30 May 2009 – Walk: Sidmouth to Seaton (11.7 Miles)

Synopsis:  A tough walk along, down, and up the cliffs of East Devon. The wreck of the MSC Napoli stranded on the sand banks was often in view. Everywhere was bustling on this hot summer day.

Photo Set – Flickr -:- (Map)

GPS Tracklog Download (.gpx) Microsoft OneDrive -:- Google Drive

 

Tracklog and Photos - Google My Map

Tracklog overlay - OSM – ViewRanger -:- OS – WheresThePath

 

(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)

Sidmouth, looking east

I stood on the beach at Sidmouth looking east along the coast, asking myself do I really want to do this? It looked arduous, and  I knew that’s exactly how it would be. Still, the British Spirit got the better of me, and off I trudged up my first gruelling climb of the day, making my way along the streets of Sidmouth, then on through fields. At least the air was cool this early in the morning, and there was a little bit of shade from trees on this first climb. It was readily apparent that last winter had wreaked considerable erosion to the cliffs, as huge chunks of red clay lay on the beach, and the footpath has many redirections around bits of the coastal path that no longer exist.

MSC Napoli

 

 

 

 

 

The wreck of the MSC Napoli soon came into sight, and what seemed to be a tug boat tugging a half of the vessel first west, and then doing an about turn and heading east. A small squirt of a boat to be hauling such an mammoth cask, and yet it seemed to have the required muscle to make headway against wind and tide.

 

Salcombe Mouth

 

I dropped down to sea level again at Salcombe Mouth and am straight way heading back up to the cliff tops again. How typical this is of coastal path walking. I check the map and discover that I don’t have to do this too many times, and feel I might survive the day, and possibly even catch my bus home out of Seaton, which would be nice.

 

Branscombe

 

 

The day soon warmed up, there being no respite from the sun from this point on. At least the cliff tops afforded a reasonable cool breeze which was a welcome relief. I arrived at Branscombe by 1pm and decide to eat lunch here on the pebble beach. The only shade was the parasol at the cafe tables, but I didn’t think they’d take kindly to my helping myself to some of this with my packed lunch.

 

From Branscombe along the under cliff

From Branscombe there are two possible routes. The one that I’d taken previously, on my walk of 7th September 2008 (see on Flickr), was to follow the cliff top towards Beer, but this time I wanted to walk the true coastal footpath, which starts off from a small camp site from where it then runs along the under cliff. This proved really worthwhile, as it took me through a strange landscape, with towering white cliffs looming above my head. Thick vegetation all around gave the place the look of the jungle. and listening to children as they passed me by, I could tell the place fired their imaginations. There was talk of treasure, pirate ships, and castles. Yes, I could believe all that. Perhaps my own imagination is running a little wild just now, as I’m currently reading the account of our local adventurer, Percy Fawcett, and his Indiana Jones like quest to discover ‘The Lost City of Z’. Trouble is, he disappeared without trace, along with many others who’ve set out on his trail. But for me today, well, I think there’s a reasonable chance I’ll catch the Stagecoach 52 back to Exeter!

Beer, dazzling in the sunlight

 

 

Beer was as dazzling as ever, a superb little haven, rather struggling to cope with the hordes of people that were there on this day. It was evident that ice cream sales were doing well and jacket potatoes shifting fast. I did at last find some shade and sat with a group of other old timers whilst I eat some nuts and took a long drink.

 

I made Seaton in very good time, as it’s really just around the corner from Beer. I was ready to catch the 4pm bus, one hour earlier to that which I’d planned, and was even able to fit in a brief grocery shop at the Seaton Co-op. Who said we men can’t be efficient?

Note: Sidmouth had a particular significance for Jane Austen, as it is thought that whilst holidaying there with her family she met the one person whom she might have considered a fitting suitor. Little is known with any certainty about this episode in Jane’s life, not even the name of the suitor, but there is a general consensus that some ‘brief encounter’ of note occurred in Sidmouth. This notion is expanded on in ‘Sidmouth: Where Jane Austen found love (?)’. But Jane’s heart is of course to be found not there but in her writing.

Walk Statistics:

Total Distance: 11.7 miles
Moving Time: 4hrs 41min
Stopped Time: 1hr 12min
Total Ascent: 783 metres
Maximum Elevation: 174 metres

Buses: 52

29 May 2009 – Walk: Watcombe to Torquay (7.4 Miles)

Synopsis:  Just a short walk done with the least planning. Watcombe Beach is quite lovely, and the word is out, for although quite inaccessible and without amenities, quite a few families were there.

Photo Set – Flickr -:- (Map)

GPS Tracklog Download (.gpx) Microsoft OneDrive -:- Google Drive

 

Tracklog and Photos - Google My Map

Tracklog overlay - OS – WheresThePath

 

Tracklog overlay (1 – Watcombe) - OSM – ViewRanger

 

Tracklog overlay (2 – Torquay) - OSM – ViewRanger

 

 

(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)

Ah, the No. 2 bus to Newton Abbot, what a long torturous journey this is. If the bus journey weren’t part of the day out, this might be considered an awful waste of time, but for me I enjoy the time to relax and watch the scenery pass me buy. The nearest I shall ever get to chauffeur driven.

Watcombe Beach

I got to Watcombe Beach in time for a late lunch. As there is no car access to this beach, I’m a little surprised by just how many people there are here. I guess this is the crowd who like to get away from it all, the only problem being they’re quite large in number. I watch a couple of boys paddling an inflatable dingy over calm waters, and some boys and girls jumping into the sea from a rock. When I say there are no amenities, that’s a little unfair, as there is a shack on the beach that serves sustenance, even so far as a bag of chips if you’re lucky.

 

My next port of call was St Marychurch. This has a quiet olde worlde feel about it. It manages to sustain two rather large and grand churches, quite how I don’t know. I suspect they came about from rivalry between the Catholic and the Church of England faiths. Who won out? Well, I’ll leave you to make that judgement.

Free consultation for the desperate

There was a Family Matters shop front in St Marychurch which made me smile. Is this what families are all about these days? Well, I shall take this as a ‘sign of the times’. At least someone is making a living from it.

P.S. In case you’re wondering why there’s a break in the walk track, it’s because I cheated a little by jumping on a bus cutting out a section of the coast path that I know well. Well, it was hot and the bus just happened to be there!

 

 

 

Walk Statistics:

Total Distance: 7.4 miles (walked) +1.8 miles (bus hop)
Moving Time: 2hrs 370min
Stopped Time: 48min
Total Ascent: 369 metres
Maximum Elevation: 158 metres

Buses: 2, 12, 32 & 46

26 May 2009 – Trip: Forde Abbey, Dorset

Synopsis:  An outing to visit Forde Abbey House and Gardens, Dorset. This is old Cistercian abbey founded around 800 years ago, later converted into a palatial house in the 1700s.

Photo Set – Flickr

(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)

Forde Abbey

I’d visited the gardens of Forde Abbey before, but not entered the house. I don’t recall the reason for that, other than perhaps I visited on a Saturday, when the house is, perhaps surprisingly, closed. It’s about a 35 mile drive from where I live, taking about 45 minutes. I had thought I could do this visit by public transport, the trains being my best option, with the stations of Crewkerne and Axminster possible transit stops, but the walking would be in the order of 18 miles or more, and I just hadn’t the energy for this. I suppose the Cistercian Monks hadn’t placed visitor accessibility high on their agenda 600 years ago when they chose the site for their abbey. Well, I’ve not used my car for quite some time, so perhaps it was due an outing to blow away the dust and cobwebs.

It was the ceilings and the tapestries that really impress in the house, both of which are of the highest quality. Apparently the tapestries are some times put on show at the Sistine Chapel in Rome, as they’re modelled on a design for that place. There is also a fine Axminster carpet in the Saloon, created for the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace of 1851. Visitors today are permitted to walk across this carpet, testimony to the long standing quality and durability of the carpet.

There’s very little sense of when the place was a Cistercian Abbey. It’s the manorial house of later conversion that dominates the senses. The fact that it maintains the tab ‘Abbey’ seems a little bit of a cheat. Apparently after the dissolution of 1539 the Abbey lay empty for 100 years until in 1649 it was ‘transformed into the magnificent house you see today’.

The rockery

The best parts of the garden were to my mind the rockery and the bog garden. The lakes are lovely to see too. The herbaceous borders were not in such full flower as on my last visit, but I suppose that’s because it is still rather early in the plant season.

 

Leda and the swan

 

 

 

The statue in the Mermaid Pond is that of Leda and the Swan (please take note Helen!). Quite why the lake is called the Mermaid Pond I don’t know. There are also mermaids carved onto the side of the building (see photo), so someone had perhaps a mermaid fixation? There’s an enormous fountain in the centre of this pond, that spurts water very high into the air. I believe it’s the highest fountain jet in the country. It’s run for about 2 hours each day, and was running whilst I was at the house.

 

Forde Abbey is a lovely, beautiful and tranquil place to visit. I have just one confession to make, I did it on the cheap, as I had some leftover Tesco Deals vouchers and used one of these. So, Tesco once again adds to the cultural vitality of the country. What would we do without Tesco?

23 May 2009 - Walk: Ivybridge to Noss Mayo (12.4 Miles)

Synopsis: Two rivers walk, starting from Ivybridge on the River Erme, and ending at Noss Mayo on the River Yealm. Less well known than Dartmouth and Salcombe harbours, but equally enchanting

Photo Set – Flickr -:- (Map)

GPS Tracklog Download (.gpx) Microsoft OneDrive -:- Google Drive

 

Tracklog and Photos - Google My Map

Tracklog overlay - OSM – ViewRanger -:- OS – WheresThePath

 

(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)

The start of this walk out of Ivybridge is a repeat of a walk I’d done earlier in the year, but after a couple of miles my path diverted from the River Erme and I was on new territory. This early part of the walk is slightly marred by the noise of traffic on the A38 that fills the valley. It was a relief to get out of earshot of that.

Horse Chestnut

I really must take more time to look at plants close up. As I picked my way along a heavily rutted dirt track I passed a Horse Chestnut tree just coming into flower and was taken by how lovely the flowers were. The name of the tree, Aesculus hippocastanum (remember that, as I’ll ask you later) is Greek for horse and Latin for Sweet Chestnut, so I presume either name goes, which finally dispels a confusion I’ve had for many years. Apparently the tree is not native to these shores, but was introduced from Greece shortly after 1600.

Toll house

 

 

 

 

 

At Yealmbridge, where I crossed the River Yealm, there’s an old toll house, thankfully no longer collecting tolls, as I would have had to fork out a whole 1d (that’s one penny to you youngsters who don’t recognize old money) just to cross the bridge. If I had my bullock with me it would have been 2d, and if I’d been in my horse and cart, the fare would have been a whopping 5d.

 

For my lunch break I perched myself on a high bank over looking the River Yealm at a point where a huge granite boulder sits in the river. A family with young boys and two dogs came by and they had great fun playing in the water, loving the chance to make a splash. There were quite a number of dog walkers passed me by as I sat in the woods eating my lunch.

Noss Mayo and Newton Creek

Noss Mayo was looking beautiful in the sun. There were quite a number of people ‘messing about’ in boats and canoes in the estuary. It’s a very picturesque place strung out on the steep banks of the River Yealm. Noss Mayo looks across to Newton Ferrers, it’s sister village on the other side of the estuary. It was strange to think the busy city of Plymouth was less that ten miles away, and yet here was total peace and tranquility. A commuters paradise if only one can afford the property prices.

 

St Peter's Church, Noss Mayo

I took a quick look around St Peter’s Church as I had time to kill before my bus was due to arrive. This appeared to be quite a modern church with something of an Arts and Crafts movement feel about it, especially the wall paintings on both walls of the chancel. Other than this the most noteworthy feature of the church is it’s commanding position on the hill overlooking Noss Mayo and the Yealm Estuary. I noticed that there was a church notice saying that it was not suitable for wheelchair access, recommending a church in one of the neighbouring villages for anyone in a wheelchair.

I would have liked to have stayed a little longer in Noss Mayo but I did want to catch the 16:15 bus, as the next would be 2 hours later. My Stagecoach bus day pass wasn’t going to get me out of Noss Mayo, as I need a First bus to get me to Plymouth, but at only £2.90 this is a very reasonable price for this one hour journey. Bit of a bone shaker of a bus, but quite a journey along the banks of the Yealm Estuary. I only had a thirty minute wait for my bus to Exeter. I was keen to get home by that time, as I had a beef chasseur simmering away in the slow cooker at home, and the thought of this was what kept me going.

I saw some interesting wild flowers on this walk, plants I wasn’t familiar with. These I subsequently identified as Yellow Archangel, Henbane and Pink Purslane. I’ve always liked the month of May, for the wild flowers it brings forth.

Walk Statistics:

Total Distance: 12.4 miles
Moving Time: 4hrs 37min
Stopped Time: 55min
Total Ascent: 433 metres
Maximum Elevation: 153 metres

Buses: X38, 94

16 May 2009 – Walk: Exeter Green Circle (13.8 Miles)

Synopsis:  The Exeter Green Circle is a designated walk route for which there is an information pack available from tourist information. It incorporates several of the city’s nature parks.

Photo Set – Flickr -:- (Map)

GPS Tracklog Download (.gpx) Microsoft OneDrive -:- Google Drive

 

Tracklog and Photos - Google My Map

Tracklog overlay - OSM – ViewRanger -:- OS – WheresThePath

 

(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)

Saturday came around, I had no walk prepared, and it was wet and windy. The weather forecast predicted the weather would improve through the day, so I decided upon doing this Exeter Green Circle walk that had been sitting in a drawer for over a year. First thing to be done was put a meal together in the slow cooker, Devon Turkey, cooked in cider, which has been a favourite recipe of mine for some time. I then set about preparing the route for my GPS. By mid-day I was ready for the off. By this time the worst of the weather had cleared, true to forecast, and the sun was out.

St Katherine's Priory

Early into the route the way took me past St Katherine’s Priory which strangely appears to be a private dwelling therefore it is only possible to catch a glimpse of it from the gates. The nuns had built a dam across Mincinglake valley over 600 years ago, which powered their cornmill and provided fish for the table.

 

 

 

Mincing Lake Valley Park

 

Crossing Calthorpe Road I entered Mincinglake Valley Park, once site of the city’s rubbish tip. Today the place looks like a slice of countryside right on the doorstep of the city and I immediately felt like I’d escaped the urban sprawl. The track opens out to views across the hills festooned with an army of dog walkers. From here there’s a gradual climb as the route takes me towards the back of Pennsylvania. I find a log to sit on near the top of Stoke Hill and stop to eat a light snack lunch.

 

Streatham Estate

The walk then took me alongside the Duryard Valley Park which I momentarily peek into and find that there are superb views over the north eastern hills that bound the city. From here the track I followed takes me into the grounds of the University of Exeter, an area known as the Streatham Estate. These are landscaped grounds, arboretum and sculpture trail (although I didn’t see any sculptures). There’s a stream that runs down the valley which broadens out in the lower section where it forms a lake and bog garden.

 

After crossing Prince Charles road the path deflects down Hoopern Valley where cattle graze in a setting overlooked by some of the main buildings of the University of Exeter, buildings such as Washington Singer which was built in 1931.

Guys Hylton Allotments

I dropped down through Bury Meadow Park, past the churches of St David’s and St Michael’s, cut under the Iron Bridge, an imposing structure, and was soon at Miller’s Crossing, a modern bridge over the River Exe. After walking across the Flowerpot Playing Fields I cut under a railway bridge and skirt around the Guys Hylton Allotments dotted with ramshackle sheds and the gardeners tending their lots. It seems to me this is as good a way as any to transcend the hurly burly of modern life. A modern day hermitage for agnostics, their sheds being their shrines.

 

Barley Valley Local Nature Reserve

I had of course by now lost all the height I’d previously gained, and now was the time to regain it by swooping around Exwick Cemetery and climbing through Cemetery Field, a former brickpit, although you’d never have guessed that from it’s appearance today. This route brought me out at the Barley Valley Local Nature Reserve from where there are stunning views right across the city of Exeter. I’m distracted by the views and lost my way for a bit before finally regaining my course which was to take me down a section of Bowhay Lane, an old sunken lane once used to drive livestock to market.

 
At Little John’s Cross, a boundary cross, I pick up bread for my supper at a local co-op store, before I entered Hambeer Lane, the most exposed part of today’s walk. The southerly wind was howling through the trees which meant I had to steady myself to take photos of the view across the valley to the village of Ide. I dropped down Roly Poly Hill to catch my first sight of Alphin Brook which I should see again later on.

The video on the right was shot in Hambeer Lane, but you’ll be doing exceedingly well if you can make out a word I say.

Cottages along Ide Lane

My route through Alphington was down Ide Lane which is dotted with picturesque thatched cob cottages. I crossed the road by the war memorial that stands before Alphington Church and then picked up Clapperbrook Lane, an old route into the city that once crossed Alphin Brooke over an ancient clapper bridge.

 

Exeter Ship Canal

 

 

I crossed the Exeter Ship Canal near Duck’s Marsh and then the River Exe near St James Weir, from where I picked up the course of the mill leat which guided me to the ruins of Countess Wear Mill. The final stretch of my walk being along the well tended lawns of Ludwell Valley Park, which took me along familiar territory, admittedly on tired legs, towards my home.

Addendum: I’ve since walked this route once again – see: 02 September 2017 - Walk: Exeter Green Circle [2] (13.7 Miles)

 Walk Statistics:

Total Distance: 13.8 miles
Moving Time: 4hrs 43min
Stopped Time: 44min
Total Ascent: 566 metres
Maximum Elevation: 144 metres

Buses: none