A Walker’s Journal by Anthony Linick

Between Boscastle and Tintagel, a descent to North Cornwall’s Rocky Valley

Introduction

At some 630 miles the South West Coast Path (also known at one time as the Southwest Peninsula Coast Path or the South West Way) is unquestionably Britain’s longest footpath – twice as long as the Pennine Way, for instance. It took us 61 days to complete this venture – this is almost three times as long as it took me to complete the PW itself. It will not take most people as long today – but we had many short days, doing some walking on days in which we were just arriving from or departing for London. We broke the project into a dozen distinct expeditions in the years from 1987 to 1999. But with a total like 61 it is no wonder that there are so many references to this route, and our experiences in conquering it, in my A Walker’s Alphabet: Adventures on the long-distance footpaths of Great Britian, published in 2010 and available from the publisher at www.authorhouse.co.uk or from www.authorhouse.com or from www.amazon.co.uk or from www.amazon.com.

The accounts that follow will perhaps help you to plan your own stages over this challenging and rewarding terrain; they appear in order for those beginning in Minehead and concluding at South Haven Point – with one exception. On our first trip I overestimated our energies and we had to break off, at the end of our third day, at Hunter’s Inn. This meant that we had a gap from this point to Combe Martin, one remedied the next year. This also means that if you are following these accounts in the order provided by nature rather than by this author then you need to break off your reading after day three, jump to day six, and then resume with days four and five. (We also reversed two stages at Newquay.) The natural order of things is reflected in the stages I have listed below. I can also add that the route has had some additions and some alterations since we walked it.

There are many more resources available to the walker of the South West Coast Path today than we had available to us when we were first undertaking this route almost 25 years ago. Today a search of the Internet will reveal the names of companies who can book your accommodation and arrange for the transfer of your luggage as well. (One great thing about this route is that you are never very far from accommodation or refreshment.) There are also a number of guidebooks available including National Trail Guides – in four volumes (Minehead to Padstow, Padstow to Falmouth, Falmouth to Exmouth and Exmouth to Poole). One virtue of this series is that it also includes relevant excerpts of the Ordnance Survey maps – though if you plan to venture off-route you may want the sheets on which these excerpts are based. In the two and a half inch to the mile format, however, this would involve the purchase of 17 sheets – and that is just one measure of the length of the path in question.

In addition, this route is supported by an active band of supporters, the South West Coast Path Association. The Association publishes its own series of route finding texts, each covering individual sections, and it offers its own annual guide. This extremely useful publication has a great deal of useful information: accommodation, tide tables, information about trains, buses and ferries. The guide is one of the dividends of membership and I urge those of who want to take part in this venture to join first. This can be accomplished through the association’s website: www.swcp.org.

In a way I envy those of you who still have this unique experience before you. You can let me know how you got on by leaving word on the Contact Page.

Our stages:

Day 1: Minehead to Porlock Weir – 8.5 miles

Day 2: Porlock Weir to Lynmouth – 13 miles

Day 3: Lynton to Hunters Inn – 6.5 miles

Day 6: Hunters Inn to Combe Martin – 8 miles

Day 4: Combe Martin to Ilfacombe – 7 miles

Day 5: Ilfracombe to Croyde – 10 miles

Day 7: Croyde to Barnstaple – 11.5 miles

Day 8: Barnstaple to Instow – 7.5 miles

Day 9: Instow to Westward Ho! – 10 miles

Day 10: Westward Ho! To Clovelly – 11 miles

Day 11: Clovelly to Stoke – 10 miles