15 miles walked today
1020 miles walked in total (10.625 total)
After some rushing around with cars this morning, Karen and I were walking just after nine o'clock. The weather forecast was great so fleeces were left behind and we strode out in good spirits looking forward to a significant leg stretch.
We could see the Burgh Island Hotel very clearly and discussed what we would have when we got back later. However, that was a long time away so we put it out of our minds and thought about our first break, which would be at the Dolphin Inn at Kingston, where we'd left my car.
We had some horrendous hills to start with - Toby's Point, Hoist Point and Beacon Point - before heading round to Wonwell Beach and the lane that led up to Kingston village. It was very hot all day and we were gasping by the time we got to the pub. We sat down for about an hour before driving round to Mothecombe where we started the other side of the River Erme. We'd worked out we could wade across for two hours at low tide which, this morning, was between five and seven o'clock! Hence the car left strategically to drive around to the other side. The morning's walk, despite being very strenuous, was superb and we both really enjoyed it.
From Mothecombe, we had a walk down the hill from the car park and then up through woods and along the cliffs to Anchorite Rock, where we found a couple laid out, seemingly knackered! They lived in Wembury so knew what we were putting ourselves through!
We had a couple more hills to climb - Blackaterry Point and Beacon Hill - before heading round to Stoke and its caravan park. Our guide book promised that, from now on, our walk would be "easy" - about blinking time!
The path over the Warren became a grassy, slightly inclining, path and this was lovely to walk on. There were loads of people about and it was good to see so many people walking in the late afternoon sunshine.
The coast path at this point used part of the nine mile drive made for the carriages of the guests of Lord Revelstoke of Membland Hall, which no longer exists. It's obviously a very well used path.
At Gara Point, we did a right turn to walk towards the ferry crossing between Noss Mayo and Warren Point, but we didn't get there until five thirty and the ferry had stopped running at four! So we trudged on down the hill, with tired and aching feet, to cross the estuary at Noss Mayo to the pub. There was a big sign on the pub door saying they were shut until six so we crossed back over the estuary to the Ship Inn, a much more accommodating hostelry. The pub was fantastic and we had a great view of the boats of Noss Mayo and watched an egret wading through the mud and seaweed.
We called for a taxi, but had a considerable time to wait - when it did turn up, it was a Mercedes! How posh were we in our smelly hiking gear? We got back to my car at Mothecombe and sped round to Bigbury to pick up Karen's car. However, it was eight o'clock at this time and very dark, so we didn't manage to get our tea at Burgh Island after all. However, we got to our new flat near Looe just after nine and celebrated my 1000 miles and Karen's leaving her job with a bottle of champagne.
It's been a really brilliant day - very hot and clear and with some fabulous hills and views.
We knew we were going to sleep well tonight!
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