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Before I fill you in on the details of the walk, I just want to say a big thank you for being so generous in sponsoring me. I have over £200 sponsorship for MacMillan Cancer Support.
The weather last night was absolutely perfect. Warm, dry and a cloud free sky! Not bad for April! We started off from Barnstaple along the Tarka Trail (a disused railway line) at 8.30pm in a group of about 100 walkers. Altogether there was about 2,000 ladies doing the walk, some doing a reverse route - starting from Bideford and walking to Barnstaple.
It was just starting to get dusky as we left Barnstaple, but plenty of light at that stage to see where we were going. There were loads of marshalls along the way to make sure no one got lost! After a couple of miles, we got to Fremington Quay.
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The tea room had opened specially for us and were serving soup and rolls to the walkers. One of the marshalls was handing out chocolates as well! It was really lovely there, as they had lit what must have been a few hundred tea lights in coloured jars along the quay wall. Sadly my camera didn't take a very good picture to show you all, but it really was special.
Once we set off again, it was dark and we needed our torches to see our way along the trail. It was odd seeing lights coming towards us out of the dark as the ladies from Bideford passed us.
Instow was the next village we passed through. We did stop there for a few minutes just to look at the sea. It was a like a mill pond - there wasn't a breath of air and the sky was full of stars. We even saw a satellite pass over us (either that or a UFO was attracted by all the torches!).
Eventually, we could see the lights along Bideford Quay. At this point we were all getting a little achy but a good supply of jelly babies and chocolate kept us going! We probably overdid the chocolate bit, as we had all brought enough chocolate for each other! So, between the Twixes, Mars, Bourneville and Topics, we arrived in Bideford just after midnight on a high!
After spending three and a half hours walking in the peace and quiet, it was really weird walking through the town centre. Lots of action with the pubs and clubs along the quay still busy! But, it made us pick up the pace a bit, although as always, the route was well marshalled and we even had a bit of encouragement from the locals and police along the way!
Once we had registered our arrival at Bideford Rugby Club, had a bacon / veggie sandwich and a very welcome cup of coffee, the local bus company had volunteer drivers who took us back to Barnstaple to the start of the walk. We arrived back in Lynton about 1am this morning, tired but smug!
So, it's all done and so far everything still works without too many aches. Thank you all again for giving me the incentive to do the walk. We look forward to seeing you all soon, and for those of you who are coming down to see us later on this year, we look forward to catching up with your news and thank you again for being so generous with your sponsorship . . . SUE
Southcliffe Guest House
34 Lee Road, Lynton,
North Devon, EX35 6BS
Tel: 01598 753328
email: info@southcliffe.co.uk
Another walk worth considering is the beatiful stretch of the coastal path between Combe Martin and Ilfracombe. We have been thinking about donig the walk ourselves, possibly leaving the car at Combe Martin and getting the bus back to it after the walk. Although the walk from here to Combe Martin is always popular and convenient, very few of our guests have tried this next section. Thanks to our guests Ann and Robin who enjoyed the walk the other day and sent us these pictures. Larger versions of these and the rest of the pictures can be seen in the Combe Martin section of the gallery.
We are often asked about how to make the coastal walk towards Woody Bay and Hunters Inn circular. There are high and low paths at some places, which can make the return trip slightly different, but out guests Anne and Dave recently found a truly circular route in one of our books. The walk goes to Hunters Inn, which has a good National Trust shop and of course a pub for lunch/cream teas. The route back comes through the Heddon Valley and various inland footpaths before coming back via Southcliffe, which has wonderful views over the Valley of Rocks.
Well done to our guests Ruth, Jim and Rae for completing the Endurance Life Coastal Trail Marathon this weekend. On the day the course was actually a few miles longer than a marathon, which must hae been a nice surprise! There's some spectacular pictures and information about this and other Endurance Life events on their website here:
We visited Chambercombe Manor today, which is one of the places we have been trying to get to for a while. Just outside Ilfracombe, Chambercombe Manor is an 11th century manor house with 3 acres of gardens and the Lady Janes's Tea Room, which of course we tested (excellent) before exploring the Manor House. We were given a guided tour, which included interesting stories about the history of the house and it's previous occupants . . . some of who are said to still be in residence as the building is reputed to be one of the most haunted dwellings in the UK. Well worth visiting, and great for a wet weather day!
Sue is in training for a fundraising walk that is happening later this month. Nightwalk is a 11-mile walk between Barnstaple and Torrington along the Tarka Trail in aid of the North Devon Hospice and Macmillan Cancer Support. Over 1,500 women took part in last year's event, raising over £125,000 for the two charities, and this year's event promises to be even bigger! It takes place on the evening of Saturday 26th April, so watch this space later in the month for news, pictures, etc.
