Tuesday, June 7
Sidmouth to Branscombe, 9.3 Miles
We walked down into town from our inn, adding an extra mile and a half to our day, but who’s counting? We joined Cindy and Gary on the esplanade and took to the hills…which started immediately. This would be a real roller coaster of a day.
Here is the newly reinforced team ready to start the steep ascent of Salcombe Hill Cliff.
The day consisted of climbs up the cliffs, with short bursts of cliff walking, followed by descents into densely forested valleys–called combes in these parts. We had three big cliffs in a row in front of us: Maynard’s Cliff, Higher Dunscombe Cliff, and Lower Dunscombe Cliff.
The combes are actually lovely. Between the two Dunscombe cliffs the trail explores Lincombe at greater length…making for a nice break for our calf muscles.
On one of our descents we met a young German woman and her little dog. She had taken a long break from work and had first walked the West Highland Way (100 miles) and was now far along on the Southwest Coast Path (600 miles), camping all the way. We saw her again at the end of our last day…she was within 25 miles of finishing her remarkable walk.
After crossing the summit of the second Dunscombe Cliff we began a long descent all the way to the sea at Weston Mouth Beach. Let’s follow Cindy down.
Relaxing on the broad pebble beach was just the ticket. A couple of young walkers braved the cold waves, but the cool breeze off the water was good enough for us. As you’ve seen, we had some low cloud for most of our morning, but it began to lift as we sat on the beach.
Muscles duly stretched, we were immediately greeted with a long steep climb up Weston Cliff.
Once up on the cliff, though, the walking became a good bit less strenuous, with long stretches of clifftop and more moderate rises and falls. And the blue skies and sunshine didn’t hurt, either.
By late afternoon our work was mostly done. We descended through the woods into the little village of Branscombe.
Branscombe is a lovely place; much of it is protected by the national trust, including this working thatched roof forge and the original 18th century bakery.
Passing by the surprisingly large village church, we were soon at our lodgings, a terrific inn called the Mason’s Arms.
The inn dates to the fourteenth century, and they have kept the interior a nice blend of the ancient and the modern. Our rooms were on the small side, but very comfortable and stylish. And the food was terrific!
