28 Babbacombe to Paignton

Cliff fall at Oddicombe Beach

Day 2 of our latest Coast Path trip. Yesterday we walked from Shaldon to Babbacombe. I had found a walk around Babbacombe on the Royal Geographical Society's  Discovering Britain website and so we started by investigating a house called Babbacombe Cliff. It was not particularly inspiring as a building, but its main claim to fame was that Oscar Wilde wrote A woman of no importance there.

 

We retraced our steps across the grassy Down in front of the hotel and then went down past the funicular to Oddicombe beach, the site of a major rock fall in 2010. We followed the coast path as it skirted the bay and at sea level got the clearest view of the cliff fall and what it meant: if you look closely at the photo you can that one of the houses on the top of the cliff tragically seems to be missing its whole right side.

Now began the inevitable long climb up from sea level to begin to walk around the series of headlands that separate Babbacombe from Torquay. Pevsner comments on the "exceptionally fortunate geographical situation" of Torquay, which has allowed it to keep "its various parts in attractive isolation from each other".

I thought I had better capture the sturdy new style signs which are in use in this part of the coast path.

We walked across the flat grassy area known as Walls Hill. The Discovering Britain walk guide explains that these flat cliff-top areas are known as "plains"and were formed tens of thousands of years ago when the sea was much higher than it is now: "wave-cut platforms" is the technical name.

We next passed Redgate Beach, closed to the public since 1998 because of falling rock. Apparently there was a local outcry at the time, but no doubt there would have been an even bigger one if someone was killed by a rock slide.

Soon we came to Anstey's Cove, with Devil's Point at its left side. We had noticed these points of rock on our walk yesterday and it seems they are nothing more than bits of a former quarry that proved too difficult to cut. Why not rename them the Dragon's Teeth?

At Black Head there was good view towards Hope's Nose with Ore Stone beyond it.

Now we finally turned the corner of Babbacombe Bay and found ourselves facing the fine sight of Thatcher Rock.

A bit further on, behind Meadfoot beach, we passed an intrusive modern block flats and then came on the Osborne hotel, offering "elegance at modest prices". It is a large Georgian style building with an elegant frieze and fine pediments at either end. It was built as Meadfoot Crescent in 1848 and renamed Hesketh Crescent in 1949. It was very striking how much better it fitted into the environment than the vast modern structure at the other end of this bay. 

Now we climbed to a grassy area (the strangely named Daddyhole Plain) by the Coastguard station where there was this lovely group of presumably early Victorian houses painted in delightful pastel shades - all except the one in the middle.What must the others be saying?

Turning another corner, we began the final approach to the centre of Torquay. The path passed through a delightful folly tower ...

... and descended to pass the Living Coasts coastal zoo. It was a surprise to see penguins on this walk!

Then down to the harbour, past a row of house with lovely iron balconies.

The view across the harbour was very pleasing, with GE Street's St John's church in the background.

Advance study of Pevsner had alerted me to the fact that the church features stained glass by Morris and Co, designed of course by Burne-Jones, who also painted two walls in the chancel. To our intense frustration, it was locked.

Also on the landward side of the harbour was this delightful clock tower. I imagined it must be another Jubilee Clock for Queen Victoria, but it turns out that it was a memorial for Richard Mallock who owned nearby Cockington. It was designed by John Donkin and erected in 1902.

After a break for lunch in Hoopers department store, we headed across to the Pavilion, which dates from 1912 in a mixture of classical and art nouveau styles. It is currently closed, pending re-development.

We walked along the sea front and were struck by the wide expanse of sand.

Set back from the beach is Torre Abbey, dating originally from 1198. After the dissolution of the monasteries the former gatehouse was remodeled into a house and later a Georgian extension was added. This is all closed for restoration at present. To the right is the Tithe Barn, which Pevsner thinks could date to the 13th century. It is a handsome structure.

The last leg of the walk was a plod along the main road, finally relieved by the first glimpse of Paignton.

We followed the road down to the sea front which we followed down past the pier to the small harbour, where we called a halt.

Conditions: cold, grey.

Distance: officially 7 miles, but it seemed rather longer. Distance now covered 137.6 miles.

Map: Explorer 110 (Torquay and Dawlish).

Rating: Four stars.

Sightings

Quite a lot of colour: white bluebells, violets, red campion and this lovely yellow shrub growing in profusion on the slopes as we made our approach towards Torquay.

27 Teignmouth (Shaldon) to Babbacombe

Ferry Beach, Shalford

After a long break, we are back on the South West Coast Path and we pick up the route at Shaldon, across the Teign from Teignmouth, the last place we reached. We are staying in Babbacombe and got a taxi to bring us here to start the walk. We were a bit puzzled when the taxi driver was unable to locate the "place where the ferry arrives", which we had specified as our destination. He eventually dropped us in what he believed was its general location. It turns out it stops just off the beach and the arrival and departure point is marked by a flag and a blackboard. We had expected a jetty.

We walk along the beach and looked across to Teignmouth.

The beach gives way to a path above a sea wall and soon you begin to climb through woods towards the top of the Ness. The view through the trees put me in mind, a touch fancifully no doubt, of similar views in the Costa Brava.

A viewing point at the top of the Ness offered further views back over Teignmouth and the coast back towards Dawlish.

From here, the path continued to climb quite steeply towards Bundle Head and briefly touched the road above Smugglers Cove. The coast here was disfigured by a horrific block of flats in white concrete.

We continued to climb, now above Labrador Bay and soon enjoyed a fine view back.

The next sections of the walk involved a whole series of descents and ascents, mostly without clear views of the sea. We were pleased to come on this more open stretch, with the Ore Stone, an isolated rock beyond Long Quarry Point, visible on the horizon. We enjoyed the yellow broom as well.

A bit further on yet another long ascent awaited, with these steps continuing around the bend at the top of what you can see.

We passed the hamlet of Maidencombe and headed for Watcombe, which has an association with the great Victorian railway engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He built his retirement home here, Watcombe House (now Brunel House), but sadly never lived in it.

The next feature of note was a rather fetching rock with a hole, with the jagged coastline leading towards Torquay beyond.

Eventually you are forced inland around a golf course to the edge of St Marychurch, but soon you descend again towards the sea to emerge at the edge of Babbacombe by the funicular railway that connects the town to Oddicombe beach. It is a steep descent.

We departed the coast path here to walk up Babbacombe Downs to return to our hotel, passing the funicular station on the way, its carriage parked for the night. The railway dates back to 1925.

Conditions: cold, grey.

Distance: 6.4 miles. Distance now covered 130.3 miles.

Map: Explorer 110 (Torquay and Dawlish).

Rating: Three stars.

Sightings

We saw several buzzards being mobbed by crows. There is nothing unusual in this of course, but it seemed at that any individual crow felt it was his duty to mob any passing buzzard. Apparently it only takes one to be a mob.

26 Exmouth (Starcross) to Teignmouth

Exmouth from Starcross

The third day of our latest SWCP trip. We finished up last night at the ferry in Exmouth, so today we drove round to the other side, Starcross, and set off from there. The first two miles just follow the road (the A379 from Starcross to Cockwood and then a minor road) down to Dawlish Warren. As we approached this well-known holiday area, we were staggered by the number of holiday parks on either side of the road.

We wondered about going to see the nature reserve, but decided to press on, joining the path along the sea wall just by Dawlish Warren station. Signs warned that the sea wall route could be dangerous at high tide, but mercifully it was close to low water.

Quite soon, you see Cowhole Rock. I have scrupulously framed the photo to avoid the Red Rock cafe, the busy path and the railway, all of which are off to the right.

Once past the rock, you walk between the sea on the left and Brunel's extraordinary railway line, with red sandstone cliffs to its right.

It was interesting to see from close up how almost liquid the sandstone looks and how eroded it is.

Gradually the path comes nearer to sea level and you pass a series of groynes. Hole Head stands at the end of the bay.

After four miles of hard path we took a break for refreshments in Dawlish. As we left the town and climbed up to Lea Hill, we were surprised to see quite a lot of people positioned on the railway bridge and higher up, many with cameras, tripods, the works. We found out that they were all in place to see a steam train pass by which was expected in 30 minutes or so.  A quick Google search reveals that this service, run by Steam Dreams, is pulled not by the usual restored old steam locomotive, but by a new replica called the Tornado built by a group of enthusiasts .

We carried on and instead took a nice picture of the curve of Dawlish Beach leading up to the Langstone Rock. The wave patterns made an interesting sight.

After Lea Hill, there was a section of road, then we turned left to see - what joy! - a normal section of coast. I include the photo only to remember the sense of relief we felt. 

As we were descending towards the right, we heard the whistle of the steam engine, which is, it must be said, a wonderful nostalgic sound. I was quite pleased with this impromptu shot, taken by pointing vaguely in the right direction and focusing by guesswork. No doubt the people in Dawlish did much better.

After a steep climb with further views over Dawlish and another brief section along the road, we reached the sea wall by Shag Rock and followed it along, above the beach, to Teignmouth.

The seafront at Teignmouth presents a mainly 19th century face to the world. The symmetrical and harmonious blocks of hotels date from the 1820s (although some had to be rebuilt after damage during the war), while the pier dates from 1865.

The nearby lighthouse dates from 1845 and at 6m is probably one of the smallest you are likely to see, but its static red light still performs a useful function guiding boats through the mouth of the Teign to the harbour beyond.

The curious wheels attached to the lighthouse are a contribution to the 2012 Sculpture Trail: Spinning Flowers by Imel Sierra Cabrera.

The walk ended, as it had begun, with a view across a river estuary from a ferry point, this time in Teignmouth Harbour looking across to Shaldon. All that remained was to get a taxi back to Starcross.

Conditions: cooler than of late and very cloudy.

Distance: 8 miles. Distance now covered 124 miles.

Map: Explorer 115 (Exmouth and Sidmouth).

Rating: three stars. We felt that this was the least enjoyable leg so far, as it was almost entirely on made up paths. There were many interesting aspects however.

25 Buddleigh Salterton to Exmouth

The west end of Buddleigh Salterton beach

Refreshed after an excellent dinner at Tobias restaurant and a good night's sleep, we awoke to a lovely sunny day and set out reasonably early to walk to Exmouth.

We didn't, sadly, get to see East Buddleigh, where Sir Walter Raleigh was born and where Millais traveled to paint The Boyhood of Raleigh.

The west end of the beach, with yet more red sandstone cliffs looked lovely in the morning light. The red cliff along this section of coast are variously described as being 200 or 250 million years old. The beach at Buddleigh is interesting, being formed of smooth flattened oval pebbles, some quite large.

We chatted to a man who had just bought fresh plaice and brill from a fisherman on the beach, and seemed appropriately happy about it. As we followed the path upwards, a fine view of the whole beach looking eastwards became visible.

The path crossed a level grassy area and then began to climb through heathland. Helpfully positioned benches offered ever more wonderful views back to the east.

At Littleham Cove we encountered the first of two closely located holiday parks, but the views back along the coast were exquisite.

We crossed the headland behind Straight Point (isn't that a bit of a contradiction in terms?), forced inland by the existence of an MOD firing range, to skirt another, even more massive holiday park behind the very reasonably named Sandy Bay.

This was interesting for its depth and shallowness - and for its yellow sand. We watched people taking a brisk stroll along the beach and round the corner to Orcombe Point, then back along the Coast path.

At Orcombe Point, which marks the end of the Jurassic Coast we saw the impressive Geoneedle, with Exmouth in the background.

This area is also the oldest part of the Jurassic Coast. The Geoneedle contains nine different stones found along this coast embedded into a frame of Portland Stone and was unveiled in 2002. It was commissioned from the artist Michael Fairfax to mark the recognition of the Jurassic Coast as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

We soon descended from the cliff top to reach sea level and then followed a promenade for the best part of two miles into Exmouth. The white facades of its hotels stood proudly by the wide mouth of the river Exe.

As we approached the centre we came on the modest Jubilee Clock of 1887.

We thought it similar to the one back up the coast in Seaton.

Finally, we reached the ferry across the Exe and the nearby marina, where we were really taken by the varied and brightly coloured apartments.

Conditions: sunny, warm.

Distance: 6 miles. Distance now covered 116 miles.

Map: Explorer 115 (Exmouth and Sidmouth).

Rating: four stars. Some great photographic opportunities.


Reflections

One odd and rather annoying feature of this walk was that although it was very well signposted, the distances on the signposts were wildly inconsistent. At the outset we saw a sign saying Exmouth 4m. This surprised us because the SWCP guide describes this section as 6 miles. After a while we began to see signs pointing in each direction: Buddleigh 2 / Exmouth 2. But then all of a sudden, half a mile later Buddleigh 2 1/2 / Exmouth 2 1/2. We even found a combination adding up to 5 1/4. Then later it was back to 4m. From the time taken and my pedometer reading we are pretty sure that it was in fact 6 miles to the Starcross Ferry.

Having said that, I must say that in general East Devon council are doing a grand job of signposting. There is always one when you need it and most, if not all, have the grid reference on a white label: invaluable if you know where you are going, but are not sure where you are.


Flower of the day

What is this ubiquitous yellow flower?

Butterfly of the day

We saw lots of seemingly freshly-minted Red Admirals. This one offered the rare opportunity of a photo of the underwings from below as it basked on an ivy flower.

24 Sidmouth to Buddleigh Salterton

The east end of Sidmouth beach

The start of another three-day assault on the Coast Path and we pick up the route at the east end of Sidmouth beach, in front of the terrace of early Victorian hotels. We walked along the promenade and
followed the Millenium walkway around the headland.

On the other side was another fine beach with characteristic red sandstone cliffs.

We began the long climb to Peak Hill and looked back to see the curious structure known as Jacobs Ladder which leads up to the Connaught Gardens, dating back to 1820.

Further up the steep grassy slope, there was a fine view back over Sidmouth and the coast to the east.

Once we reached Peak Hill, after a reasonably steep climb, the path leveled out and ahead lay the sea stacks known as Big Picket Rock and - yes!- Little Picket Rock.

Inland there were lovely views across open country.

Soon there was an even more impressive view back to Sidmouth.

The sea stacks at Ladram Bay reminded us of Old Harry rocks as we approached.

And after we had skirted the seemingly inevitable holiday park, there were even more wonderful sights, which I found very difficult to satisfactorily photograph. This was the best I could manage.

The route the cliff tops until we began the descent beside and then across fields into Buddleigh Salterton. A fine stand of pine trees marked the end of forward progress along the coast.

We now followed the River Otter inland for about a kilometre, crossed a little bridge and followed the other bank through the Otter Estuary Nature Reserve. It was beginning to get dark and our energy was fading too, but we did spot a couple of Little Egrets in the wide river mouth.

We walked along the promenade and into Buddleigh to the Feathers pub where we were staying. On the way we passed the Fairlynch Museum, housed in a lovely thatched house of 1811.

It is apparently one of the few thatched museums in the country.

Conditions: cloudy with a threat of rain.

Distance: 7 miles. Distance now covered 110 miles.

Map: Explorer 115 (Exmouth and Sidmouth).

Rating: four stars. Mainly for Ladram Bay.


Flower of the day

We spotted this lovely flower alone by the side of the Otter. Again, what is it?