Friday: 26th May: Weather: 9°C to 16°C: Light cool north easter on a sunny day.
Dartmouth to Brixham: 18.0k walk: ?hrs ?? mins: 9.15am to 4.45pm: 3 x 30 min stops: Ascent: 1,000 metres
Accommodation: Private Room Julia 8 Alma Rd Brixham
Breakfast table with magical view
The view from the breakfast table
Leaving Eight Bells Air BnB
Car/passenger ferry from Dartmouth
Dartmouth Castle from Kingsmear
Coffee on path steps
2 mins later coffee could have been
Boats galor on the ocean
Another beautiful coastal view
10th Steep climb of the day
Late lunch View of Man Sands beach
Highlights of our day 13 began with a magnificent breakfast with a magnificent view of Dartmouth Harbour. Then all day we had beautiful views up and down the coast. It was a cool 16°C all day with a strong North easterly blowing across us from right to left, but there were about 10 very steep hills today, each about 100 metres climb, to work up a sweat .
We slept through from about 8pm last night to 6am - almost 10 hrs. Mostly because the room was very quiet and pitch black with blockout curtains. A cup of tea, time to pack and a call home before 8am breakfast upstairs in the dining room. We’re blown away by the breakfast table in the sun with a wonderful view of the harbour. There’s a full spread of jams, yoghurt, cereals which we indulge in before an omelette with mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes and ham - the best omelette we’ve ever had. Lizzie and husband Chris come and sit in the lounge chairs to chat while we finish breakfast. They are an amazing couple in their late 70’s who have led and active lifestyle and clearly enjoy their Air BnB guests company and hearing about the exploits. Lizzie had sailed across the Atlantic with a group of 9 people in 1989, using only a sextant, and Chris had run many marathons in his early years. We had a lot in common.
It’s 9.15am when we leave, and Lizzie suggested taking the car ferry rather than the passenger ferry which tended to be more erratic. The car ferry terminal is 100 metres walk down the Harbourside and the ferry has just arrived when we get there. We wait for cars and passengers to disembark and then hop on, holding the side rail while a tug boat hauls the car ferry across to Kingsmear on the other side.
Our walk starts at 9.30 and is immediately up a steep hill, the first of many to come. Around the headland to Froward Point where the remains of WW2 gun embattlements lie covered in bush and long grass. Then more ups and downs into little coves and bays and sandy beaches, one of which there was a local couple watching peregrine falcons high up on the cliff face. We see the female standing at the edge of the nest, waiting for the male to return with food. The local isn’t sure if there are young ones in the nest or not.
It’s 11.30am when we stop for coffee on the steps of the path, sheltered from the cool North Easter blowing on shore. Before breakfast, Ian had ducked down to the Co-Op to buy a small container of cream, which I had dispensed into several small jars (Suzzie’s pee jars), so we had coffe and cream with a biscuit huddled in the bush without a view. For the next kilometre we saw several seats which would have been perfect for coffee, but that’s the luck of the draw!
We continue on with spectacular coastal views, while watching a myriad of yachts and boats tackle the windy conditions on this blue sky day. After another two hours and 6k, we descend a steep cliff to Man Sands beach and think about a lunch break until we see yet another steep climb up the other side. It’s very difficult to climb a hill after a lunch break - lunch legs we call it - when the blood is diverted away from the legs to the digestive system. So we opt to have lunch at the top.
Lunch at 2.15 pm with a view south over Man Sands Beach, is really just a cup of tea and a shortbread biscuit. We’ve been told It’s flatter towards Brixham but the information was a bit dodgy as there’s still a few steep ups and downs, and eventually at 4pm we walk through a cluster of brown holiday cabins and follow google maps on my phone to the Spar and Co-op in the centre of town. On the way down the narrow Main Street, who should we bump into but Rachel, the Australian lady on the Plymouth ferry who was also walking the SWCP. The UK is a small place!.
Downtown towards the Spar supermarket, but first we spy a Tesco’s Express, and decide to try something different for dinner tonight. We walk out with the same as, same as, any other night - a Moretti Beer, ham, tomatoes, capsicum and fresh bread. The only thing different was my small bottle of Prosecco. We walk towards our Air BnB at 8 Alma Rd via Biixham Harbour, which has one of the largest fishing fleets in the whole of UK. Then it’s another 1k up hill to our Air BnB high above the harbour. It was easy to find, and we’re welcomed by Julia, and artist/photographer who shows us to our bedroom. There’s a little garden out the back. So as soon as we’ve showered and washed our socks, we’re down in the little garden rugged up in puffer jackets, as the breeze is now a chilly 14°C, drinking beer/prosecco with entre of nuts, bread and cheese, followed by a dinner of salad and ham with the last of the red wine from last night.
Up to the warmth of our little bedroom, contemplating our walk tomorrow to Torquay and finishing off my blog. Tomorrow is a short walk of about 12k, and we’ll take a bus across town to Watcombe Beach.
Brixham comes into View on the hill
Brixham harbour & Tescos shopping