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Saturday 28 March 2020

SWCP Day 3: Ups and Downs

Other SWCP posts:

Day 2: Porlock to Lynton
Day 4: Combe Martin to Mortehoe
Day 5: Rest day, Morte Point loop
Day 6: Mortehoe to Braunton
Day 7: Braunton to Westward Ho!
Day 8: Westward Ho! to Clovelly
Day 9: Clovelly to Hartland Quay
Day 10: Hartland Quay to Morwenstow
Day 11: Morwenstow to Bude
Days 12-14: Bude to Crackington Haven
Day 15: Crackington Haven to Tintagel
Day 16: Tintagel to Port Isaac
Day 17: Port Isaac to Padstow
Day 18: Padstow to Porthcothan
Day 19: Porthcothan to Crantock
Day 20: Rest day, Holywell bay loop
Day 21: Crantock to St Agnes
Day 22: St Agnes to Godrevy
Day 23: Godrevy point to St Ives
Day 24: St Ives to Pendeen Watch
Day 25: Pendeen Watch to Sennen Cove
Day 26: Sennen Cove to Lamorna
Day 27: Lamorna to Marazion
Day 28: Marazion to Porthleven
Day 29: Porthleven to Lizard Point
Day 30: Lizard Point to Coverack
Day 31: Rest day in Coverack
Day 32: Coverack to Maenporth


Day 3:

Lynton to Combe Martin

Approx 14 miles, 1,148m ascent

32,435 steps


I woke up feeling horribly achy and tired. My shoulders in particular were extremely sore, and I was rather grumpy, questioning my life choices. Thankfully there was a cafe on the campsite that did breakfast, and after a plateful of bacon and eggs I was feeling a little revived. I got back to the path, and the gentle start through the spectacular Valley of the Rocks helped to improve my mood a little. Watching the goats climbing all over the craggy rocks certainly helped me lift a smile.

Leaving Lynton 
Into the Valley of the Rocks
Valley of the Rocks
Happy goats

Leaving the goats and dog walkers behind, the day was really feeling like a slog. It didn’t help that quite a bit of the walking was on roads, which is never very enjoyable as it is difficult to properly zone out when having to keep an eye out for cars. The views however were still spectacular, and I was at least making progress; looking back up the coast at how far I had just come did make me feel like I might be able to get through the day. 

Looking back up the valley

The sun started to break through the clouds as the path dropped down into the picturesque Heddon Mouth. The wooded valley was filled with birdsong and butterflies and a lovely stream flowed along the base of the hills. There were lots of children playing and enjoying the pools and bridges, all very Enid Blyton. I followed the stream up the valley a short way to find the Hunter’s Inn. There has been a pub at the historic location since the 1800s, and the pretty Arts and Crafts style half-timbered building now on the site was constructed in 1906. Along with the surrounding valley, the pub is now owned and managed by the National Trust.

I found a sunny corner in the peaceful garden and spread myself and my solar panel out across a table, and settled down with a couple of pints of squash and an excellent fish finger sandwich. I found myself very unmotivated to move, so sat a while enjoying the sunshine and reading my book, entertained by a peacock that was attempting to invade the bedrooms above through the open balcony windows. I would happily have stayed put for the rest of the day, but the rooms at the Inn were £100 a night, so unfortunately way out of my budget.

The lovely Heddon Mouth valley
Mouth of the valley, you can just see the path dropping down on the top right!

Finally mustering the enthusiasm to move, I tackled the steep hill back out of the valley. Surprisingly the big climb actually made me feel a lot better, and for the first time that day I was feeling good. The path continued to climb across open heathland to top of the Great Hangman hill, the highest point on the entire coast path, at 318m. The views were amazing, looking back up the coast, and down to Combe Martin. Unfortunately it still looked quite a long way off! I rang ahead to the campsite and let them know I wouldn’t be there until after 8pm, luckily they said as long as I was there before dark there was no problem. 

Up up up!

I followed the path as it dropped down towards the Little Hangman hill, on the outer edge of the Exmoor National Park, and finally came into Combe Martin at about 7pm. Getting my priorities in order I found the nearest chip shop and ordered a big portion of cheesy chips. just outside the shop I bumped into the hiking couple from the day before and we exchanged numbers and tales from the day. I sat on the seafront overlooking the sheltered cove and stuffed my face with chips, then found my way to Newberry valley campsite just a little way up the road. 

Great Hangman
35 miles done!
Combe Martin cove

The campsite manager kindly met me in a golf buggy and took me to my pitch, absolute luxury! The bathroom facilities were also the best I’ve ever seen, and I had a very long hot shower before making my way back to the tent. Again I was surprised to spot the tent of the fast hiker I’d been trailing since Porlock, but that was the last I would see of him. The day had been pretty brutal and I hadn’t been sure in the morning that I would be able to make it all the way to Combe Martin, but I was pretty pleased that I had persevered and made it through. My shoulders and feet were feeling sore, and everything ached, but with 3 days and 35 miles done it was starting to feel like I would be able to keep going.

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