MORWENSTOW to BUDE Stage 16 (16th March 2008)

The clouds were much thinner though the wind was stronger & colder (from the north) compared to yesterday. But apart from a few drops of rain early on as we walked past Morwenstow church the rest of the day was dry. Hawker's hut was open, with really clear views out to sea and north to Lundy. There were plenty of river valleys to descend and climb but without any rain it was a much more enjoyable walk than the previous section. We sat at the viewpoint above Coombe Valley for quite a while. The valley is flat bottomed with a stream meandering across it, the valley floor showing traces of several earlier stream courses. In a sheltered south-facing spot a small blackthorn bush was already in flower. At Sandy Mouth the NT kiosk was open for sale of memberships but the cafe was closed! What a wrong-headed sense of priority! From this point to Bude the walk is much easier with a few steep descents but only gentle ascents, on springy turf the whole way to Crooklets Beach, where there were open cafes and toilets. A short walk into Bude at 2.30 revealed that a cream tea is the best (and possibly the only available) food in town. We were collected by Peter and driven back to Bradworthy.

Total distance walked 8 miles (13km) Ascent 768m

The South West Coast Path is the longest of the official UK National Trails, running from Minehead in Somerset round the English south west peninsula coast to Poole in Dorset. The total length is just over 1000 kilometres or, more precisely, 630 miles. Only very dedicated walkers could contemplate completing the whole walk in one go, although plenty of people have done just this. Received opinion is that it would take around 6 weeks, even for the most dedicated.

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