Day 1

August 9^th Depart Minehead Accommodation: Old Ship Aground

Arrive Porlock Weir Accommodation: The Cottage

Distance 15.3 KM | Grade – Moderate

Ascent 2,290 FT

Looking out of the window it looks a fine day to go walking as the Brit's call it. I've always preferred to it as hiking but each to his own!

Awoke at 5-45 am after a great sleep and feeling ready to roll, however before leaving I thought I would share my observations about Minehead. It really is a quaint little town, and what caught my eye immediately was the plant life, it was spectacular and a riot of color. The South West coast of England is known for it's almost tropical plant life, and it is very Mediterranean with Palm Trees, Yucca plants etc.

From my accommodation, at the Old Ship Aground, it was only a short 10 to 15 minute walk to what would be considered the centre of town, which was bustling with activity as holiday makers mingled with the locals. From the B&B it is a short stroll along the sea front before hitting what appears to be the main street and half of the beach is nothing but rocks, the other half is pure sand which seems very strange to me.

For rail enthusiasts the town has a working train station but it appears it's only used for tourists, and it was rather nostalgic to see the old steam engine pulling out with a fair view coaches full of passengers. It reminded me of my days as a young boy when I used to go train spotting back in Derby. Incidentally both the train as carriages would have been built in my home town, as prior to British Rail being privatized that is where all of England's trains and coaches were built!!

On Friday I had the good fortune to meet up with my good buddy Mark Hampson and his wife Georgie, and their 9 year old son Nathan for lunch, as they were returning North to Runcorn having been on holiday in Perranporth, which is one of my stops along the way. Mark and Nathan are huge Bolton Wanderers football (soccer for the North American audience), and so my very good friend Steve Riggott was badly outnumbered during lunch. Steve is a Derby County fan and Friday was probably the only day this season that Bolton get the better of the Rams.

While we are on the theme of football it might be appropriate to go public with my hiking moniker, it's somewhat of a tradition with hikers/walkers that they have a trail name. So in homage to my beloved Bolton Wanderers I'm going to hike under the name of The one and only Wanderer, which I think is apt bearing in mind the journey I'm undertaking.

Well, must get ready for breakfast, so I will post some pictures so you can get a feel for Minehead

The quintessential English cottage complete with thatched roof!

One of the pretty floral displays along Mineheads Main Street.

For all train buffs!

There was no real rush to get started, so after breakfast I headed into town in search of lunch for later on the trail, which I found at a store called Poundsavers, that runs on a similar concept to Canada's Dollar Store. Every item was valued at One pound, so I had a Tuna Salad sandwich which went nicely with the various bags of nuts, raisins/cranberries, trail mix and large bar of Cadbury's Chocolates that I purchased on Friday. I then picked up a coffee, from a great coffee shop I found, and returned to The Old Ship Aground to settle my bill before heading out. I left right on 10 am and started heading South. The first quarter of a mile was very sedentary and ran parallel with the coast before it started to climb sharply upwards. Up and up we went before we levelled out at North Hill where I had my first break of the day. I have made a decision to walk for 1 hour before stopping for a 10 minute rest, and repeating the process every hour, except for lunch which will be 30 to 45 minutes depending on how I feel.

I then had a decision to make which was stay on the easier path, or veer to the right on the "rugged path" which would add 1 hour to my journey. I opted for the tougher route as it kept me in sight of the water, plus I figure I needed the work -out !! It was an amazing trail that plunged and climbed like a roller coaster.

On the very first steep downhill section I had stopped to take a picture, and had several items scattered on the path when I noticed a young girl running along the trail. She was in her early teens and picking her way through the undulating path and was obviously a fell runner and moving at a decent clip, and so I thought I'd see if she fancied taking my pack with her as it would make my life so much easier! Unfortunately she had no sense of humour, and said No, sorry I couldn't do that !! One thing I will say though is how impressed I was with her endurance and stamina, as she glided up the rather long uphill section and out of view.

I never did see her again which makes me wonder just how far she ran. Very impressive !!

The trail wound around the coast and ahead I saw my "future" as the trail stretched ahead in the distance and it had me wondering how many days of walking to get the various points.

The weather really cooperated today, and although it threatened rain on several occasions nothing beyond the odd drizzle came down, and not once did I feel the need to get out my waterproof jacket. Tomorrow promises to be a different kettle of fish however, although I'm keeping all of my extremities crossed as the forecast is for 60-80 mph winds and lots of rain. Apparently we are getting the tail end of hurricane Bertha!

The walk led me on a steep climb down to the small village of Bossinton which had the prettiest little tea room and I'm kicking myself for not stopping to try it! I then had one mile of walking on the quaint English roads to Porlock and my destination. I saw some absolutely beautiful English homes and gardens. It was very pretty.

I finished my walk around 2-30 pm which, if you deduct my lunchbreaks and photo stops, meant I was walking for around 3 1/2 hours. Based on the official trail guide, of the South West Coast Path, the walk is 4 1/2 hours but have to think that includes breaks, so I think I'm right on schedule.

Now for some photos to finish off.

My accommodation in Minehead.

Wonderful people and a great spot for starting my walk.

Getting ready to start out!

Actually the photo was taken on Friday, at the same time of the picture above, I figure after walking past the sign a half dozen times that it would be ok.

Looking back from when I came!

The Heather was in full bloom!

The trail ahead. You can just make out the path as it cuts across yonder hill !

Inadvertent picture of my bag at my feet. Unfortunately it is sometimes extremely difficult to see the screen when using an I Pad Mini to take pictures because of the glare.