Stage 56 OS Map of the walk Stage 58
HOPE COVE TO SALCOMBE Stage 57 (19th Sept 2010).
There were no buses to Hope on sunday so we had to get a cab from Kingsbridge to Inner Hope. The iron age hill fort on Bolt Tail is the dominant feature as you climb out of the woodland above the old lifeboat station. It seemed that the brisk SW wind was blowing the broken clouds towards the higher cliffs so we walked in sunshine although the long views were more hazy than yesterday.
There is just one serious descent to sea level at Soar Mill Cove, at the foot of a rocky valley running parallel to the coast (a bit like the Valley of the Rocks near Lynton). Here you can see lots of stone 'fences' made from close-packed vertical slabs of the local mica schist rock.
We made good progress along the rising ridges leading to Bolt Head even though the path is quite stony. Kestrels patrolled the cliff edge at intervals of a few hundred metres but nothing got caught as far as we could tell. Where are all the seals of S. Devon? On the north coast it was so common to see several basking or swimming off flat rocks at the base of high cliffs but although the rocks and cliffs seem similar we have seen no seals. Maybe the frantic small boat activity keeps them away?
Walking down from Bolt Head we rescued an iridescent green beetle from certain death under a boot of one of a hundred walkers who were out in force in the blustery sunshine. The walk down into Salcombe begins along a wooded drive then a rather busy road to South Sands. where we had a lunchtime cream tea (this is becoming a habit). Then quieter roads lead on into Salcombe.
We pottered about and sat outside a pub watching humanity pass by before catching the X64 bus to Kingsbridge at 18.00. There is an infrequent ferry which does the same journey, but up the beautiful estuary. Unfortunately we just missed it!
Total time 5.0 hours, distance walked 9.5miles, ascent 799m.
The South West Coast Path is the longest of the official UK National Trails, running from Minehead in Somerset round the English south west peninsula coast to Poole in Dorset. The total length is just over 1000 kilometres or, more precisely, 630 miles. Only very dedicated walkers could contemplate completing the whole walk in one go, although plenty of people have done just this. Received opinion is that it would take around 6 weeks, even for the most dedicated.
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