Exmouth to Sidmouth

Colin joined us last night. We met him on the first half of the walk last year in Cornwall where he proved to be very good company, and he was a welcome addition on this leg.

Che dropped us back at Exmouth on yet another beautiful, sunny day. Colin comes from dahn saaarf, is pretty fit and loves long distance walking. He’s Taurean, doesn’t have sugar in his coffee and still plays five a side footy at the age of…………summat 7.

We started a ritual of finding places that do excellent breakfasts, and Exmouth never fails to disappoint on this front. It is half an hour well invested, fuelling up for a big calorie burn off.

Looking back across the Exe the green hills of Devon gave a clue to the origin of the County flag.

Another mile and we were looking back towards Exmouth along a belting beach.

And then looking forward to another beach just before Budleigh Salterton.

Breathe the fresh air. Scratch the screen and you will sniff the aromatic smells of nature. The gorse, the pine and the sea.

Did anyone scratch their screen? Haw haw you gullible monkey!

We were aiming to cover 13 miles today, but it is up and down so it will feel much longer. Straight away the cliffs began to develop.

With both of us appreciating the different rock structures in this area, verging on the Jurassic. It’s bizarre the way the weather has been so good for us all the way from Fowey, and no sign of it deteriorating. Hooray!! The weather and the views are a formidable combination. That’s all I have to say.

Eh?

We fell into a rhythm, with Colin managing to hold back to allow the old lad to set the pace. And we soon made it to Budleigh Salterton, which was a decent looking town/village with the required Edwardian feel to the front.

And an amazing wetland nestling inland for a mile or two, making a brilliant haven for wildlife. We couldn’t cross it down by the coast, even though it narrows to a few yards. It was too deep to wade. So we walked up the valley and crossed the various creeks on bridges, getting amazing real life wildlife episodes along the way.

Two moorhens were training their two or three day chicks to swim in a strong current. We were entranced. Lots of species of water birds were flogging about, as well as big grey mullet working their way through the brackish water looking for food. A great place.

But time was calling and we climbed back up the cliffs and took a detour to the very top, where the ancient Britons had established a hilltop fort with a view. With Sidmouth in the middle distance.

This was a great walk. So much variety and beauty, and entering Sidmouth around the path lodged at the bottom of the cliffs. Just great.

We had done enough today and stopped at Sidmouth. Wonderful day and a big walking day tomorrow. Che picked us up, fed us and tucked us up. Well not tucked us up per se but I didn’t know how to conclude that sentence.

Night night.