95 Braunton Burrows to Croyde Bay

Braunton Burrows and Staunton Sands

We picked up the Coast Path at Sandy Lane car park and continued to walk along a track with the dunes of Braunton Burrows between us and the sea. before very long I had spotted some more Speckled Woods (yesterday's was the first of the year) and a Comma (another first).

We passed through a golf course and emerged onto the Braunton to Croyde road at Saunton. We took an inland detour and were quickly rewarded by the sight of a lone Holly Blue (again my first of the year - as I write this I have just seen another in my garden) soon passing St Anne's chapel (1897), located in a rather lovely wooded setting. According to Pevsner it was intended to be the chancel of a larger church which was never built.

Returning to the road, we took a left which headed down to the car park behind Saunton Sands and headed uphill to rejoin the road. Above us was the imposing bulk of the art deco Saunton Sands Hotel (by Alwyn Underdown, about 1937).

As we climbed, we had our first view of the actual sea since a brief glimpse at Instow two days ago. It has been really strange walking so many miles along the Coast Path without being able to see the sea.

Further up the vast expanse of sand becomes visible, with the sand dunes behind on the left.

We crossed the road and climbed to follow a path along the side of the hill. This felt like the real Coast Path at last. An open path, flowers and grass on either side, views over the sea - and, as a special bonus, absolutely loads of Peacocks. Amazing to think that I saw my first of the year only two days ago. We passed around the headland and passed a building our taxi driver had told us about: a lighthouse-style structure right in the headland being built for some magnate and scheduled to appear on TV next year.

A little further on another modern house was nestling into the roadside. Rather a nice house I thought, but don't they have planning controls around here?

In the background is Croyde Sands, which we soon reached. Our first sight was of strata of rock twisted into what seemed to be right-angles from its original position.

Behind the large sandy beach were some inviting dunes.

We walked across the back of the beach and reached the car park at the far end where we had left the car.

Distance: 5 miles.

Grading: Easy.

Map: Explorer 139 (Bideford, Ilfracombe & Barnstaple)

Rating: Four stars.

94 Barnstaple to Braunton Burrows

The Long Bridge, Barnstaple

Day three of our Coast Path trip and we set off from Barnstaple's handsome Long Bridge in bright sunshine. It may not be as long as Bideford's, but it is older, dating from the 13th century, although since widened.

Immediately we passed a pair of art deco buildings, the one on the right (presumably originally a cinema) was especially impressive.

Further on, at right angles to the river, was this curious structure capped by a statue of Queen Victoria, and now derelict. I haven't been able to discover what it is. To the right is a fine warehouse or grain store.

Continuing along by the river, and still following the Tarka Way as well as the Coast Path, we came upon another former railway station, this one imaginatively turned into a primary school.

Soon afterwards there was another view of the impressive Taw Bridge, which we admired from the other side on the other bank yesterday afternoon.

Soon we had crossed  the road by the bridge and left the town behind. The wide estuary was at low tide again although the river still ran shallowly in a wide arc.

We started to hear and see quite a few birds in this area and were delighted to see a pair of curlews patrolling the shoreline and the shallows.

The first landmark was this fine pub, the Braunton Arms, marked on the map as Strand House.

Here is a further view of the river at low water.

The next section gradually diverged from the river bank and brought us to Chivenor, where all that remained of the railway station was these signals permanently set to go. The station site had been redeveloped as houses.

Now on the left we passed the Royal Marines Chivenor barracks, which seemed to occupy a massive site. We we surprised to see signs on the perimeter wall that security was provided by a private security company. Surely the Marines could handle that? But no doubt it makes sense.

We were no on the outskirts of Braunton and suddenly a new type of environment opened up. This was our first sight of the River Caen, which flows into the Taw.

We followed the right bank of this small river. Off to the right was Braunton Great field. When we drove past it later on we were struck by scattered stone buildings of a very medieval style known as linhays - they made a great sight and I wish we had been able to stop to take some pictures. I now know from Pevsner that the Great is one of the very few remaining fields in the country still farmed on the medieval strip system. The presence of several small waterways gave it something of the character of the Somerset Levels.

There was a diversion in operation and we walked along the top of a sort of dyke with a minor road and a waterway (marked as Drain on the OS map) on our right. It was very flat to right and left.

At one point we spotted a swan's nest on a pile of rushes where a waterway came in from the right. The Braunton Burrows can be seen in the background.

This walkway ended at Crow Beach House and we then followed a stony track up to and into the Burrows. We followed this for almost two miles to reach Sandy Lane car park. It was a bit frustrating to not be able to see the sea or even walk through the dunes as the path was set well back.

I did however see my first Speckled Wood of the year, perhaps a bit earlier than usual.

Distance: 9.0 miles.

Grading: Easy.

Map: Explorer 139 (Bideford, Ilfracombe & Barnstaple )

Rating: four stars. A bit frustrating to not see the sea, and quite a lot of tarmac at first, but some nice elements all the same.

93 Instow to Barnstaple

Instow seen from Appledore

We sent off from the car park behind the dunes in Instow and followed the edge of the estuary northwards. The tide was out and there was a wide expanse of mud and sand. Now we were in the Taw estuary and looked across to Crow Point which we will pass inland of tomorrow.

Before long there was another spectacularly derelict boat (we saw several yesterday - they seem to be a feature of the area). The grafiti reads "Davy Cameron's offshore treasure map". I am writing this on the day Brexit was declared. It seems appropriate somehow - people who believe in treasure maps are often deluded.

We carried on along a winding trail through marshland which eventually rejoined the tarmac of the Tarka Trail, which had more bicycle traffic than yesterday's section. To the left were several marshy nature reserves.

A bit later, a tunnel of trees provided some variety.

We reached Fremginton Pill (Pill seems to be a local word for a Creek) and a view across to the north bank of the Taw estuary. The stone monument on the left was a memorial to a "local fisherman and character" John 'Dinger" Bell who drowned 30 years ago.

We walked across the former railway bridge and had this view of the Pill with the obligatory derelict boats.

On the other side was the former Fremington railway station now converted into a cafe and doing a roaring trade.

We plodded on towards Barnstaple approaching an attractive road bridge which was soon followed by a cutting.

Here I was delighted to see a  Brimstone and my first Peacock of the year. A sign board revealed that the sides of the cutting were being carefully cultivated to produce a series of colourful flowers. There was a fine showing of Primroses and a few Snake's-head Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris).

As we reached the edge of Barnstaple, the splendid Torridge Bridge opened in 2007. It is an example of a balanced cantilever design. A rather negative article on Wikipedia describes it as the Barnstaple Western Bypass and expresses worries about the effects on seabirds and the difficulty of reopening the Barnstaple to Bideford Railway.

We completed our walk by crossing Barnstaple's fine Long Bridge (I will use it's picture to head the post of tomorrow's section). It's not as long as Bideford's (yesterday) but is still a great sight.

Distance: 7.0 miles.

Grading: Easy.

Map: Explorer 139 (Bideford, Ilfracombe & Barnstaple )

Rating: Three stars. A bit samey.

92 Appledore to Instow

Appledore seen from Instow

We are back on the Coast Path after an 18 month absence (I ruptured a tendon in my ankle). We have done quite a lot of walking meantime, but this will be the first time we have done four successive days in that time. We should really resume the walk at Bude, but it seemed more sensible to start with an easy section. We start off from the car park in Appledore and wander along The Quay, made in 1845 place of a number of private jetties. We turn right into Marine Parade, where we enjoy this interesting terrace.

We pass a small shipyard and various industrial operations to reach the estuary of the River Torridge (Appledore is near the mouth of the river where it meets the river Taw before flowing into the Celtic Sea. As we turn right along the river back we are struck by a group of derelict boats.

A bit further on, in a small wooded bay, is this boat, apparently in effect a house boat - we saw someone who was presumably the owner hard at work with a chain saw.

We continued along the side of the river to gain increasingly clear views of the impressive Torridge Bridge. The bridge was opened in 1987. Sadly, it seems that it has been the site of several suicides.

We were now in the orbit of Bideford and soon had a clear site of its famous Long Bridge. This is said to have been first built by Sir Theobald Grenville in the 14th century and the present structure is supposed to date from the 15th (Pevsner). Pevsner adds that much of the present stonework dates from repairs in 1638 and widening in 1865. It is impressive however at 677 feet long.

Just before the bridge is a statue of Tarka the Otter, hero of the stories by Henry Williamson.

Looking back from the bridge is the Town Hall and Library (on the left), mostly of 1905 by J A Dunn of Birmingham. Pevsner describes it as "quite a playful free Tudor". It is certainly rather charming.

Having crossed the bridge, we turned left to walk up the other bank of the Torridge and now we were sharing the route with the Tarka Trail. It apparently follows the route taken by Tarka the Otter and covers a total of 180 miles (290 km) in a figure-of-eight route, centred on Barnstaple. This section follows the disused, but now tarmaced railway line between Bideford and Barnstaple.

Soon we saw another, even more striking, derelict boat.

We passed under the Torridge Bridge and passed the entrance to Tapeley Park, a house of about 1700 remodeled in a neo-Renaissance style in 1898-1916. We had earlier caught a glimpse of the house on its high vantage point.

Walking along a tarmac track is not that exciting, but things picked up when we reached Instow where the former platform remains intact complete with benches, despite the new housing behind it.

At the end is the original signal box of about 1855 with the remains of the level crossing.

After this the SWCP and the Tarka Trail parted company for a while and we walked along the seafront (you can just make out the open sea at the mouth of the combined estuary of the Torridge and the Taw) to the car park behind the dunes at the north end of the village.

Distance: 7.1 miles.

Grading: Easy.

Map: Explorer 139 (Bideford, Ilfracombe & Barnstaple )

Rating: Three and a half stars. Quite interesting.