02/02/09 - 06/02/09
I had never been much interested in doing a coastal path long distance walk but the opportunity to 'give it a go' for three days at a reasonable cost gave me something to think about. Karen and Ian, who have already walked much of the path, discovered a 'new way' of tackling their next part of the route. Using a Shearings Holiday special offer they travelled to Exmouth and had 4 nights' full board accommodation. Marie and I found a similar offer and soon we were on our way.
Following Ian and Karen's advice, we used local transport to commute to and from each section of the walk. (The bus passes came in really handy!!) However, we were soon to find out that the local buses never travel directly from one place to another. On the way we visited all the small communities within range, navigating narrow country roads where the hedges seemed to be touching each side of the bus - woe betide anything coming the other way!
As can be seen from the map above, the South West Coast Path runs from Minehead on the Somerset coast, along the North Devon coast, encircles the coast of Cornwall, continues along the South Devon coast and finally reaches Poole in Dorset. It is 630.5 miles long and is based on paths trodden around cliffs and coves for generations. It is the longest waymarked trail in Britain and encompasses an infinite variety of beaches and bays, cliffs and coves, sea stacks and sand dunes, fishing villages and holiday resorts. Our 3 day adventure was to take in the beginning of the 'Jurassic Coast', England's first Natural World Heritage Site.
For further information and photos for each day click on the links below:
[Day 1: Travelling to Exmouth]