Day 4 - Salcombe to Beesands

Time Departed: 8.45am

Time Arrived: 4.30pm

Distance: 21kms 

Cumulative Distance: 76.5kms

Percentage Complete: 22%

Number of Steps: 34,000 (115,000)

Walking Grade: Strenuous 

Weather: Sunny, max 20c

Accommodation: The Cricket Inn 

Feelings: Henk - Good, Di - Great

Today’s description of the walk started with, “This section of the South West Coast Path is particularly tough, but the spectacular views are certainly very rewarding. Passing out of the shelter of the Salcombe Estuary you emerge onto a rugged, undeveloped part of the coast…” We were to find the statement was true! 

There were no little villages or cafes for us today. We made our way down the very steep road from our B&B into Salcombe passing all the specialty shops to find the Co-op to buy food and drink provisions. The harbour was a picture in the early morning light.

We needed to get to the other side of the estuary to start today’s walk so it was another ferry in a little boat for us. We descended steep stairs to the small pier. 

We had two minor incidents today. After half an hour of walking I stumbled on a tree root and fell into soft foliage covering a wall (Thank goodness it wasn’t any of the spiky bushes which are in abundance on the path). I scratched my nose and shaved my shin. I feared I had broken my glasses but all was fine. Then at the 5kms mark Henk realised he had lost all his water from the camel bladder in his backpack. The hose had leaked outside his pack and he hadn’t noticed. So, we were left with a litre of Lucozade and just over a litre in my camel bladder with 15kms to go. We ran out of water one km from our destination so it worked out fine in the end.

There were quite a few walkers on the path. We met an elderly couple who were experienced walkers and she noticed my scratched nose. Her husband had a fall a few years ago whilst walking and he broke off five teeth so my scratched nose and shaved shin seemed a minor inconvenience. 

As the guide book said, we had wonderful views and perfect weather for it. We kept a look out for seals but didn’t see any. 

We had morning tea at eleven o’clock under Gara Rock. By that stage we had completed six kilometres. 

The path was made difficult with a lot of rocks which we had to climb over and make sure we didn’t trip and go over the cliff edge.

Lunch was in the shade of a hedgerow at one fifteen with nine kilometres to go. We only stopped for fifteen minutes as we could feel we going stiff in the cool shadow. We passed headlands and rocks named Pig’s Nose, Ham Stone and Gammon Head. 

As we reached the five kilometre mark to reach Beesands we started to count down the distance. The last steep, long climb over a kilometre was to Start Point where there’s an impressive working lighthouse. 

We were pleased to get to Beesands, a tiny one-street village sitting alongside the beach. Our accommodation, the Cricket Inn dates back to the 19th century. It’s modern and all the rooms are named after English cricket grounds or English Cricketers. We’re in a great room called The Headingley.

We had a delicious meal in the inn’s award-winning restaurant. 

As we went to bed my nose and shin hurt but I still had my front teeth! Tomorrow looks like it’s an easier day to Dartmouth where we will have a rest day.