Stage 71 OS Map of the walk Stage 73
LYME REGIS to SEATOWN Stage 72 (10th October 2011)
It was already 11.45 when we set off from Lyme Regis, having taken the train from Exeter to Axminster then bus to Lyme. A series of landslips over recent years have dealt unkindly with what should be a visually stunning section of the Path. Unfortunately diversions between Lyme and Charmouth require quite a lot of road walking with some off-road stretches in poorly signed woodland and across a golf course.
Things get worse on the approach to the pretty main street of Charmouth, where a diversion takes you off towards the coast, but before reaching it you are turned around and sent back past rows of back gardens, to emerge at the bottom end of the same main street! Very frustrating with worse to follow in our case as it was a monday and the pubs and cafes and the fish and chip shop had all conspired to close so we were denied lunch!
The diversion continued with a stiff climb up a tarmacced lane to the NT owned Stonebarrow Hill. The only flowers still out were a few knapweed blooms, some thrift and a sprig or two of honeysuckle but there were still blackberries to eat. Another poorly signed path leads back down to the original path beyond Westhay Farm. At this point new signs point back to Charmouth along the coast.
We were cheered up by the fabulous views from here on as we climbed, first gradually and then precipitously, to the top of Golden Cap, at 191m the highest cliff on the south coast. The weather was good, mild with a SW wind which blew the light clouds past.
It stayed dry as we plunged down almost to sea level, where one last detour brought us into Seatown, graced with a good shop and a pub though its appearance is somewhat blighted by a sea of caravans and 'lodges'. Of course it’s only their presence which keeps the shop and pub in business.
A bridle path leads from here to Chideock village where we caught the #31 bus back to Lyme. We talked to some local people who explained that Charmouth, unlike Lyme, will be left unprotected against the ravages of the sea. So maybe the Charmouthians are excused their lack of attention to us walkers, in view of this mind-focussing future!
Total time 5 hours including stops, distance on path 8.7 miles, ascent 610 metres
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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Approaching Golden Cap
Lyme Regis promenade