Monday: 29th May: Weather: 9°C to 17°C: Cool with strong North Easter, sunny all day
Exmouth to Sidmouth: 23.8 walk: 7h 30m: 7.45am to 3.15pm: 2 x 30m stop 1 x 30m stop: Ascent: 587 Metres
Accommodation: Private Room by Carla 32 Primley Rd Sidmouth
River Exe emties into the sea
Time line for Jurassic Coast
Devon Cliffs 1700 Holiday cabins
Background of Holiday Cabins
Coffee at Budleigh Salterton
Pebbly beach Budleigh Salterton
Red cliffs with fossilised white roots
2k detour to cross River Otter
Marshland around River Otter
Red Cliffs of Devon
Sandwich and cup of tea at Ladram
Smugglers of Devon and Cornwall
Highlights of our day 16 were the really well graded rolling tracks allowing us to walk 24k in less than six hours of actual walking time. From Exmouth we walked through the Devon Cliff’s Holiday Park with 1,700 holiday cabins perched in any spot possible overlooking the sea. Then onto another holiday park at Ladram Bay before arriving in Sidmouth two hours earlier than we anticipated at 2.30pm ready to shop for tonight’s dinner.
We’re awake at 5.3am having a cup of tea, and as the WiFi is particularly good, I get to finish and publish my blog. We make our breakfast - Ian has a cup of Muesli and yoghurt and I have bread, jam and yoghurt.
We leave early at 7.45am, believing we have a long 24k day of hills. Down to Exmouth beach where the River Exe emties into the ocean, and already the beaches are filling with people. It’s Bank holiday. England has several Bank Holidays throughout the year but no one seems to know what they are for. It’s just a public holiday for whatever reason. Along the beach then over a low hill and soon we’re in the midst of the Devon patchwork farmland.
Soom we’re at the Geoneedle explaining that this part of the coast is called the Juracssic Coast because of the fossils from that era found here. Then on to the Devon Cliffs Holiday Park. The site is located on a cliff top with sea views from almost all plots, set within 200 acres of rural land. Devon Cliffs can house up to 8,000 tourists at the height of the season with over 1,700 cabins. The majority of these are privately owned. It’s truly an amazing site.
In less than 2 hrs, we’ve covered 8k and arrive unexpectedly early at Budleigh Salterton, a seaside town, jammed pack with beachgoers on this Bank Holiday. Then along a pebbly beach - kids build roack castles not sand castles - and towards the end there is a board explaining how the red cliffs formed from desert sands millions of years ago, and imbedded in them are white streaks which are fossilised roots. At the very end there is a 2k diversion up the River Otter to a cross over bridge, then back down the other side as the mouth of the River Otter is swampland of Marshes and can’t be crossed at the mouth. This diversion is very busy with day walkers chcking out the birds in the swamp land.
From the Otter River onwards up and over rolling Devon pasture land, nothing too steep,all the time we’re still walking into a cool North Easterly wind blowing into our faces. Two hours later we reach Ladram Bay, with another collection of Holiday cabins. We’ve been making good time over the well graded wide tracks, so time to stop at 12.15 for a cheese sandwich and cup of tea. Another bill board explains the importance of smugglers along the coast for Devon and Cornwall. They originated about 1300 when King Edward imposed customs duties on products sold between the UK and Europe and poverty driven smugglers took advantage of teh convoluted coast lines of Devon and Cornwall to import goods and avoid duty. The industry thrived with friendly magistrates and compliant vicars and obtaining convictios with local juries was near impossible.
As we near Sidmouth, we can hear the music from the music festival in the town, which was probably why accommodation in town was so difficult to book, and I booked an Air BnB about 2k up the Sid River. Rolling down the grassy hill, Sidmouth with it’s bakdrop of high red cliffs comes into view, and no sooner had Ian taken a photograph, than we saw a cloud of red dust barrelling down the cliff face - a mini avalanche hitting the sea below. In recent years there have been major rockfalls around the cliffs of Sidmouth and it’s quite noticeable than large chunks of Devon pasture land continues to fall into the sea.
We turn up Fore St which is busy with tourists and locals on this Bank Holiday Monday, eating fish n Chips or licking ice creams, but we’re heading to the local co-op. It’s about 500 metres away from the beach, but it’s on our way to our Air BnB. We indulge in a frozen pasty, more salad veggies, a Hobgoblin beer, an Czeck beer, a bottle of Mateus Rose. I return to buy a pack of 4 mars bars, and try my luck with a £20 note but its declined and the lady behind me in the queue offers to pay for my Mars Bars - such a kind gesture. I couldn’t accept and paid by Apple Pay.
Another 1.5k up a pretty path beside the River Sid and we arrive at 32 Primley Rd where we’re greeted by Carla. Ourtwin bed room is out the back with a garden setting. There’s a separate shower/toilet/basin and we have use of a mini kitchen with a fridge, kettle and microwave. A small Hobgoblin beer and a few nuts go down well while sorting photos. Carla kindly offers to put a load of our dirty clothes in the Beko washing machine and we gladly accept. 28 minutes later after an Express Wash we have clean clothes which I hang on the line to dry in the sun and breeze.
Dinner is a shared hot pasty heated in the microwave and a salad plus another beer and a small glass of Mateus - save the rest for the Shepherd’s hut tomorrow night. The washing is dry within an hour as I continue to blog and try to find out for sure what has happened to the paper £’s in the UK. Sure enough, the “old” paper money has been withdrawn as of September 2022, so we were lucky to have at least some of it accepted, but it can be exchanged for “new” money at the Bank on England in london - not easy - or a few select Post Offices like Bournemouth where we will be in 9 days time to collect our Poste Restante parcel sent ahead.
We feel good after our long day turned out to be a long 23k but two hours shorter than we expected. The cooler weather helped also. The plan tomorrow is to walk to Seaton, do some shopping then catch a bus via Lyme Regis to the Penn Cross farm where we will stay the night in a shepherd’s hut.
Down to Sidmouth
Sid River path with tonight’s dinner