To a Long Steep Hill

Queen Anne, on top of Queen Anne's Walk, formerly the Mercantile Exchange Wednesday 15th July That's Queen Anne up there.  She is on top of the Queen Anne's Walk, now St Anne's cafe.  That's our destination today.  It was formerly the business centre of Barnstaple.  The gardens in front were the main dock, now filled in. Really hard to imagine the town as the flourishing port it once was.  It's a shortish walk from Braunton, and we should be there in time for lunch.   So we drove back to Braunton and parked in the main car park.  It's only just got back to normal after lock down and started taking payment.  Coins only which, of course, we don't have.  In the brave new world of virus, nobody carries cash.  Chris saves the day by buying a newspaper and getting round pounds in change. Having secured the car for the day, we set out for Barnstaple along the Tarka Trail cycleway.  It follows the old railway line.  The car park i...

West Down Community Shop Tuesday 14th July Our days mostly start at the Community Shop.  There's usually a short queue because they only allow one person in at a time.  As you can see, it was having a paint job while we were in the village.  It was well stocked with stuff for picnics.  Nice fresh rolls, cheese, ham salami and apples. Whilst queueing, I noticed that the wooden wedge under the ladder is called 'Reggie the Wedgie' We head off to Saunton and park in the public car park by the beach.(£8)  Like all the beaches on this Atlantic coast, it's big on surfing.  The surfers are out in force, but we head away to find the SWCP which runs behind the Braunton Burrows.   We don't really get into the Burrows, which are an extraordinary area of dunes full of rare wild flowers.  I took dozens of pictures, but I don't do wild flowers, so I can't really identify them. The weather improves, and we make fast progress on a good flat path and are rewar...

Woolacombe Beach without dogs Monday 13 July This day didn't start well at all - and yet again Doris the skittish satnav started it.  We decided that the thing to do today was to drive to Croyde, park the car and taxi back to Woolacombe to start walking.  Doris decided on one of her short cuts down impossibly narrow lanes.  This might have been OK but unfortunately approaching Croyde we ran into 'road closed'.  After much jigging about we saw the beach below.   "It's Woolacombe!", says Chris. "Don't be silly" I reply. But she is right.  My nerves are in shreds from the lanes and diversions, and this feels like the final straw. Chris says "It's not really a problem.  We just park up here and start from Woolacombe.  So we did.  And look at the beach!  Yesterday it was packed with dogs and people.  There's been a change in the weather and now - completely deserted.   We set off merrily across the sands.  I'm wearing...

Sunday 12 July We didn't plan this to be a day off, but Becky asked if she could come and see us.  A leisurely and delicious breakfast at The Crown of scrambled eggs was followed by a coffee in Woolacombe and lunch with Becks at the Woolacombe Bay Hotel Brasserie.  Very nice.  Becky and I had mackerel and Chris went for the crab linguine.  With chilled white wine and coffee, good value at £85.00.   It's another beautiful day and Becky is determined to go in the sea, preferably on her surfboard.  We go out onto the sands.  There's not so much as a ripple, so the surboard stays on the beach.  Becky and I have a very enjoyable swim instead. Most beaches in Devon fly blue flags and don't allow dogs in the summer.  They do at Woolacombe.  So if you are on holiday in Devon with a dog, Woolacombe seems to be where you are headed.  The dogs are everywhere.  Woof, woof Woolacombe! It's taken Becky 90 minutes to drive here and she l...

Woolacombe Bay Saturday 11th July We finished last September in a chip shop on the quay at Ilfracombe.  After discussion, we reckoned it would be easier to do this section in reverse, so, all bright and bushy-tailed, we parked up in Woolacombe (£10 for the day) and headed out towards our first objective, Morte Point.  It's a cracker of a day and we have a picnic bought at the lovely community shop in West Down.  What could possibly go wrong? Plenty actually.  Sunburn and boot pain.... The path is busy, and steep. The sun is strong The picture shows Chris bare-shouldered before the sun did its damage. We stopped for lunch at the Bull Point lighthouse.  A nice little pasty for me.  Roll with cheese for Chris.  Sitting on the grass I noticed that my left boot was showing a bit of a gap between the upper and the sole. A bloke was painting the lighthouse.  Rather abstract by the look of it.  We relaxed in the sunshine. Soon after, disaster struck....

The Crown West Down 10th July 2020     A lot has happened since I last posted in the autumn of 2019.  For a start, the pain killers did not sort out my knee. Not at all.  I ended up under the knife at Parkside Private Hospital hospital in Wimbledon.  The nice Mr Morgan (son of Cliff, the rugby commentator) cut out the ragged bits of cartilage which were causing the pain.  He made a video as he was doing it and gave it to me on a stick.  It wasn't as gruesome as you might think. Yes I went private.  Too much pain to endure the wait for the beloved NHS. So, here we go again. Me a but nervous about the knee, obviously. And of course, Covid 19.  We couldn't go back to SWCP any sooner because of the craziness. And once the lock down was relaxed to allow travel, everything on the coast was immediately booked.  We decided on a totally different approach - staying put in one place inland and going out to the path every day.  We found this l...