Day 1 - Sidmouth - Seatown
The route followed the promenade for a short way, past a small boat yard, over the River Almer on a footbridge and then took a turn up hill taking us up to the top of Salcombe hill at 168 meters with it's red sandstone cliffs; the first climb of many in the coming week. Jason had done a fair bit of training with a diet plan and gym membership which he started off in January. The results of this were apparent as he pulled ahead of me on the footpath attacking the hills with some ease compared to me puffing like a steam train somewhere behind.

Towards late morning we crested another summit on the path and traversed a short tree lined ridge. As we passed through a gate between the gorse hedge - which was in full bloom with it's familiar coconut smell - Jason sat down in the meadow and started taking his boots off. His legs and fitness were in fine fettle, his feet were not. On closer inspection, his feet had not suffered any real damage; none of the characteristic blisters as yet that have plagued him throughout the venture so far. He put some Compede on the hot spots as a precautionary preventative measure though.
At lunchtime we descended into Branscombe Mouth, where there was a cafe/restaurant and we took the opportunity to sit in the shade under a thatched veranda and have a quick brew. I also opted for an ice cream for the energy kick and to help cool me down. The afternoon had, as expected, turned out to be hot and it was with some reluctance on my part that we set off from our pleasant shady spot to continue on our way
The route now took us though what at first glance looked like a caravan site but as we moved through it looked more like a shed or cabin shanty town. Interesting place and similar to something we had passed a couple of years ago in Cornwall just west of Kingsand.
As we left the shanty town behind we moved away from the shoreline slightly and through Hooken Undercliff; a valley that resembled something out of Jurassic Park which is not that surprising I guess as we are on the Jurassic coast ! We descended into the semi tropical valley with ferns and various other strange plants growing. We were surrounded by steep chalk cliffs and rocky stacks which were created in 1790 after a landslip brought about this rift in the shoreline. Away from the path was an impenetrable wall of spiny gorse and hawthorne along with other equally nasty looking strange shrubs and plants that appeared unique to this strange other worldly ecosystem.
We climbed out of the ecological time warp, back on top of the grassy, rolling meadows of the cliff tops. We descended down to Beer Head and continued down towards the village of Beer where we followed the coast around a short way to Seaton. As we walked along the front looking for our accommodation, we couldn't help but feel that the place had a run down 'closed' feel to it. We got to the end of the promenade and, having not found our B&B, retraced our steps back via a side street which had an even more depressing feel about it. We eventually came to a very small town square and shopping precinct which seemed to be the center of things....and there was the pub we were stopping in with another pub opposite !
Result ! what could possibly go wrong ?
As it turns out, nothing. B&B was good, and we enjoyed the late evening sun by having a couple of pints sitting out front watching the world go by.
At lunchtime we descended into Branscombe Mouth, where there was a cafe/restaurant and we took the opportunity to sit in the shade under a thatched veranda and have a quick brew. I also opted for an ice cream for the energy kick and to help cool me down. The afternoon had, as expected, turned out to be hot and it was with some reluctance on my part that we set off from our pleasant shady spot to continue on our way
The route now took us though what at first glance looked like a caravan site but as we moved through it looked more like a shed or cabin shanty town. Interesting place and similar to something we had passed a couple of years ago in Cornwall just west of Kingsand.
As we left the shanty town behind we moved away from the shoreline slightly and through Hooken Undercliff; a valley that resembled something out of Jurassic Park which is not that surprising I guess as we are on the Jurassic coast ! We descended into the semi tropical valley with ferns and various other strange plants growing. We were surrounded by steep chalk cliffs and rocky stacks which were created in 1790 after a landslip brought about this rift in the shoreline. Away from the path was an impenetrable wall of spiny gorse and hawthorne along with other equally nasty looking strange shrubs and plants that appeared unique to this strange other worldly ecosystem.
We climbed out of the ecological time warp, back on top of the grassy, rolling meadows of the cliff tops. We descended down to Beer Head and continued down towards the village of Beer where we followed the coast around a short way to Seaton. As we walked along the front looking for our accommodation, we couldn't help but feel that the place had a run down 'closed' feel to it. We got to the end of the promenade and, having not found our B&B, retraced our steps back via a side street which had an even more depressing feel about it. We eventually came to a very small town square and shopping precinct which seemed to be the center of things....and there was the pub we were stopping in with another pub opposite !
Result ! what could possibly go wrong ?
As it turns out, nothing. B&B was good, and we enjoyed the late evening sun by having a couple of pints sitting out front watching the world go by.