Day 44 Shaldon to Ladram

I had a lovely stay at Farthings B&B in Shaldon. It was a bit quirky but I had the best cooked breakfast so far and what I couldn’t eat, was converted into a lunch for me! 

I walked across the bridge to Teignmouth and joined a path to the town centre. There wasn’t much to see and soon the path brought me alongside the railway line. 

That was a long level path pretty much all the way to Dawlish, other than a climb over Hole Head. The two ‘stacks’ are called the Parson & Clerk and were named after an old folk tale involving an ambitious parson, who wanted to be a Bishop and his clerk. Allegedly the Parson was tricked by the Devil and cast to stone! 

I stopped in Dawlish for a quick cup of coffee, then continued on. The stayed following the railway line and it was this bit of the line that was washed away in storms a few years ago. 

Eventually, I reached Dawlish Warren, which is essentially a village. However, it was a real trip down memory lane, because it so reminded me of holidays during my childhood to Butlins! The place was awash with chalets and entertainment venues etc! 

From there, I pushed on to Starcross to catch the hourly ferry to Exmouth. I made the 12:10 with a couple of minutes to spare! 

I didn’t hang around in Exmouth, other than to have a pint at a pub on the front. The promenade goes on for quite a long way and gave me the opportunity to watch some kite surfers! 

There was then a bit of a climb up to the Geoneedle, which marks the start of the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site! 

The path then dropped down into a massive mobile home park. It was huge, with hundreds if not thousands of caravans. Bizarrely, it surrounds  Straight Point Rifle Range, a military firing range. There was ‘live’ firing as I passed which was quite noisy, so goodness knows why you’d want to have a holiday next to it! 

There was a couple of climbs before I dropped down into Budleigh Salterton. I didn’t venture into the town but did stop on the front for a ‘cream tea’. 

After that little reviver, I then followed the official path, to avoid the river at the end of the beach. It was quite demoralising knowing that you were walking in the wrong direction! After 3/4 of a mile or so, there was a bridge, followed by a walk virtually back to where you started. Imagine my annoyance when not only did it look possible to wade across the river, but I later learned that it was possible! 

I continued on over the headlands, which provided some great views of tomorrow’s walk! 

Eventually, I reached Ladram Bay, another huge holiday park, but this one takes campers. It also meant I caught up with Steve & Anna ( who had forged ahead of me in the last couple of days). The dream team is back together😳

Today, I have walked just over 20 miles! My feet are tired but other than that I’m okay!