Day 15 - Appledore to Barnstaple

Disappointment last night when we realised that the blog page was down and wouldn't let us post - we were virtually finished with the writing, but fortunately we were able to copy and paste into Word and hoped it would paste again onto the post when it was mended. Bernie was overjoyed when he found that it worked and all was not lost. We are still hopeful that Day 13 will return with photos.

A few of the unusual things I love about Appledore!

So, moving on - we were very late starting today and I didn't drop the walker in Appledore until 10.30! Forecast was for rain showers all day; it seemed bright enough but by the time I had parked in Barnstaple it had rained and it looked pretty gloomy. I parked in a special car park next to a massive Tesco and the usual shopping outlets; I thought these were new as I don't remember them from my last visit.

I decided not to walk to meet Bernie but to visit The Barnstaple and North Devon Museum to get a bit of culture. It was really impressive: informative for adults, engaging for small ones and interesting for older kids, though I did see a group of 4 teenagers writing unsuitable comments on "footprints" where you could leave your suggestions for helping the planet. I binned them when they had left the room! If you lived here you could visit it lots and discover something new every time.

After a bit of retail therapy - though I can't buy much- where would I put it? - I was pleased to get away from people; it is a bit of a shock when you've hardly seen anyone for days.

Tea tonight - Dine in for £10 from M and S - so it was a good visit.

From Bernie:

Today's walk 12.6 miles : Cumulative 194.1 miles

Looking down the River Taw to Instow from the 'new' A39 Bideford bridge

Everything that I've read about LeJog makes it clear that if the South-West Coast Path is on your route then that's the hardest stretch of the whole walk. OK - so I guess it's all easy from here?!

Quite sad to be leaving the sea but looking forward to Exmoor. Very lucky with the weather today: I could often see sheets of rain sweeping across the river but I stayed dry - I need that luck over the next few days, especially given the rather damp forecast.

Over 2 hours into the walk & that's Appledore, where I started!

Easy walking today - almost the whole of the route was along the old railway line between Bideford & Barnstaple, The Tarka Trail. Hard on the feet, though; they built those track-beds to last!

Bideford & the 'old' bridge

Highlight: getting my LeJog documentation signed at Barnstaple Museum & Tourist Information Centre - the end of Section One of my walk.

Running it close, though, was a sign in Quigley's Custom House, my first pub stop of the day. Along with the usual 'No Smoking' signs was a notice telling customers that they were not allowed to smoke in Bridgeland Street, outside the pub entrance, & that the pub provided an area with tables for smokers. Brave move!

Beer of the Day: a cider again - Cheddar Valley; still, cloudy & dry - very refreshing & ideal for the walker!

Section One completed one day ahead of schedule - now we seem to have TV should I take tomorrow off to watch the Cup Final?

Thanks to Mrs Stagg for a free night's camping at Collacott Farm - £10 to our collection!