Time Departed: 9.00am

Time Arrived: 3.00pm

Distance: 11kms 

Weather: Sunny and warm. Min 9 Max 20

Accommodation: Hunters Inn, Heddon Valley

Feelings: Henk - Relieved, Di - Relaxed 

The brilliant weather continues for our walking. We had a slower start as we only had 11 kms to walk with 500m of accents. Breakfast was another quiet affair with only one other walker. We’re getting more efficient and quicker with our packing so our mornings seem more organised.

Henk woke feeling much better than last night. Returning from dinner he was in a lot of pain and could barely walk. I was quite worried and thought we might be catching a bus or taxi today. I diagnosed that he had “done a groiny” and he went to bed early with Panadol and Ibuprofen. This morning he woke feeling fine so the drugs worked and obviously my diagnosis was wrong!

As it was a shorter day we decided to wait and catch the Lynmouth and Lynton Cliff Railway, a funicular tram which started at 10.00am. This replaced the winding walk up the 100m hill from Lynmouth to Lynton which is the little township on top of the cliff. We spent an hour walking around the picturesque little harbour village waiting for the ride. It’s hard to imagine that in one night in 1952 Lynmouth was almost wiped out due to a major flood killing 34 people and destroying over 100 buildings. The harbour is part of the reconstruction.

We were joined by other walkers in the funicular’s small carriage and it was crowded with all our backpacks on our knees. The railway was opened in 1890 and runs on a water-balanced system. It’s advertised as the highest and steepest fully water powered railway in the world. It was reassuring to know it has had an accident-free record since it’s opening. 

At the top we had morning tea at the Cliff Top Cafe adjacent to the railway. It is the home of the giant scone. The scone was enormous and Henk and I were pleased the waitress suggested one would be enough. As we are in Devon we put the cream on first and the jam on top to make an authentic Devon Cream Tea unlike the Cornish Cream Tea which has the jam on first and the cream last. We prefer the layering of the Cornish Cream Tea.

We set out for the walk from Lynton at 10.45am and were soon at Valley of Rocks. It’s a large dry river valley well known for its rock formations formed possibly 20,000 years ago. It’s also known for its feral goats but we didn’t see any today.

We took things slowly knowing we couldn’t check in until 4.00pm at our accommodation. Unlike yesterday as the day wore on we were looking for shade rather than sunshine. The path today clung closer to the sea cliffs and we had magnificent views of the coastline. As it was a Saturday there were many more walkers on the path making the most of the glorious weather. 

Lunch was at 1.15pm sitting on a bench overlooking woods and the sea. As we had taken things slowly we didn’t feel the need to stay long and rest. We ate our sandwiches which we had bought at the local supermarket at Lynton and moved on after fifteen minutes.

The final descent once again was taxing on stony paths and it was quite warm. We both started to feel footsore and we were thankful to have arrived at our accommodation. There were quite a few making the most of the afternoon sunshine in the front garden. When we had arrived at 3.00pm we were too early for check-in at 4.00pm so we sat in the cool bar each enjoying a pint of a cold drink. We were given our room at 3.30pm and once again our room is on the third floor in the attic. We didn’t make yesterday’s mistake and had a hot shower straight away. We have a large, comfortable modern room overlooking the front beer garden. 

Dinner was in the inn’s very busy dining area and we were lucky to be given a corner table overlooking the inn’s garden through a huge glass window. Henk opted for the duck and I had the fish pie. It hit the spot as we were quite hungry. 

It was a most enjoyable day. 

This is today’s profile from Lynmouth to Heddon Mouth, a kilometre from our destination of Heddon Valley.