Day 3 - Bantham - Salcombe 

Time Departed: 9.35am

Time Arrived: 4.15pm

Distance: 19.5kms 

Cumulative Distance: 55.5kms 

Percentage Complete: 16%

Number of Steps: 30,000 (81,000)

Walking Grade: Moderate and strenuous 

Weather: Warm, clear, cooling breezes - Max 21c

Accommodation: Waverley B&B, Salcombe

Feelings: Henk - He doesn’t know! Di - Comfortable

The fog had cleared overnight and we woke to see the view of thatched roofs, rolling hills and Burgh Island in the distance from our top floor bedroom window. 

Today there were to be no deadlines of meeting taxis or getting to ferries before they closed for the day. We planned to take our time. Also, check-in at our next accommodation was not until 5.00pm.

Breakfast was at the later time of nine o’clock which also meant we had a more relaxing start. Our walking guide said we were to have six miles of moderate grade and 7 miles of strenuous grade which they estimated would take six hours of walking time without breaks. When we reviewed our walking profile it showed we were in for a tough day with the second half of the walk to be the toughest part. 

From the Sloop Inn we walked by thatched cottages before we reached the beautiful estuary where we caught yesterday’s ferry. The tide was out so it was a looking quite different.

At the end of the estuary we finally could see the art deco hotel on Burgh Island. Then the first stiff climb of the day took us up high above Bantham. 

At 11.00am we reached Hope Cove and had morning tea. We rested for about half an hour knowing the toughest part of the day was ahead of us. Overall, we did well, taking it slowly and counting our steps to 50 and resting when it got tough. Some of the climbs seemed to go on forever. 

Shortly after leaving Hope Cove we came to the site of an Iron Age Fort at Bolt Tail. There were about 15 people digging at the site. 

It took us three hours of walking before we could no longer see Burgh Island and yet, yesterday, we were so close to it and we couldn’t see it at all. After yesterday’s heavy fog it was good to see the high cliffs and the sea today. 

There was no place for lunch but we had the spare provisions we bought two days ago at the petrol station at Yealmpton. We ate these on benches overlooking the cliffs to the sea.

After many very steep ups and downs it was a welcome site to have climbed the last steep cliff, turn the corner and see the Kingsbridge Estuary and Salcombe in the distance. Our B&B was still 3.5kms away and we were yet to discover there were still a number of sneaky, sharp climbs as the road followed closely to the coastline.

Many people were making the most of the warm weather and the beaches were busy. Many were quite sunburnt.

We called into the first pub, The South Sands, and we each had a pint of lemonade. It was so good! We had a great view over the estuary.

The final climb to our B&B was a steep one. All I could think was that we would have to go down and come back up it again to go to dinner. We did do that but after hot showers and a rest it didn’t feel so bad. When we emerged from our B&B it had turned quite cool and it was a wonderful evening. We appreciated the views as we descended into the town.

We really liked Salcombe. After dinner we walked through the narrow streets filled with high end clothes shops and modern art galleries. 

Overall, it was a good day with great weather and wonderful views. We were chuffed that we coped with the terrain as well as we did.