Friday 13th September

By: Mike



First picture - The Thatched House pub at Maidencombe. We tried to get a drink twice - unsuccessfully

Second picture one of the painted stones near Shaldon 


Excellent breakfast, scrambled egg and smoked salmon for me.  We had to specify food choice and time the evening before.

It’s one of those mornings where we don’t have to find a bus or get a taxi, but just walk out the door. We are wrapped up warm, but the weather soon warms up.
We thought we would just get to Maidencombe and have lunch in the Thatched Inn, but we were there by 11.00. Pub shut but nice coffee on the beach. Rio.   We got chatting to a woman who was walking from her home in Norfolk to her mother’s birthplace at Liskeard in Cornwall.  No dafter I suppose than walking the entire SWCP.  She has her husband in support with a car, so she doesn’t have to worry about logistics.  She  told us it was one and half hours to Shaldon. So we cracked on. Got there by 14.30. It’s a tough sector with many steep hills.  Just before Shaldon - a curious feature on the path.  Someone has lined a section with beautifully painted stones, each guarded by a candle.  It seems to be a memorial to someone who has died.  A mystery. Quick tea and bus back. Drink and dinner in Hamilton's. Excellent 80.00 plus tip.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

By: Mike
Image
  Sunday 29 th October We aren’t going to make Fowey.   But we could do Mevagissey.   It’s only 3 ½ miles on from Gorran Haven.   There seems to be a bus back to GH, so we drive to the NT car park again and easily cover the distance over good path to Portmellon, where we have a bevy in the Rising Sun.   It is deserted and they aren’t doing food, so we press on in the rain now.   Mevagissey is quite a substantial place with a big harbour lots of pubs and a very acceptable harbour-side restaurant called the Sharksfin.   We settle in and tuck in.   I have a massive Sunday roast laden with every possible veg including a separate cauliflower cheese which is a meal in itself.   Chris has mussels.   The timetable says our bus is at 16.15 so we mooch around the harbour  and visit a little private museum.   It’s a real Aladdin’s cave.   My stand out memory is that they landed 90 tons of pilchards a day at the height of the now-v...
Read more

And they're off

By: Mike
Image
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.
Read more
By: Mike
Image
  Wednesday 25 th October Our taxi meets us at 09.30 sharp.   Chris has decoded the parking system and books the day on her phone. £5.00.   Driver is Santiago aka ‘Santi’.   He’s from Barcelona.   What on earth is he doing in St Mawes, we wonder. Perhaps he is a political refugee?   We don’t find out. Taxi is £30.00.   We are on the path at 09.45.   First thing that happens, I lose one of the stoppers on the end of my walking poles.   Annoying.   We then encounter a herd of cows.   They are harmless, of course, but still big and scary.   In avoiding them, we miss the path, and end up having to climb a fence.   This is much scarier for me than the cows.   I am too old to climb fences. Surprisingly, it’s a fine day.   Rain passed over Cornwall during the night. We were practically in Portscatho when we stopped for lunch. It’s only six miles. We got coffee at Thyme and Tide again, did a bit of shopping at the...
Read more