Synopsis: Picnic lunch in the car park near Beer Head with sweeping views out across Lyme Bay. Walked to Beer Head and then along Under Hooken path to Branscombe. Then over cliff path to Beer.
Helen and I had the day to ourselves, so I borrowed Mum’s car and we set off in the direction of Exmouth. First stop was to be Dart’s Farm just outside Topsham where we shopped for a new rain jacket for Helen as her old jacket was, after ten years of regular use, no longer very waterproof. We spent some time there as Helen tried on various jackets eventually settling on a smart Berghaus lightweight jacket which suited her really well (This is a photo of Helen wearing her new jacket taken a few weeks later).
Buying Helen a rain jacket had the rather obvious effect of bringing out the sun in all it’s glory and so we set off in the direction of Beer with the intention of taking a walk. We parked in the car park on the hill above Beer and sat to eat our lunch. There are lovely views from this car park looking east out to sea across Lyme Bay. We could however see that there was a thick sea mist covering parts of the cliff east of where we were.
Beer Head
The sun continued to shine strongly as we set off from the car park on our walk, We walked out to Beer Head and I posed in a way that Helen and Laura did a couple of years previous (Here’s a photo of Helen doing the same in 2009). I stood arms abreast facing out to sea and into the breeze, hair (what little I have left) standing on end.
Beer Head
I proposed that we do a circular walk to Branscombe, one stage following the lower under-cliff walk, the other stage over the cliff tops. The decision we had to make was which to do first and I suggested the under-cliff as I thought it would be fun to look up at the cliffs that we’d later be walking over.
We weren’t far into the walk when Helen looked towards the cliff and spotted what looked like a cave in the white cliff face. She noticed that there was a rope dangling from this cave and I could tell her curiosity was aroused. A little further into the walk the path branched with a diversion to the right, presumably to the base of the cave. Helen just had to explore. I said I’d wait for her, but she was not to do anything reckless. What chance of Helen heeding my words I thought.
As I was standing waiting for Helen to return a woman with small children came walking by. I explained that I was waiting for Helen to return from her explorations of a cave along the other path. She knew of the cave and told me that youths would climb up into the cave with food and drink and have parties in it. I was at least comforted by the thought that the rope would seem to be safe, but was still concerned at what Helen might get up to. A little while after the family had left me Helen returned. She had got to the foot of the cave where the rope was and said she had felt she could have climbed up into the cave but decided against it. Whether that was because of her own sense of caution or knowledge of the worry that would cause me I do not know. We continued along the path we were following to Branscombe.
Branscombe - Anchor from the stranded ship MSC Napoli
On reaching Branscombe we stood looking at the anchor of the MSC Napoli which is now sited here to commemorate the beaching of this ship a few years previous. The anchor is an enormous size of 13,500 KG weight. Helen was perplexed by the ‘approximate’ weight conversions and I explained that this was English tonnes. I hadn’t realised that there are KG tonnes which are of course different, but not only that, there are US tonnes which are different yet again. How very confusing.
Branscombe Beach
We lay on the beach soaking up the sun and watching the waves crashing on the pebble beach. Helen then experimented with photographing the waves, trying to get as close as possible to them. I persuaded her to take her shoes off, just in case she miscalculated the timing of her rapid retreats.
Branscombe - looking back towards Branscombe Mouth and Branscombe Beach from East Cliff
Then began the stiff climb up the cliff from Branscombe. A group of elderly runners were following us on this same course, but the rigours of the ascent soon took its toll and slowed their pace to a speed no faster than ours.
Beer Head - Looking towards Beer and beyond to Seaton
After our walk along the cliff top we continued on into Beer with the intention of getting ourselves a well deserved ice cream. We came upon the perfect ice cream shop but nearly missed our chance eyeing up the flavours when a lady from the shop asked if we wanted an ice cream before they closed. Phew! And very delicious ice creams they were too.
What a lovely way to spend a day!
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 4.4 miles
Elapsed Time: 3hrs 14min
Total Ascent: 300 metres
Maximum Elevation: 138 metres
Buses: (none)
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