Day 73: Yelland to Mouth Mill
? 35km
?1309m
As predicted the storm came in during the night, the rain was heavy and the wind strong and gusting. We pre-empted it would happen and used our trekking pole trick but in the middle of the night the one on Tom’s side came down and the poles of the tent felt like they were under serious strain.
Somehow the tent survived and we woke with our 05:30 alarm surrounded by a grave yard of other tents and people taking shelter in their cars. One family had already started packing away and were driving out by the time we had packed up our things.
It had stopped raining but was still very windy so we packed up quickly, when I lifted one side on the inner up to fold it over as usual, Tom panicked and dove on top of the tent as he thought it was going to blow away. It was a bit of an unnecessary reaction (editor: we agree to disagree on that) and made us giggle for the rest of the day. The plus side of the wind was that it had dried the tent and so was much better to pack away.
We joined the Tarka trail, still cycle path to Bideford, and headed for Costa, but the cafe on the opposite corner looked nice, we paused for a look and a local persuaded us it was the one to go for so we had a well recommended coffee which was lovely.
It’s worth noting at this point that Tom had been doing some reading ahead in the guide books for the End to End and SWCP. There is a difference in that one is all about walking the length of the country and another is about walking a defined trail. We joined the SWCP at Minehead with the intention of walking the costal path as far as Lands End. The problem with that is that the SWCP uses a ferry to get from Rock to Padstow, but that would invalidate our claim to have walked the length of the country. So the End to End route leaves the SWCP before Rock and walks inland to Wadebridge and then back out along the Camel Trail to Padstow. So we could follow the coastal path to Rock and then walk inland to Wadebridge, however this would add distance to what we had planned for, requiring a revision to our current schedule to arrive at Lands End on Saturday 7th August, and there are no footpaths from Rock to Wadebridge so it would all be road walking. So we decided to stick to plan A – walk the length of the country. As this meant we were going to skip part of the Coastal Path, Tom could stop being so particular about walking every inch of it and we could follow the End to End guide route when it deviated from the SWCP.
This is important to note now because from Bideford we avoided 8km of walking on the SWCP around the headland and towns of Appledore and Westword Ho! by taking a cross country route to meet the SWCP just south of Westward Ho!. The day turned out to be longer in distance and time than we thought so it was a good move!
When we re-joined the coastal path it was extremely windy and gusty and the next 10km were hard work. Narrow paths, being blown off balance, lots of steep up and down sometimes with steps, along with a fair amount of bush whacking. However it didn’t really rain and the scenery was rather dramatic and beautiful.
When we got to the end of the stretch we met a couple of National Trust rangers clearing the fern at the start of the trail.
We then joined a stretch through a forest which was much more clear and under cover so sheltered from the wind, we hit Buck’s Mills which had more people than expected and then the up through more forest and field to meet an old road winding to Clovelly. Clovelly was lovely from what we saw, a chocolate box village nestled in a cove, with a steep access road and no cars, so we made a note that we must go back to explore further.
We had a drink tea & Coke, a wee and water top up at The New Inn and then headed off to find our wild camp spot at Mouth Mill, passing the Angel Wings shelter on our way.
It was our first spot by the sea and a bit more like how we imagined wild camping on the coast path.
Day 74: Mouth Mill to Bude
? 40km
?1796m
We had some human visitors at 02:00 in our quiet idylic camp spot, we have no idea where they came from or why they turned up in the middle of the night but they put up 2 tents on the other side of the mouth and stayed up chatting for the rest of the night. It was a funny moment when we first heard them as we were not quite sure what to think or do, but we were soon reassured and tried to get back to sleep, I don’t think I got much.
Today was the “big day” in the guide book and it didn’t disappoint. I would say the first 80% was enjoyable. There were steep ups and down, big fields, great weather, incredible rock formations, a few seals, and on the most part few other people since this section was quite remote with the exception of one small car park at Welcombe Mouth.
At Marsland Mouth we entered Cornwall, our final county on the trip! As the beaches near Bude came into view we started to see more people, first at Duckpool, then Sandymouth. The ups and downs got a little overwhelming by the end and so luckily an ice cream at Coombe saved the day and mentally reset us for the last few kilometres into Bude.
I had been really disappointed not to get a coffee earlier in the day as we had arrived at the Heartland Hotel before they started serving, so the ice cream made up for this. It’s a different challenge now that we are passing through National Trust Cafés and towns most days, you get your hopes up and look forward to a treat but as we start early most days they are very rarely open, sometimes I wish we were back in Scotland where it would not even be an option to miss out on.
When we got to Bude we went to Sainsbury’s to stock up and then found a bench seat outside a pub that partners with the Pizza place next door. So we enjoyed a great pizza and a pint.
As the sun went down, the temperature dropped quite a bit and so we walked not too far to our campsite. As we arrived we were treated to some open mic style music from the village hall next door, which carried on throughout the evening . The site was basic but we were so tired we just zonked out.
Day 75: Bude to Trewethett Farm
? 30km
?1497m
We set alarm for 06:00 as we had had a long day the previous day. Within minutes of us stirring it started to rain, lightly first and then a heavy shower. Our hearts sank as it had not rained all night we packed up stuff inside and luckily it did stop raining by the time it was time to pack tent away but it was of course wet.
We were a bit hobbily and slow and didn’t get going until 07:30, Tom had a niggle in his right knee and the ligament twinge in my right foot had come back as well.
The first few km to Widemouth were relatively easy along wide grassy paths and I had high hopes for a coffee. But I should have known better as it was still early and a Sunday. We passed several closed cafés and coffee huts. The first half of the day involved lots of up and down with dramatic scenery. We were both sulking a bit and tired and so it was a little tough. Our feet were wet from the long grasses, and my leggings were wet which had previously been giving me a nappy rash type rash on my legs so I was grumpy.
Crackington Haven saved the day at lunchtime, our first beach lunch break with sunshine, ice cream and wonderful coffee. It was a great little place and we enjoyed people watching. We left in a better mood and even with quite a bit to go, and a shower of rain, the second half of the day was much more enjoyable.
We arrived in Boscastle, which was busy but beautiful, another place we noted as one to come back to, ice creamed up and pushed on the last few kilometres to the campsite.
It was not cheap for what we normally pay but the showers were ace, we did some laundry and there was a pizza van on site for the evening. We couldn’t resist, despite it being our second pizza in a row. We relaxed on a picnic bench in clean clothes with pizza and the F1 highlights.
The sunset was incredible and our tent was perfectly positioned. A couple over the way from us had seen us walk in and kindly lent us some chairs so we could sit and watch the sunset in comfort.
