Synopsis: A hot and sunny late summer day. Easy walking along the course of the River Otter to reach Budleigh Salterton for lunch. Then over the cliffs to Exmouth. Bank Holiday busy.
As I didn’t catch my bus out for this walk until 10:40 am, it was probably the busiest bus I’ve ever travelled on when going out on a walk. Normally my bus walks start much earlier than this. Of course, being a Bank Holiday Monday also meant that it was going to be busier than usual. It was only a 30 minute bus journey to Newton Poppleford from where my walk would begin.
I started out a little above the main path and used a permissive path to drop down onto it. The path is very level being as it follows the course of the River Otter. This is a popular path, and as usual there were numerous other walkers out on it today.
Following course of the River Otter. Himalayan Balsam.One of the most startling changes that I noted over previous years was the extent to which an evasive plant, Himalayan Balsam, had now colonised the river banks. This is really quite alarming, as it is such an evasive plant it chokes out all other indigenous plants, and even makes it difficult to see the river in places as it is so pervasive. I think this is a great shame, and not the only river that I’ve come across where this plant has colonised the river banks. I can only presume that there is nothing that can be done about it, as otherwise this would surely have been tackled. Are all our river courses in this country to become nothing more than beds of Himalayan Balsam?
Budleigh Salterton
On arriving in Budleigh Salterton my first objective is to find somewhere to eat my picnic lunch. The sea front is particularly busy as there are numerous stalls where fund raising for various ambulance services was taking place. Bric-a-brac was being sold, games could be played, and burgers could be bought, if you so wished. I found a nice little bench set high and back where I could watch the proceedings and the general mill of people, who were many in number.
Littleham Cove - wasted crops
I then picked up the coast path which runs up the sea front of Budleigh Salterton, past a golf course and out onto the cliff top. The path snakes around a large campsite where there are hordes of static caravans, which aren’t a pretty sight. I notice that there are numerous fields of wheat which have gone to waste. I’ve seen many such fields this year, something I don’t recall ever seeing in previous years. I was talking with a fellow walker and he too was mystified as to why this should have been allowed to happen. Normally the wheat crop would have been harvested about 5-6 weeks prior to now. The fellow walker said something about farmers being ‘up the swanny’ at the moment, but I didn’t understand quite what he meant by that. A mystery!
Exmouth - Orcombe Rocks
From Orcombe Point I dropped down onto the beach using the wooden steps that run down the cliff face. I then walked along a stretch of the beach before surmounting the promenade which I walked until I came to a shelter where I could sit out of the sun. I’d had a lot of sun on this walk and was in need of some shelter from it, somewhere I could take a drink and a light snack before hunting out a bus to take me home.
For an impromptu walk this was really nice. As the weather forecast was good I felt it important to make the most of such a lovely late summer’s day. A very wise choice, as the day was perfect.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 11.6 miles
Moving Time: 4hrs 19min
Stopped Time: 29min
Total Ascent: 327 metres
Maximum Elevation: 129 metres
Buses: 52B & 57
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