Synopsis: A walk with Margaret, starting from Woodbury Common, including Bystock Pools Nature Reserve, and then walking on to Budleigh Salterton for an ice cream. Warm sunny day.
(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)
It proved to be rather a catastrophic start to this day’s walking. With my usual meticulous planning I’d prepared all the detail for this walk including route and bus timetables, only to screw up on the day. I went and stood at the wrong bus stop! Can you believe that? I catch so many buses from the crematorium stop, I just assumed I would be travelling out from there, only to find the bus actually travels out on Honiton Road, infuriatingly, only minutes from my house. Pretty stupid. And the only way to rectify this situation was to jump in my car and drive down to Exmouth.
Anyway, apart from that minor hiccup, the day went well. I drove down to Exmouth and picked up Margaret from her flat. We then drove the short distance towards Woodbury Common, parking in Castle Lane. We then set off on foot for Leeford Plantations. There are a number of paths through this area, shown most clearly on Open Street Map.
After crossing a lane we then picked up another track taking us in the direction of Squabmoor Reservoir, which we could glimpse through the trees. I had intended that we’d walk the short distance down to the reservoir, but it wasn’t immediately obvious to us how to do that. Rather than linger on that dilemma, we decided we’d push on for our next destination, Bystock Pools.
A recent discovery of mine, Bystock Pools is quite a delightful place. Managed by Devon Wildlife Trust, I think it is a little haven of tranquillity, and so conveniently situated right on the doorstop of Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton and Lympstone. It’s had rather a shaky time of it, as it was in the process of being sold off, but Devon Wildlife Trust are hoping to acquire the reserve (read more on their web site). We had a picnic lunch in the reserve.
We then headed out via a back gate onto Woodbury Common and followed a track that took us through the common in the direction of Budleigh Salterton. There was a final, short but steep climb onto the coastal path at Budleigh Salterton, from where the seafront opened out in front of us. It was a glorious view. We sat on a bench on the seafront for a while, eating ice creams. Then Margaret was off to play croquet, and I trekked off, up the road back to my car.
It had particularly warm and sunny, especially for April, and a really pleasant walk. If only I could have been smart enough to have done it by bus. Ah well, next time.
Note: A recommendation I would make is, rather than walk the busy road I walked through Budleigh Salterton, that I used on this day, consider detouring onto one of the available footpaths, starting either here or here.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 12.6 km / 7.8 miles
Moving Time: 3hrs 15min
Stopped Time: 22min
Total Ascent: 227 metres
Maximum Elevation: 147 metres
Buses: (none – as it happens)
