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Walking the Coast for Refugees
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24.01.2022 Walk Epilogue It's now over 3 months since the end of my walk. I had a few days in England seeing relatives, then a week in Germany with Julie and Tom and family, and have been back in Tasmania since 31st July. The boots are back gathering dust, and I've got back into 'home mode', having found this process quite hard after focussing hard on something completely different for 7 weeks. The best holidays are the ones it's hardest to 'recover' from. So many great memories of pe...ople and places around the coast! One is of the people who met me at the end of the walk at Minehead .... and the banner! Thank you Tricia for making it. Photo (taken back in Hobart) attached. Possibly the highlight of the walk, even though the coastal path is mostly a rural one, was in Plymouth. There I was able to visit the small Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support premises and get a taste for the work being done there to help asylum seekers and refugees. Good to see how the limited funds are stretched to provide as much help as possible in personal situations which are pretty desperate. Through the walk, 6,354 was raised for the work of the DCRS, $2,223 for the Migrant Resource Centre of Southern Tasmania and $1,676 for Australia4UNHCR; together the equivalent of over $15,000. So, in terms of having wanted my self-indulgent walk to be 'for something useful', I think it is a good result. There is no answer yet to the question of where my next walk will be, but the South West Coast Path so impressed me that walking it in the opposite direction cannot be dismissed..... Now, no further posts on this page. Thanks for (virtually) walking with me, and especially to everyone who donated to one of the three charities! See more
23.01.2022 Walk Day 40 Tuesday 12 July Bucks Mill to Bideford Word of the day: ugly After the first of two nights in the Beehives B&B at Bideford, a lift back to Bucks Cross (thanks K&M) before starting walking. For about the fourth day in a row there had been rain overnight but very little while I was walking.... Same as yesterday, a walk in two halves. Up to Westward Ho! I found the going difficult, scenery not inspiring, a muddy path and several annoying hills. Then came Westward Ho!, first the haunted Seafield House, then a large expanse of ugly holiday homes, apartment blocks and hotels, then the slightly less eyesorey town centre. The Rockpool cafe did a good lunch though. The walk to Appledore then Bideford after lunch was flat but varied and most interesting. It turned out that Kathi and Michael are still here, in fact in the same B&B tonight, so there has been the bonus of another good dinner in their company. TDML: I forgot to say yesterday that Lundy was visible. That magic island renowned for its puffins and other sea-birds. My only visit was on my 7th birthday; we caught the day-trip boat from Ilfracombe. I had a map of Lundy on my bedroom wall and have always wanted to pay a second visit, but never have. Yesterday and today it was lying on the hazy horizon like a dark grey flat pancake, mysterious. See more
22.01.2022 Walk Day 37 Saturday 9th July Crackington Haven to Bude Word of the day: memories Janey and Alan: thanks so much for everything, the gooseberry pie was delicious!... Another dry but breezy day, with hilly walking in the morning then an easy stroll in the afternoon. Luggage transfer made it all easier. Wanson Mouth, where we once camped in the pre-caravan days, came shortly before Widemouth Bay (pronounced Widmth Bay), which is where the family had a bungalow - i.e. a shack - when I was growing up. So walking through there was special - lots of memories. What was more special was that Rosie came and did some walking with me; it wasn't exactly a surprise but it was lovely to see her walking towards me on the cliff top above Millook; and she provided a picnic lunch which we ate overlooking the beach at Widemouth Bay, reminiscing about what we had done there as kids. Despite the 14 year difference in our ages we had remarkably similar memories of Widemouth. The beach is just as good (though the sand is grey/brown, unlike the yellow/white of west Cornwall a few days ago - and Australia), but all the man-made stuff there remains unattractive. Then an easy walk over much lower cliffs and into Bude, past a cricket match, and found Rosie's Kitchen Cafe (the name is a coincidence), which had been recommended to me. They are very sympathetic to many worthy causes there, including the plight of refugees, but even so cash donations of 20 surprised me: thanks a lot! Trip down memory lane = TDML: Where do I start? Maybe with my father driving near Crackington Haven with the car roof open and getting a direct hit in the eye from a bird. Or the old car failing to make it up the hill out of Millook, and us having to get out and walk the rest of the way to the top while he 'backed back' down to the bottom and tried again with a lighter load. Widemouth: so many memories! Rosie and I paid a visit, unannounced, to what had been our bungalow, and found an old widower living there, and not much about the house or garden changed. He indulged our curiosity very kindly, I thought. Bude: rowing boats on the canal, visits to the cinema ....(more tomorrow) See more
21.01.2022 Walk Day 38 Sunday 10th July Bude to Elmscott Word of the day: spume No WiFi here, so this will be posted a day late.... Another kind host who did an unsolicited luggage transfer for me, as well as providing a most pleasant 'accommodation package', this time Ros. Thanks Ros! Ah, Bude! Inspiration for many limericks. Julie has asked for the words to my favourite one, but it's too rude and crude to include here. The guidebook says today's leg is 'severe' and 'very tough', but now all those hills are behind me and I'm showered and changed in the Youth Hostel it didn't seem so severe. Windy, yes, but otherwise good walking weather. The surf was up, with lots of white water and spume below me all day. In one combe there was a spume storm, as globs of the stuff were being blown up from the crashing waves below - I tried to photograph one such glob after it had landed. The (?) satellite tracking dishes south of Morwenstow needed another photo. As did the famous Hawker's Hut. As did exiting Cornwall and re-entering Devon - plus a rendition of the Devon county song. To make up for the things that the English do badly, e.g. national football and referenda, it was good to be watching TV as Andy Murray won again at Wimbledon, except that he's Scottish, and everyone says they are going to prefer the EU to England, so goodbye Union Jack, etc. TDML: At Bude, I can remember a little of holidays here with my mother when I was about 5, with the sand and the 'big bath' at Crooklets Beach, and staying with a Mrs Martin in (?) Flexbury Road. Also at Bude, I have a clear memory from those years of Pop, he of the mellifluous place names and G&S, swimming on his back in the famous Sea Pool, as I looked down from the cliff top above. The sea pool is still there, and I even saw a 'Friends of the Bude Sea Pool' sticker in someone's car. See more
20.01.2022 Walk Day 36 Friday 8th July Boscastle to Crackington Haven Word of the day: Highest Thanks Judy for the lift back into Boscastle, and to you and Nick for the comfortable night - despite the space having been two pigsties before - and feeding me so well. And for the luggage transfer Judy.... Visited Boscastle's Museum of Witchcraft and Magic before setting off. Spooky! A grey and windy day for today's shorter walk and soon had the tricky ascent of Fire Beacon Point under my belt and had climbed to the top of High Cliff, the highest point on the path in Cornwall, looking down at Rusey 'Beach' beforehand and Strangles Beach afterwards. Then Cambeak, the profile of which seen from the north is so familiar to me from long ago. Very impressed by The Cabin cafe at Crackington Haven, and it's staff. Then a lift to Alan and Janey's place not far away - and I was glad not to have to walk up that hill out of C/Haven! TDML: Rusey Beach was often visited when I was growing up. The criteria for a good beach was that there was no-one else there. We were told about a place called Blackpool which apparently had a nice beach but was very crowded, and when we saw other people on an otherwise deserted beach my parents used to mutter "it's getting like Blackpool". So Rusey Beach was perfect because there was never anyone else there because you had to walk about 700 feet down a narrow winding path to get to it, then walk back up again. Well, having been to Blackpool once since then, let's say that I prefer Rusey. BUT I was most disappointed today because the sand had disappeared and it was too rocky to be called a beach any more. The top part of the path down to the sea is part of the Coast Path but the bottom part is so overgrown - looks like no-one walks down any more. Where has the sand gone? It looks to have been taken to the Strangles Beach, a little to the north, which has a good path down to it, and is less than 700 ft down. I have never set foot there, but it looked good from up above today. In fact, Strangles has taken the place of Rusey in my Devon relatives' beach hierarchy ..... and I'd better get used to it! Secondly, Beeny where I stayed last night is special because my Grandfather Pop, the one who liked to play in the Pirates of Penzance, had an ear for mellifluous place names, and used to go on about the two neighbouring hamlets of Beeny and Pennycrocker. Then my mother did the same, and if there had been two cats needing names, that's what they would have been called. Witness the cats that got named Scrabster and Muckleflugger, after place names from the other end of Britain. See more
15.01.2022 Walk Day 42 Thursday 14th July Braunton to Woolacombe Word of the day: views With a full pack again, and with the sun shining I set out from Braunton's George Inn. To the Taw estuary, along the Great Sea Bank with great views of both estuaries and the villages I'd been through: Westward Ho!, Appledore, Fremington Quay, then a disappointing few miles on the landward side of the Braunton Burrows, with no views. Then suddenly through a posh golf course, and after that it was thr...ee big surf beaches separated by two headlands. From the hill above the second one - Baggy Point - the views were sensational! Southwest to Hartland Point, west to Lundy, now clear as a bell, north to the coast of Wales, northeast to Morte Point and Woolacombe, east to Devon's rolling hills with a big wind farm prominent, southeast to Braunton Burrows with the heights of northern Dartmoor in the far distance and south to Westward Ho! -simply superb! Then did a long beach walk along Woolacombe Sands - lots of jellyfish - and threaded my way through the densely packed beach goers at the Woolacombe end of the beach. The Royal Hotel: full of OAPs. On the refugee issue, since leaving Cornwall there had been a marked reduction in the refugee conversations that have been sparked by my tabard. The only cash donation received outside Cornwall so far has been from a lady from England's northeast. Come on you Devonians! See more
14.01.2022 Walk Day 44 Saturday 16th July Combe Martin to Lynton Word of the day: bleak Well, here we are on the roof of Devon. Some would say that Dartmoor is the roof of Devon, but if you look at a map the roof is at the top, right? A steep climb out of Combe Martin took me on to Exmoor and up into the cloud which covered Great Hangman, the walk's highest point and just above Britain's highest cliffs. Bleak in the mist on the tops. Heather on the moorland and some gorse and lots of b...racken on the convex shape the cliffs make as they plunge into the sea. In the combes most of the walking is through woodland. As the guidebook says, today's was a lonely walk, no refreshments to be had along the way, so I was glad when the Valley of the Rocks and then Lynton hove into view. I'm staying the night there with Barrie; he took me to three pubs in Lynmouth and Lynbridge, where I had a bit too much cider..... Literary: As I have only vague childhood memories of Combe Martin and Lynton/Lynmouth, I should explain that I am travelling light but allowed myself one paperback book for any spare time I'd have. My thinking was that I'd ditch the first one when I had finished it and buy another one - maybe reading 4 or 5 during the 7 weeks. Well, that was the plan. The book I brought from home was Steinbeck's 'Travels with Charley', that classic of travel literature, his 'best book' according to the blurb. This copy was bought secondhand by Julie for 20 cents in Suva in 1978. What an inspired purchase, and what a wonderfully insightful commentary on the US in 1960. I finished it yesterday, which gives an indication that I haven't had lots of spare time on my walk. And I'll hold on to it. And Ilfracombe was probably my last chance to buy another book - missed it! See more
11.01.2022 Well, here we go again! I'll be back on the South West Coast Path this (northern) summer - and greatly looking forward to it! In the 30 months since my last post on this page, I have tried a couple of times to close it down, but my tech skills weren't up to the task so now I'm re-activating it. I'll be walking from Minehead to Coverack, which is about halfway round the coast to Poole, starting on 10th June, hoping to raise funds for the Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support... organisation in Plymouth. Watch this space! I'll
10.01.2022 Walk Day 46 - the last one! Monday 18th July Porlock to Minehead Word of the day: destination That's it, job done! Destination reached!... Yesterday evening's mist evidently signalled a fine following day. After a very long slog up from Bossington, relieved every so often by stopping to turn round and admire the picturesque vale of Porlock, I had a third day running of splendid walking with Exmoor on my right and the sea far below on the left. Today was much clearer and from the tops I could pick out individual houses on the Welsh coast to the north, and Dunkery Beacon, Exmoor's highest point, very clear to the south. The scale of the scenery is grand. At the sculpture on Minehead's harbour-front, which marks the start/end of the path, quite a reception committee was waiting including my three sisters and three representing the Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support, ten in all - plus a beautiful banner - and refreshments of course. Rather humbling! Thank you all for taking the time out to come to Minehead. The photo is of the six who had walked some of the way with me. So that's it for the walking. I feel satisfied that I've done my bit to raise awareness of the refugee issue - that the 20 million people or thereabouts who are languishing in refugee camps around the world are in desperate need of a 'Welcome' from rich countries such as ours. The money raised is less than I had hoped, to be honest, but nevertheless useful. We will reckon up the final figures over the next month, and I'll post them. For the DCRS it is over 4,000. In all I've walked 630 miles or 1,014 km, and climbed 35,024m which is slightly less than Mt Everest x 4, or Mt Wellington x 27.5 if you live in Hobart. Tomorrow I'll have a rest. For now, thanks readers for your feedback over the last 7 weeks. See more
06.01.2022 Walk Day 43 Friday 15th July Woolacombe to Coombe Martin Word of the day: reinventing I could not stand to queue for breakfast with lots of oldies at the Royal Hotel, so I decamped down the hill to downtown Woolacombe and found Puffins Cafe, where I had a good cooked breakfast and tried to walk out without paying - oops!... Then it was a raincoat day, the drizzle was persistent. Devon has two top left hand corners, Hartland Point where I was four days ago, and today's Morte Point. They are separated by 'Barnstaple or Bideford Bay', at least that what the stretch of water is called on my 1980 Ordnance Survey map. I wonder whether they have decided what to call it in the 36 years since then? Anyway, Rockham Bay next to Morte Point was my last chance to see waves from the Atlantic Ocean dashing themselves on the rocks; from that point on it is the Bristol Channel, and instead of the land meeting the sea in jagged formations of rocks, the cliffs now drop in stately curves down into the sea. Ilfracombe was interesting, it's heyday was in the late c19, when the railway brought many visitors. It has interesting ways of reinventing itself, such as the Virtue statue. One thing never changes though, the seagulls who stole quite a lot of my pasty and baked potato when I wasn't looking. Thanks to the two gents who gave 2.20 and 5 to the refugee fund. Devon is OK after all! Cash donations on the path are now approaching 100. TDLL: I can remember two visits to Ilfracombe, one on my 7th birthday, embarking on the boat to Lundy, then another many years later, I think with Julie, including looking down over the town from Hillsborough. So passing on to a trip down LITERARY lane: I have mentioned Westward Ho! which I haven't read, and Tarka the Otter which I have. The third classic set in these parts is Lorna Doone, which I would not admit to having read even if I had. Another book I've read quite recently is by a local sheep farmer called David Kennard: 'A Shepherd's Year'. I think the sheep I met on the path today were his. I Googled his book, and he and his family seem to have developed quite a tourist business around their farm, it's sheepdogs, etc. Anyway, maybe not a literary classic, but it was good to see the coastal land on which his book was set, even if it was misty and drizzly. Memo to self: Read Westward Ho! See more
04.01.2022 Walk Day 45 Sunday 17th July Lynton to Porlock Word of the day: Woods Well, here I am at Porlock, with less than 10 miles of path to be walked to the end point at Minehead. I reckon the legs will do the job tomorrow.... It's a good point at which to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported my walk, in so many ways. Particularly to those who have had refugees in their thoughts and have donated to one of the three related charities which I'm supporting. Thank you so much! Still not too late to follow suit: 1. To donate to the Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support organisation who do such good work with asylum seekers and refugees in the Plymouth area, go to: www.localgiving.com//walkingthecoastforrefugees-devoncornw 2. To donate to Southern Tasmanian Migrant Centre who work with refugees and other needy migrants in Hobart, hit the 'about' button of this FB page. 3. To donate to Australia 4 UNHCR and make life a bit easier for people in refugee camps, go to: https://give.everydayhero.com/au/walk-the-coast-for-refugees It is worth noting that my host last night, Barrie, is a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of the DCRS. That gives an idea of how some of my accommodation has been organised. Today's walk comprised 2 miles of open moor and cliffs, mainly in the mist, then 11 miles of walking in the woods, as the skies gradually cleared. Oaks dominated, but there were many stately beech trees, large areas of rhododendrons (must be a great sight in April/May), plenty of introduced pines, firs, even sequoias; sycamores, holly and much more - lots of variety! Lovely little Culbone church is a gem. As it's Sunday I should also mention the church high up in the mist near on Countisbury Common. Now I'm in Somerset; so there had to be a rendition of its county song, 'We'm come up vrum Zummerzet.' Tonight I'm staying at the (top) Ship Inn at Porlock. There is thatch on the roof and pretty flowers in a planter right outside the bedroom window. Good olde England! The mist has come down as it's getting dark. Is this a good sign for tomorrow's weather? TDML: For a steep hill on a main road, I was told you couldn't go past Porlock Hill. My father wasn't prepared to drive up it. And so today, a few yards uphill from the Ship, there is a warning sign: 1 on 4, cars with caravans advised to use alternative route, etc. It is good to have childhood memories confirmed. See more
03.01.2022 Walk Day 41 Wed. 13th July Bideford to Barnstaple to Braunton Word of the day: flat There was lots of blue sky today, so the sunscreen was applied to the nose and cheeks. The route was as flat as a tack, largely along former railway lines, close to the estuaries of the Torridge and Taw rivers. This is the only day out of the 46 when there are no hills. Plenty of Devon's rolling hills not far away, as well as the estuaries themselves, so the views were constantly changing.... This is Tarka country, as per Henry Williamson's tale of the otter, and my walking route was part of the 'Tarka Trail', much favoured by cyclists, who greatly outnumbered the walkers and joggers today. So, a pleasant walk but not exciting. Instead of TDML: Most of Devon's bigger rivers start with T. The Tamar, which it shares with Cornwall, also the Tavy, the Teign, the Thrushel where I grew up, and not least the Taw and the Torridge. Coincidence? Some historical bit of whimsy? I wonder. But the county town and that great moorland are named after Devon's non-T rivers the Exe and the Dart. Talking of history, the amount of historical information available to the walker in these parts is huge; information boards everywhere, and pamphlets, before considering libraries. Only out-done by the information on display about nature and the environment. I feel very well informed! See more
03.01.2022 Walk Day 39 Monday 11th July Elmscott to Bucks Mill Word of the day: woodland At the Youth Hostel, there was what we call a cock-up on the catering front. It's a bunkhouse-type YH, which is fully cook-your-own. Lack of attention on my part meant that I arrived with only some lunch left-overs in my pack. Miles from anywhere. Result: departed hungry this morning. Only some chocolate bought at Hartland Quay and a pasty at a little cafe at Hartland Point kept body and soul togeth...er. However the day ended on a much brighter note, because Kathi and Michael made contact and, long story short, the three of us had a lovely dinner at Instow, with a great view over the Torridge estuary to Appledore and beyond. Thank you for everything, K&M, you came a long way to show me all that kindness! Today's walk was a thing of two parts: up to Hartland Point there was the same big surf, grey sea, pebble beaches, rugged cliffs and wind, as there was yesterday. My photo which describes a local walk, which includes some of the Coast Path, as a 'rumbustious romp' caught my attention - it did feel a bit like that. At Hartland Point a 90 degree turn to the right, and then a gentler sea, a smoother set of cliffs and easier walking, a lot of it through woodland; also a couple of glimpses of Clovelly harbour through gaps in the trees. And, just when the woodland path was getting boring, after a long climb out of Mouth Mill, there was the delightful Angels' Wings summer house - see photo. Now 6 weeks of my 7 week walk are complete. I have walked 860 km and climbed 30,300m or 3.4 x Mt Everest or for Hobart folk nearly 24x Mt Wellington. And still feeling fit and well. TDML: At home, we have paintings on our walls by Richard Stucley-Boden, including our children's portraits. Richard's roots are at Hartland, where the abbey is the longtime seat of the Stucleys. I caught sight of the abbey, inland up one of the many combes whose mouths at the coast I went down-then-up. Looked like a beautiful setting. See more
