Brixham to St Marychurch

 

Brixham to St Marychurch - Saturday 6th September 2014

Path Facts - Length: 13.4 miles, Ascent: 1800 feet

Breakfast 8am. Very good veg sausages! Left just gone 9 am. Out through Brixham harbour then some small bays and woodland. Just outside of Brixham was one of the worst signposted areas seen. But the woodland stretch was quite nice.

After this relatively secluded section begins the beach town megatropolis including the likes of Paignton and Torquay. These all blend pretty much one into the next.

The megatropolis brings inevitable crime:

 Walked alongside the old steam railway.

I think this was Goodrington Beach:

Paignton:

Stopped at a beachside hut for tea in Paignton.

Accompanied by the guardian of teas...

...and the guardian of chips.



Then on to Torquay.

The approach to Torquay is along the A3022. Mmm..scenic.

Could spot the fairground rides from a way off before getting a close up.

Stopped at a harbourside café at about 12.30. 8 miles done. Could have stopped here but this would have made ongoing logistics difficult. Thinking longer term there is a necessity to see what's possible in the next leg and the one beyond. We should finish in two more trips if maintaining the average daily distance.

The next stretch heads out the Eastern side of Torquay and out to Babbacombe then St Marychurch. Quite a nice stretch. A change from the seaside towns of the last few miles.

Ice cream stop.

The last few miles had some inland stretches and then the ascent up from Babbacombe.

Here's an onward glimpse of the next stretch out to Shaldon, Teignmouth etc which we will visit in Leg 10.

Got on a bus from St Marychurch about 4pm.

Here's a bonus Torquay squirrel saying goodbye until next time.

Dartmouth to Brixham

Dartmouth to Brixham - Friday 5th September 2014

Path Facts - Length: 10.8 miles, Ascent: 2887 feet

Breakfast 8am. Breakfast was weird. the ladies at the B&B at Slapton had warned us of this. No eggs. But cows milk. So not vegan but...what? And a big thing about home made granola. Good food and room but weird customer relations. I respect people's personal choices of what they eat but I don't think you can force them on others particularly when you're running a B&B. Every option you might consider for breakfast seemed to have to be deemed acceptable by the proprietor. And way too many "can I get you anything else?" whilst you're wondering whether what you might want will be ok. Erm, what am I allowed?. Anyway, enough of that. You wouldn't have a terrible experience at Hill View House. Just weird.

Left about 9.15 am. No lunch stop today. The obvious option at the National Trust run Coleton Fisheries was annoyingly shut on Fridays. So bought some lunch from M&S in Dartmouth then crossed the Dart on the ferry and started walking from Kingswear about 9.50 am.

The start is a taste of things to come with a steep ascent up some steps then a hill road. 2887 feet of climb today. Also warm, humid and windless.

Stopped at Scabbacombe Sands to eat lunch having ascended way up high then dropped right back to sea level before another ascent to about 400 ft looming ahead and then the same thing again. You get a flavour of this from the photos below.

Tough section and quite hot by this point.

Eventually got to Berry Head just outside Brixham where there is a lighthouse and some forts from the Napoleonic wars and, most importantly, a tea shop having been deprived all day.

Arrived at the B&B just before 5pm. Then had a wander round. Brixham is quirky but great. There was a mad guy in a top hat, a mad bag lady on the pier and various eccentric things going on in the town like Brixham Banksy and amusing things in shop windows.

Back for a shower and a chill out then out to Bistro 46 for eats. Then.. we were advised by the B&B that if we wanted an experience then we should go to the Martime Inn. It's like walking into 1950 when you go through the door. Also a dog that, despite appearances, is apparently quite keen on biting people... and lastly a parrot that eats people's shoes.

Info

Accommodation - Sampford Guest House

Location ***** right on the path nest to the harbour and town!

Room ****

Facilities ****

Noise *****

Food ****

Ambience ****

Price *** £76 for the room.


Food – Bistro 46

Quality ***

Price ***

Slapton to Dartmouth

 

Slapton to Dartmouth - Thursday 4th September 2014

Path Facts - Length: 9.5 miles, Ascent: 1470 feet

8am breakfast with two retired lady walkers who were in a walking club that did 20 milers. Left 9.15 am and took a brief detour around the nature trail on the edge of Slapton Ley. More scenic than the road.

Rejoined the path about 9.30am for a flattish section before winding up through roads and inland fields. Not very coast-pathy for a while.

Not much at either Blackpool Sands or Stoke Fleming. Passed through here about 11am. No tea shop options so forged on ahead. Eventually we picked up the path close to Dartmouth where we'd walked from an earlier 40th birthday bash.

Here is Andy under a tree in 2014...

...which looked a bit familiar from 2009.

The path was more typically coastal from here up to Dartmouth with some nice stretches of woodland.

Stopped off at Dartmouth Castle at the local tea shop. Good food and view. Approx 12.30.

Walked into Dartmouth and had a bit of a look around.

Stopped in the Old Market for further tea and cake.

Got to the B&B about 3.30 pm after what felt like a half day compared to yesterday. Chilled for a bit and gambled on getting food on spec later. Luckily it was ok setting out early. Could have been busy in Dartmouth.

Had a huge pizza and a pint of Otter at the Dartmouth Arms before another pint of Proper Job in the Cherub.

Info

Accommodation - Hill View House

Location ***

Room ***

Facilities ***

Noise ****

Food ***

Ambience ***

Price *** £66.5 for the room.


Food – The Dartmouth Arms

Quality ***

Price ****

Beer - Otter