coastal path along my way was not too strenuous, with merely a couple of ridges to climb. The views were a bit restricted as there was something of a sea mist all about. The shoreline was striated with the kind of shale like rock that’s common in this region. I believe at one time it was refined into oil, but that this proved not to be cost effective at the time. Perhaps one day we shall be doing this again.
Westward Ho! - Home of the Addams family?
There was a light rain falling when I entered Westward Ho! The first building I was greeted with was somewhere you might have expected the Addams family to be living. It was derelict, with smashed windows and ivy growing all over it, and yet it hinted at a time when it would have had a certain grandeur. Quite romantic in its way. I found shelter to eat my lunch in a doorway of the church. Somewhere a little more salacious might have been nice, but it at least kept me dry.
Westward Ho! - modern designer developmentsAfter lunch I spent a little time wandering around Westward Ho! I’d been looking at some old photos of the place from the Francis Frith collection. It was easy to place many of them, even though the place had seen quite a lot of development in the intervening years. Unfortunately Cafe Gay Sombre was no longer to be seen, I think possibly replaced by an amusement arcade. What was perhaps a little surprising was the fact that some modern designer style development had taken place along the seafront, sitting right alongside the decayed beach huts perhaps more in keeping with the heritage of the place. I guess even Westward Ho! couldn’t escape the make over age.
At this point, as it was still raining, I began to consider options to cut the walk short. I had already noticed a bus service running through Westward Ho! that might be an option, and yes, a bus was due in 30 minutes that would get me to Bideford. I decide to settle on that option. As luck would have it I arrived in Bideford just in time to catch a bus for Exeter that was waiting there. I hopped from one bus to the other and was on my way. The bus driver said that there would be considerable disruption around Torrington later, as there was a carnival taking place there. It was probably just as well I was setting off home early!
A conversation overheard on the bus: A young girl and her boyfriend got on the bus with me at Westward Ho! The young girl is pushing a pram. I notice that she is quite young. A young lad sitting opposite the girl, who possibly knows the girl, asks, “How old are you? 16?” She answers, “No, I’m 15.” I’m of course thinking that’s quite young to have had a baby. Then, the baby that I can’t see as it is in a pushchair that is facing forwards, starts talking, and I’m thinking that baby isn’t so young. In many ways it was nice to see, but I was left thinking what a lot of responsibility for someone so young.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 10.5 miles
Moving Time: 3hrs 49min
Stopped Time: 35min
Total Ascent: 331 metres
Maximum Elevation: 132 metres
Buses: 315, 21 & H2
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