New Valley Hills

I’ve heard on the grapevine the ferryman at Yealm is tailing off service as the tourists depart. I hit Yealm at the weekend; hopefully there’ll be enough foot traffic then to make it worth his while to operate. Otherwise it’s a 9 mile detour inland which will put my post-Plymouth firing ranges walk-through in jeopardy. Continue reading

Pete and Anita share their home with their baby daughter Maeve and affectionate, bouncy dog Jess. While they’re out I spend the day indoors. I am a little retrospective as well as planning forwards. The SWCPA guide book has a suggested timeline of 52 days walking over 8 total weeks, including a roughly weekly rest Continue reading

My feet seem to have survived the five toe liner socks yesterday. No lube needed on the slipping heel and no silicone toe protector on the other big toe to prevent it rubbing on the next toe. 👍 Amazingly I’m a fifth of the way round. 200km walked. Yesterday I managed a smidge under 32km Continue reading

Starting off again after a rest day and two nights at Katy’s. It fells autumnal- cooler, fresher and windier. Yesterday’s rain had washed considerable amounts of red mud out to sea. I made it to the Exmouth-Starcross ferry with 25 seconds to spare. I paid, boarded, took my pack off and sat down. We were Continue reading

Katy lives in a thatched cottage. A new experience to me – you don’t hear rain on the roof unlike tiled roofs like home. Overnight thunder and lightning woke me several times. The rain is very heavy and persistent this morning. Lightning followed by thunder right overhead making me jump! My first resupply box was Continue reading

Sitting in the tent waiting for the early morning rain to clear, I’m taking a moment to reflect on my pace over the previous 10 days. Officially I’m at ~150km distance, with over 4000m of ascent. My average pace is 4km/hour. This is slower than my norm for day hikes at 5km/hour, however the first Continue reading

Another cool night with a coastal mist Walked to Lyme Regis for breaky. Shared a table at the quayside Kiosk for food catering for early swimmers and dog walkers. The conversation next to me sounded like an episode of The Archers – who to mind the cattle, which field to move the sheep to next, Continue reading

Last night was coolest so far, down to 12C. My quilt is rated for comfort down to 2C meaning I was comfortable under it in my 15 year old North Face thermals. I favour a quilt to a sleeping bag as I’m a starfish, Superman, Rotisserie sleeper. A bag gets twisted around me as I Continue reading

Only morning I woke up grumpy. Did not like the campsite. One the plus side it served a reasonable pint of ale at the bar, and had rooms for conveniences – shut the door on a shower, loo and hand basin to one’s self. On the minus the delivery lorry or late arrival diesel motorhome Continue reading

Lesson for today – don’t wait for a breaky place to be open when they say so. Walk on to the next one and get some time back. Best dog name so far. Overheard an owner shoing one of their Dalmatians out of an open doorway “Rodney Trotter out”. Nice walking up west flank of Continue reading