Day 16

August 26, 2015

Depart Sidmouth | Arrive Lyme Regis, Accommodation: Albany Guest House, Lyme Regis

Distance: 27.9KM | Cumulative Distance: 382.6KM | Grade - Severe/Strenuous/Moderate

Ascent: 3,809 ft | Cumulative Ascent: 40,630 ft.

Cumulative Distance (both walks): 846.6 KM | Cumulative Ascent (both walks): 102,335 ft.

A BEAR OF A DAY!!

Went to bed shortly before 10pm, hoping that going to bed a little later would help me sleep, unfortunately at midnight I needed the bathroom and then at 3 I awoke and could have gone straight out on the trail! Unfortunately I had a difficult time getting back to sleep as the wind was raging outside, but I eventually succumbed and nodded back off. I think part of my problems last night were the 8lb pillows, which literally weighed that much I'm sure. The reference to the pillows is a family joke dating back to when we hiked across England in 1998 on the Coast To Coast.

Another reference to 98 occurred when I went down for breakfast and encountered a young Mrs. Whitehead in training, or so I thought. The young lady had closed a door behind me and as she was walking past my table she asked "tea or coffee" and was walking away when I replied. When she came back the young lady was as nice as could be and extremely charming thereafter. You'll have to ask me about Mrs. Whitehead sometime, and I'll tell you all about my brother in law Wally's burn across the back of his neck. We still laugh about it today.

I was a little late getting away this morning, especially as breakfast was served at 8 am, but by 8-55 I was rolling down the road to the seafront where I turned to walk the seawall to where I was to pick up the path.

The howling wind had dropped considerably and it was a rather pleasant morning although a little cloudy. I soon decided to ditch my Patagonia, and was having 2nd thoughts about keeping my lightweight sweater on but decided to keep it on for now.

There was a detour right at the very start of the path due to landslide activity which you will see on the 2nd or 3rd picture that I post, and as I was following the detour an elderly chap, out walking his dog, gave me directions and then added "there's a lot of up and downs you know", to which I replied, "I'm sure there are", and with that I was gone. There was a steady climb, up a grassy slope before I reached the summit of Salcombe Hill, from where I took a photo looking down on Sidmouth, and then it was off to Beer, which is the halfway point of my trek to Lyme Regis 18 miles away.

In the next valley I had a steep descent to Salcombe Mouth and if you have been following this blog you will know what comes next. Yep! A ruddy big climb back up to the cliff tops and I wish I had you with me to experience some of the ups and downs, it's crazy! This time my goal was Dunscombe Cliff and once at the top I could see a oath that went left and swept right around the valley but thought that must be a public footpath as the folks who put this trail together seem to delight in taking you down and then bringing you back up again. Only this time the path going left was the one I had to follow and the walking was very pleasant, although it wasn't to last. On my way I passed a small herd of 5 Shetland Ponies before eventually arriving at zig zag path through Dunscombe Coppice and the meadow below that connects the cliff top and Weston Mouth. The path now drove down, down, down and stopped at a field just above the beach with 4 Shetland Ponies, and 3 were blocking the main path while the other was in the middle of the secondary path, so I decided to go through the middle when the lone pony got real skittish and started to run towards me, fortunately he veered away well before we would have met. The other ponies also ran but kept well away from, thankfully. As I was leaving the field there were 2 women with their dogs and I warned them about the ponies and was on my way again. I was now on the beach and 60 feet later I was back on land ready to climb up to Weston Cliff. The trail went up and up and up, and then it went up some more. One thing I can tell you is there ain't no quit in the hills around here.

Finally at the top I grabbed my towel and also took a water break and then it was off again and a short time later I came across a group of about 8 Marines and a young leader, who was at the back, and I felt in exalted company, or maybe it should be the other way round! The old guy showing the young bucks the ropes! Seriously I'm not sure what plans the leader had in store for these young fellows but I'm sure it would not have been pleasant. Having said that they were young with energy to burn I'm sure, but I'm sure they are sore tonight.

The walking from here on in was extremely pleasant and by now the sun had started to show itself which was very well received. Psychologically it is amazing what you feel like when the sun is shining, and the bonus was the photos I was able to pull down today. I was now heading for Branscombe Mouth and eventually I made it and was very tempted to try for a coffee in the wonderful looking tea rooms, a picture of which I will post later, but decided I needed to push on to Beer as I'd set a goal of reaching it for 1-00pm, and time was running. I still had one hour on my side. After another climb up to a field there was nothing remarkable about the next leg to Beer and I finally arrived it at almost 1-00 pm on the dot. I'd been going pretty hard and so I thought I'd treat myself to a coffee and a chocolate, toffee and nut shortbread, and then I found a spot in the sun, where I took off my lightweight sweater and spread it out to dry and then sat back and endured my treat. I rested until 1-30 and figured it was time to leave. It had taken me 4 hours to cover the 9 miles from Sidmouth which I thought was a pretty decent effort considering there were 4 major climbs and about 2500 feet in elevation. This afternoons walk was the same distance and only 1300 feet in elevation, so I was hoping to be in by around 5pm and so I set off. As always, when you have stopped at almost anywhere along the path there is always a climb, and leaving Beer was no exception. The climb was nothing major, certainly nothing in comparison to what had gone before during the mornings escapades, and before I knew it I had arrived at Seaton. I figured I had covered the 2 miles in just about 40 minutes, and I followed the path along Seaton's sea front to where it turned left almost at the end of the seawall followed by a right by the Angling and Yacht Club and took me over a small bridge before turning left onto Seaton Road which leads to Axmouth. Shortly up the road there was a stiff climb up to the golf club, where it's only 20 Pounds for a round of golf, and the trail took me through the golf course for 3-400 yards before I was back on a bridle way that turned me right along a very muddy track before spilling out onto an open field. The trail led me around a couple of fields before directing me into more familiar terrain. I was going along at a fair clip by now and then came across a sign warning that if I was unable to make it beyond the "under cliff" (whatever that is), I might be forced to detour back to Seaton Road. I carried on a little further and then to my horror there was the dreaded path closed sign. To say I was furious would be an under statement. I backtracked the few minutes to where there were signs and read them more carefully. The one sign said that the path was closed and you would need to go back to Seaton Road and follow the signs from there, or you could download an app onto your phone, or visit a website for more information. The thing that irked me was why wouldn't they have provided this information on the path leading up to the golf course? Isn't that the more logical thing to do?

I immediately turned around and started working my way back to the golf course, and once at the Bridleway I took out my map to see if I could figure out an alternate route, as I had no faith or confidence in the paths custodians. That right had been lost, for now.

At the time I was reading my map an elderly couple came by and we traded stories and the gentleman's map coincided with mine and we both agreed the best way was to go the way I planned and so off I went. Unfortunately the Bridleway soon ran out and now I was forced onto a lane way that ran for several miles before I came to the most remarkable piece of property. It was obviously a stately home of some kind with public right of ways running through it and it was all rather grand. Unfortunately the path then directed me onto a road that was the one going into Lyme Regis, and I was now forced to follow this for several miles before I arrived into town. There was a long, long road down to the beach, and then I followed the road all the way along the sea front before climbing the stairs to the car park and finding my B&B. As you can imagine my feet were extremely happy to see fresh air!

Looking back this morning from where I'd come from yesterday.

Looking up at the landslide area.

This is where I'm headed.

Looking back at Sidmouth from Salcombe Hill

These 2 pictures are trying to give you an idea of how severe the drops and climbs are. The first shows you the numbers of fields to go down and the 2nd one is showing the climb up.