To a Long Steep Hill

Tea - from Porlock Back at Sparkhayes Camp Site we put up our tent and brew our tea.  It's really good and we notice that it's Porlock tea.  So eat your heart out PG tips and all the other national teas.  Miles Finest Teas are great.  And apparently they do coffee as well - in Porlock. Ah the tent. Brand new ultra lightweight ultra expensive but great.  Bought in the belief that maybe we might do real back packing at some stage. Maybe.  It goes up easy.  We did try it out on the sitting room carpet.  It's  a Ghost 3 from Mountain Hardwear. We would have had a great night's sleep if we hadn't slept with our heads at the feet end.  Also our sleeping bags turn out to be child-size. Luckily it was a warm night. And the air-beds are cumbersome.  Our camping is best described as 'work in progress'.   Forgot to take a picture of the tent. Everything being ship-shape, we head out for a beer at the Royal Oak and a su...

  Minehead to Porlock 8 Miles Logistics are everything when you are doing a walk in chunks.  We learnt that on the Thames path. Somerset and North Devon are even harder. Buses very sparse indeed. So - taxis are the lifeline.  The plan is to drive to our first overnight in Porlock.  Leave the car and take a taxi to Minehead. An early start from home in Hampton Hill gets us to Sparkhayes Campsite at Porlock in time to meet our taximan at 12.00. It's a bright red electric Nissan Leaf.  The first time we have ever been in a fully electric car. It goes like a rocket. Keith tells us he has only spent £300 on electricity compared with £3,000 if it had run on diesel.  Of course for long trips or more than two passengers he has another car - a diesel. It's not long after leaving the Minehead seafront before you hit the first of many steep climbs. Going up and up through woods I notice a prominently striped feather on the ground.  Without thinking I ...

Friday 26th July That's the monument which marks the start in Minehead of the Southwest Coast Path - and this is Mike and Chris about to set out. Our selfie seems to be back to front.  It's a minor detail when you are about to tackle a 630 mile trek.  Maybe pre-race nerves came into it. Are we doing it all in one go?  Don't be ridiculous.  It's going to be a case of long weekends and I reckon it'll take up to three years.  So best settle down for a long read. Are we camping? er  yes sort of.  Our tent is being shifted by the lovely people at luggagetransfers.com.  And there will be hotels.  Oh yes.  Starting with The Rising Sun at Lynmouth.  But first - camping at Porlock.