The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

The Southwest Coast Path: South Devon

Back in Devon after four years! The last (and only) time I was in Devon I completed 9 days of hiking along the Southwest Coastal Path (SWCP) from Westward Ho! in Devon to Padstow in Cornwall (see my 2018 blog post). In contrast to those 2+ days in Devon, this time I am spenting 4 weeks, with a two-fold hiking focus: completing some of the southern portion of the SWCP and exploring inland Devon, principally the two moors: Dartmoor and Exmoor. To keep the length of the posts reasonable, I have divided the hikes into two posts. The five days of coastal hiking inn-to-inn is the focus of this post; the inland walks will be the focus of the next one, hopefully published in a few days.

From my AirBnb the South Devon coast was easily accessed by train from the lovely city of Exeter. In about an hour I reached the touristy town of Paignton where I started my generally West-to-East walking adventure. That was Jubilee Sunday and my post begins there. . .

Redcliffe Hotel on the east end of Paignton, Day 1. Paignton was certainly a convenient start point, but is best forgotten.
Corbyn’s Head. I’ve always wondered where that was . . .
Thatcher Rock. The antithesis of Corbyn’s Head. The misty rain lasted much of the first day until. . .
Early evening view from my Babbacombe Hotel terrace
Day 2 started out with much better weather. Here is a view of Oddicombe Beach, a steep descent from the cliff-top town of Babbacombe.
View back towards Torquay (hidden), the main conurbation along this portion of the coast, that I had traversed (in rain) on Day 1 without taking a photo. Though it has its own odd charm, like Paignton I felt that it is best forgotten.
View towards Teignmouth, the destination of the first of two short ferries I took that day
View of colorful Dawlish with the railway going along the coast here.
On the Starcross to Exmouth ferry, the 2nd and longer (at about 20 minutes) of the two ferries that day
The Imperial Hotel, Exmouth, my home for the 2nd night. Though imposing, it is indeed every bit as tired as it looks. Note the giant beach chair. My hotel room did have a small balcony looking out towards the beach.
An Exmouth beach sculpture I saw at the start of Day 3. Unfortunately I was out of coins or I would have contributed to the artist’s fund. The town does have a large sandy beach, unusual for the south coast. It is popular with kite boarders and surfers as well as swimmers (and of course, dog walkers).
The Geoneedle at Orcombe Point. This marks the start of the Jurassic Coast. Note the different rocks comprising one side of the obelisk. They represent the almost continuous sequence of rocks exposed from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods as one heads West to East along the coast. Truly time travel on a geologic scale!
Dew on common flax (Linum usitatissimum)
Purple Heather (Erica cinerea). As with much of southern England, gorse is out-competing heather.
Otter River estuary, a great birding area. I did not have my binoculars and the rain forced me to shelter in a bird hide for a while as I made my way on an unavoidable inland detour around the mouth of the river.
Sidmouth with mist descending. My home for the 3rd night!
A view from Connaught Gardens on the Western end of Sidmouth. The gardens are absolutely gorgeous, but after a long day my appreciation for their beauty was limited.
The Grade II listed Beacon House with a traditional thatched roof, Sidmouth
Looking back on Sidmouth and High Peak (R) at the start of Day 4. It is a lovely town although the beach is only shingle.
Cliffs near Salcombe as the sun emerges after several hours of mist and rain. This is England, after all.
I ended up herding a flock of sheep near Branscombe
Looking back on the gorgeous coastal views near Branscombe
A good view of the Hooken Cliffs (r) and limestone pinnacles (l), highlighting a giant landslip from 1790. This area is part of the 100 sq. mi. East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This short ramble through the Hooken Undercliff was a preview for much of the following day’s walking.
The Beer Beach on the morning of Day 5. I stayed in a small B&B in Beer, a beautiful historic village. Somewhat lacking in dining options, I had pre-booked a dinner reservation at The Smugglers Kitchen, an absolutely first rate establishment.
The SWCP heading up the cliffs leaving the village of Beer
Axmouth Harbor and Haven Cliffs
Pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis). I should have gotten a better photo, but didn’t realize at the time I was looking at an orchid! Though this species is relatively common, I didn’t see any more.
The SWCP heading through the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliffs National Nature Reserve, one of the great “wilderness” areas in southern England. With rain threatening all morning, it was nice to be walking through a woodland.
A rare coastal view en-route to Lyme Regis in the Undercliffs Nature Reserve
Red Campion (Silene dioica). I saw many of these pretty wildflowers during my five days of coastal walking.

Lyme Regis is purportedly lovely, but when I hiked through at the conclusion of my fifth day walking, I was in a hurry to catch my bus, the weather was questionable, and the tourists profuse. Perhaps for these reasons I have no photos of the town. I did manage to catch the hourly bus from there to Axminster station where I was able to connect with a train back to Exeter where my car waited for me. Stats were 56 miles and 9600 ft elevation gain over the five days. Certainly not as strenuous as some of the North Coast of Devon and Cornwall where I averaged about 3000 ft of ascent each day, but an amazingly varied geography with wonderful towns and villages conveniently located along the way. I am more than ever resolved to continue to “fill in” the sections of the SWCP that I have not yet walked.

The Vagabond Hiker

P.S. A note on the photos. I recently purchased a new mobile phone, a Samsung Galaxy A52, which I used for all these photographs. My travels make it more than ever necessary to have dual SIM capability which this international version possesses. I am still learning about the camera, though. . .

Comments

  1. Once again, thanks for taking us along on your travels to places we may have never heard of and certainly may never get to!

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