By: Mike

 


Drove to Shaldon. Parked at Ness Hotel. It’s a brilliant hotel.  Great room with proper bathroom and bath.

                                                                 The Ness House


 Then we walked down to the beach and caught the ferry to Teignmouth - £2.00 cash pp. We watched Michael Portillo doing this as part of his series walking the SWCP.  A guy we met last night was on the ferry.  He had walked from Torquay the previous day carrying a huge pack.  He had a Freedom pass, so not young.

                                            Shaldon, looking back from the ferry to Teignmouth

This was an easy day mostly flat through Teignmouth and Dawlish, with just one gentle hill where the railway goes through a tunnel and there’s no flat way round.  We stopped for coffee in Dawlish.

                                                So flat!  And the first red cliffs of Devon

 We could have ended it there and got the bus back to Shaldon, but we decided to catch a train from Dawlish Warrant station the one stop to Starcross.  There was a short wait for the ferry  to Exmouth £6.00 cash pp, then we were actually crossing the Exe.  Another big moment on our journey.

                                                      Exmouth from the Starcross ferry


Train back to Teignmouth. We had to walk over the bridge - tiring. Drink in Ferry Boat Inn in Shaldon. We checked into the Ness House about 18.30. I had a bath -  Bliss!  Excellent supper in their restaurant which we had pre-booked.


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