Time Departed: 9.00 am

Time Arrived: 1.15pm

Distance: 13 kms 

Weather: Sunny  - Min  12, Max 18 

Accommodation:  The Saunton Sands Hotel, Croyde Bay 

Feelings: Henk - Good, Di - Good

We took a much slower approach to the walk today as it was going to be another shorter day and less changelling. Once again we woke to a sunny day and the strong winds of yesterday had gone. 

Last evening from our room’s window we noticed large machinery moving sand and constructing, what it seemed to us, a large levee on Woolacombe Beach. When we woke this morning work was continuing. We learned from our host that the sand was being built up for the construction of beach huts for the summer season. Because the winter tide is so high (up to 10m) the huts have to be removed in winter and replaced in summer. 

We decided to deviate off the SW Coast Path and visit the small village of Croyde. We walked the 3.2 kms length of the long Woolacombe Beach, initially with sand dunes on our right side and high cliffs on our left. For the second time on this walk I saw a common viper/adder and this time I was able to film it. Apparently, bites are rarely fatal but painful. The last one I saw was walking to Huners Inn and was a copper coloured one which is the female.

Walking on the sand dune path was hard going so we took a path onto the harder beach. The tide was way out. We had a good view of the beach and Woolacombe when we climbed the far cliff. 

Before we descended we were warned to be careful!. The sand dunes and beach were used by the American army for assault training in preparation for the D-Day landings. 

When we diverted from the path at Baggy Hill we descended alongside fields of black-faced sheep, ancient dry-stone fences covered with ivy and old narrow lanes leading down to the small seaside village of Croyde. Many of the houses had thatched roofs. We had morning tea at 11.00am and enjoyed slices of bread and butter pudding

When we resumed our walk we walked along country lanes alongside more farmland before we arrived at the cliffs. 

On the hillside overlooking Croyde Beach Henk recognised a large house he had seen on Grand Designs. Called Chesil Cliff House it was one of the saddest stories in the series as the couple went bankrupt and broke up. It was enormous and seemed to be vacant but apparently it did sell in 2025. The house sits beside a derelict house which I liked.

On the final cliff for the day we looked over the long beach of Saunton Sands and we could see where we had walked 17 years ago on our Land’s End to John O’Groat’s walk along the Nth Devon coastline. Our hotel for the night is a spa resort with pools, ocean view spas, bars, lounges and a popular restaurant. It’s located in an ideal, isolated position overlooking the long beach.

We arrived early and our room wasn’t ready so we waited for an hour in the comfortable lounge. We didn’t mind as it was interesting to watch the well-dressed hotel patrons coming and going. That, of course, wasn’t us! 

We booked dinner at the restaurant for 6.30pm. Our table overlooked the beach and the far side of the bay. We had a delicious meal, lamb for me and chicken for Henk, prepared by a Michelin chef. We overlooked the beach and the 6 metre high tide had just reached its peak. It was another lovely day. It’s now only two days to go until we finish our walk. 

Today’s profile looked like this:

Time Departed: 9.00am

Time Arrived: 2.45pm 

Distance: 13kms 

Weather: Sunny, cool with strong winds - Min 9 Max 17

Accommodation:  The Imperial, Woolacombe  

Feelings: Henk - Relaxed, Di - Good 

We had a great day walking with Tom and didn’t seem to stop talking through the entire walk as we caught up on all the news. Tom drove the 1.5 hours from Bude to meet us in Ilfracomb. He walked with us to Woolacombe then caught the local bus back to Ilfracombe to pick up his car and drive back to Bude. So it was a big day for him. 

We met Tom with our other walking buddy Neil on the 820kms Camino Walk in France, Le Puy en Velay to St Jean Pied de Port in 2018. Knowing Tom lived on the SW Coast Path in Cornwall we said at the time we would get in touch when we returned to finish walking the SW Coast Path. Covid got in the way and we are finally meeting up. 

The path today was not as strenous as previous days and it was mostly undulating but the wind was strong and unrelenting, thankfully it was on our backs. It would have been a challenging day if we had to walk into the wind. The sea was very choppy with lots of white caps. The path was mostly in the open and once again followed the edge of the cliffs. We had stunning views over the rugged coastline. 

When we reached lovely Lee Bay at eleven o’clock we decided it was time to have morning tea.  We walked up a  narrow lane for about a half a kilometre to reach The Grampus Inn a short distance from the small village of Lee. It was good to get out of the wind and we enjoyed the coffee. 

After morning tea we walked for a further 1.5 hours with more dramatic views and decided to find a protected spot for lunch to get out of the wind at 1.00pm.

There was no suitable spot at Bull Point Lighthouse but down the cliff was a picnic bench and the wind wasn’t so strong. Henk and I had our tasty Co-Op sandwiches of chicken and bacon we bought in Ilfracombe High Street as we walked passed and Tom had his packed lunch. 

We diverted from the path and took a lovely partly wooded lane to the little hilltop village of Mortehoe. We were pleased we did as it was a pretty, old village and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Just like Minehead the village also had a hotel called The Ship Aground. This one was covered in Wisteria. 

The last two kilometres from Mortehoe to Woolacombe was an easy descent on the minor road into the small seaside town. We had a good view of the wide sandy beach. 

Tom found a bus stop with the next bus to Ilfracombe arriving in about ten minutes so we farewelled Tom and headed to our accommodation. Who knows when we will meet Tom again? He is excellent company. 

Our friendly host Roger who seems to be in his late seventies was making the most of the afternoon sun and was sitting shirtless at the front of the guesthouse. He had just returned from two weeks in Portugal and had obviously sunbaked there as well. When Roger dies he could use his skin for a dark, wrinkled leather bag. He told us his family have lived in the area for hundreds of years.

Our room is at the front of the building on the first floor with large bayview windows overlooking the extensive sandy beach. 

At six o’clock we headed out for dinner at a local, modern pub. We were quite hungry again. It was a chilly walk and the weather seems to have changed. Before returning to our room we walked around the little town to find where we could buy some lunch supplies before walking tomorrow. We found a Spa and a baker. Most of the shops are geared to seaside tourists with surfing clothes and beach gear.

There is now only three more walking days left to arrive at our destination of Barnstaple. 

 

Ilfracombe, Devon 

Accommodation: The Olive Branch 

Weather: Cold and mostly overcast, windy. Evening Sunny - Min 9, Max 13

Feelings: Henk: Relaxed  Di: Relaxed

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday was perfect weather and today it’s cold, windy and overcast but the good thing is, it’s not raining. When we woke we could see that the sea was very choppy. We had already decided not to go to nearby Lundy Island as it was a two hour boat ride to get there, four hours on the island and a two hours return trip arriving back at 6.00pm. As a person who gets chronic seasickness four hours on a boat is not my idea of a rest day. Henk wasn’t keen either at getting back so late. We learned later the boat was cancelled due to the bad weather. 

This is the first and only rest day on our 120 kms walk. We had a later breakfast of 8.30am in the cosy small restaurant/bar area which belongs to the guest house. Our host is very friendly having bought the building and set up the business post Covid. 

We spent three hours walking around the town and harbour. We set out at ten o’clock with our winter clothes and walked up the hill to the underwhelming High Street, along the ridge and down to the harbour. 

The tide was out in both the town’s harbours, Outer Harbour and Inner Harbour.

We walked past the Damien Hirst’s statue at the harbour entrance on the way up to St Nicholas’ Chapel which overlooks the harbour, town and the entrance to the Bristol Channel. The 20m stature called Verity is on loan to the town for twenty years. It’s quite a tourist attraction.  Interestingly Hirst lives in Ilfracombe. 

The cliff-top chapel dates back to 1321 and has served as a lighthouse since then to the present day and is said to be the oldest one in the country. The local Rotary Club restored and maintain the building. 

We came across the Ilfracombe Museum and its outer appearance was not inviting but it was worth the visit. Established in 1932 it is eccentric and quirky and has some fascinating collections as well as the traditional drawers of old museums full of pinned butterflies, moths and spiders and large glass boxes of taxidermy. The closet with the bats in bottles looking at us was a bit of a turn off. The quirkiest had to be the drawer with samples of wedding cakes dating back to 1897. They didn’t look too tasty. The volunteer at the museum thought it might be the only collection of old slices of wedding cakes in the world and we thought she might be correct!

We bought locally made fudge and ate it as we walked around the town and the harbour. It was delicious. There were so many different flavours from which to choose. Henk had the coffee and cream and I had the vanilla. 

After three hours of sightseeing we called it a day and spent the afternoon resting. 

Dinner was at a wonderful Italian restaurant, Giovanni & Luca across the street from Wetherspoons where we had last night’s dinner. For a Tuesday night it was quite busy and we both had delicious meals. For dessert Henk had Tiramisu which he said was excellent and I had an Affogato.

After dinner we strolled down to the harbour to see how different it looked with the higher tide. We didn’t stay too long as it was too chilly. 

Tomorrow we meet up with a walking buddy from Cornwall whom we met on the Le Puy to St Jean Pied De Port Camino. He will spend the day walking with us. 

 

Time Departed: 9.40am

Time Arrived: 12.45pm 

Distance: 8 kms 

Weather: Sunny - Min 9 Max 17

Accommodation:  The Olive Branch, Ilfracombe 

Feelings: Henk - Fine , Di - Relaxed 

As it was a short walk of eight kms from Combe Martin to Ilfracombe we had a later start. We met another couple at breakfast walking the SW Coast Path. They were filling in the gaps to complete the 1000kms path. 

We initially walked on a sloping path through pretty woodland with bluebells and wild garlic that took us to the high cliffs.

At the three kilometre mark we came across the unique cafe Storm in a Teacup at the pretty Watermouth Harbour. As we had plenty of time we had morning tea and enjoyed our favourite cake Victoria Sponge with tea and coffee. The cafe is an old rescue boat from the Severn River and was restored into a boat cafe. 

From the cafe we had good views over the pretty harbour with the boats high and dry due to the low tide. As it is now Spring the tides are extreme and frequently exceed 10m due to it’s proximity to the Bristol Channel.

After morning tea we quickly climbed up the far cliff and looked back. We had lovely views over where we had walked and the harbour. We could also see Great Hangman in the distance. 

As we turned the corner on the last cliff path we were excited to see Ilfracombe. At the same time we received a phone call from our host asking when we would be arriving. We were about three kilometres from The Olive Branch so we weren’t too far away. We thought she might have been keen to make most of the sunny afternoon so she was pleased that we arrived ealry. 

The path into Ilfracombe overlooked the harbour, beach and the township. It was a wonderful view to take in as we descended into the township. Because the tide was out we could see the double-story wharf on the far side of the harbour. 

We arrived at our Georgian guesthouse, The Olive Branch at 12.45pm and we now don’t resume walking until the day after tomorrow with tomorrow being a rest day. Our room is large and has good views over the township through the large bay windows.

After depleting our backpack supplies for lunch Henk was keen to go to the laundromat to get our growing pile of dirty clothes washed. I piked and had a nap instead. 

Dinner was again at another Wetherspoons as it was in the same block as our guesthouse. They are quick, cheap and good quality. 

We are looking forward to our rest day tomorrow.

This is today’s profile.