Day 14 - Clovelly to Appledore

Sorry for the late arrival of this update - it was ready last night but the Blog site collapsed about our ears & they weren't up as early as us this morning. If your Day 13 is missing we are assured it will miraculously reappear at some point.....

What a difference a good camp site with spacious, hot showers and good internet makes! Was much more relaxing to be able to blog without losing everything two or three times and bits not working. In fact it was so good that we have returned this evening! Actually the real reason is that there are no sites around Appledore and this was only about 8 miles back. Bernie is barbecuing at this very moment as the sun is still trying to shine through the clouds. It has been a lovely day, though the wind has had a cold chill to it.

I decided to accompany the walker along the Hobby Drive today and go as far as Buck's Mills before returning to collect the van, a 10 mile walk altogether. Once again, memory fails me and I couldn't remember if I had walked this before, but it was a very different path to the ones I had been on in the last two weeks. This was mainly through woodland with glimpses of the sea. The rhododendrons were just flowering and bluebells abounded. How they manage to survive and flower in such dark wooded areas is beyond me.

Clovelly from The Hobby Drive

Buck's Mills is totally fascinating. Richard Cole was the land owner who ran the lime kilns here in the 16 century He is reputedly the "Old King Cole " of the nursery rhyme and you can see why they sang about "up and down" - it is extremely steep and a long way down to the sea! More kilns were added in Victorian times; they are all still there in different states of repair. It must have been a very busy place.

I love this old sign at Buck's Mill - my thoughts entirely!

We have TV reception for the first time, but as there wasn't any football on for Bernie, we really couldn't find anything to watch on the thousands of channels that were available - shows we haven't missed it!

From Bernie:

Today's walk 16.0 miles : Cumulative 181.5 miles

Comment to Les at the end of today's walk: 'Next time I say I remember this walk, it's quite easy. Don't believe me! Either I don't remember this walk at all or I remember it for completely different reasons.' The stretch beyond Peppercombe is as tough as anything I've walked so far & I really never thought that I'd be so grateful to reach Westward-Ho! A combination of cider, chocolate & pain-killers (for the knees!) kept me going!

(<--comment from the LEJOG Technical Support Team)

Coast to the north of Peppercombe - I'd remembered it as quite flat!

The Hobby Drive out of Clovelly is a fascinating Victorian coach drive from which the wealthy could enjoy the stunning scenery without getting dirty shoes or tired legs - it's nestled into the cliff-edge & would cost an absolute fortune to build these days.

Highlight: met several wanderers today, all coming towards me & almost all of them wanting to know how far it was to..... One couple asked how long it would take to reach Buck's Mill. I told them & they asked that I told 'a young woman with red hair & a funny little dog', who was some distance behind them, that they would wait there for her. I did as requested. After declaring it would take her longer than 35 minutes to get there at her pace she asked a bit more about Buck's Mill, & on hearing that there was no pub, no cafe, nothing except the view..... she chuckled & said, 'They'll be gutted!'

I saw them later on our campsite.... but didn't explore the outcome!

Rounding Rock Nose, just before Westward-Ho!, I could see the hills of Exmoor rolling away beyond the estuary of the Taw & Torridge - the next stretch of my walk. This is the point at which we say goodbye to the sea until Dornoch in north-east Scotland. There'll be glimpses & there'll be great rivers & estuaries but not the real sea.....

Today's direction of travel was still mostly eastwards & I'll spend some time tomorrow walking south to reach a bridge over the Torridge at Bideford, but that's because I couldn't come to this bit of Devon without visiting Appledore - weather-permitting, there'll be more pictures tomorrow. One of my favourite spots.

Looking from Appledore Harbour to Instow across the River Torridge

Beer of the Day: neither of the pubs I visited today could offer me a new ale so I bought a bottle of 'Golden Pig' from Appledore Post Office. It's from Abbotsham's Country Life Brewery again & it's an absolute cracker!

Pam: I've just retired! Why would I want another job? But I'm very flattered! More seriously I do think the days of the seaside postcard are numbered. Fewer places sell them & the cost is increasing - it's not uncommon for postcards to cost 50p, add postage & that's nearly £1 for a simple hello. Not sure that was the original idea..... (P.S. I love postcards!!!!)

Nathan: it costs £5.95 now & no concessions for old boys like me! Don't tell anyone but if you're walking on the Coast Path you can get in for nothing - it's a public footpath! I did the honourable thing & paid anyway!

John: you really wouldn't have wanted Monday's storm - I don't think you'd have had much of an allotment left! Our forecast for the next 4-5 days is rain - you can have all of that!