Unusual coastal scenery such as Longpeak just after Hartland Quay.
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Day 7 - Clovelly - Mowenstow
Author : Dave
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The coast gets rougher
Mad cows.
This was was a mixed day - both for weather and terrain. We started off in full waterproofs as the light rain was heavy enough to soak you to the skin in very little time but didn't feel enough to warrant the full works. As we worked our way out of Clovelly, slowly at first while Jason built up a head of steam on legs that weren't fully operational and suffering from a weeks undulating terrain. It soon became clear this was going to be an uncomfortable sweaty day slogging up muddy paths through clifftop woods. On a sunny day this would have been very pleasant with the bluebells in full bloom, but stuck inside sweaty waterproofs sliding around on steep muddy paths became a little wearing to say the least. As the morning wore on the rain stopped, the wooded areas gradually opened out to grassy clifftops and gorse, and the paths dried out. Once our waterproofs were stowed we dried off as well. The day had started to improve.
Although mid morning we had an interesting liaison with a deranged heard of cows. I was a couple of hundred yards in front of Jason and the heard of cows looked up at first. They then started to wander towards me. Then they walked faster. I was trying keep an eye on them but wasn't too concerned until I looked round to see a stampede bearing down on me. I legged it and more or less hurdled the style. I then remembered J was somewhere behind me and the cows focus now turned to him. They approached him and backed off jumping around a little while mooing manically and doing fake charges and swerving away last minute. He was trying to play it cool but I could tell from his expression as he strode towards me he was a little nervous. He reached the safety of the style and I wasn't sure if the smell was from the cows or J's involuntary bowel loosening moment.
Our lunch stop only managed to improve this sense of well being with the sun now out and everything warming up to a nice comfortable T-shirt walking weather. It was a little cafe come shack just by Hartland point. There were a few garden tables out front (no seating inside) where we settled and removed our boots to let the feet breath a bit. Jason had huge ploughmans and I had a fine homemade soup (and the rest of J's ploughmans that he was unable to work his way through). This was a good lunch stop with friendly proprietors and good food. Plenty of it too.
Although mid morning we had an interesting liaison with a deranged heard of cows. I was a couple of hundred yards in front of Jason and the heard of cows looked up at first. They then started to wander towards me. Then they walked faster. I was trying keep an eye on them but wasn't too concerned until I looked round to see a stampede bearing down on me. I legged it and more or less hurdled the style. I then remembered J was somewhere behind me and the cows focus now turned to him. They approached him and backed off jumping around a little while mooing manically and doing fake charges and swerving away last minute. He was trying to play it cool but I could tell from his expression as he strode towards me he was a little nervous. He reached the safety of the style and I wasn't sure if the smell was from the cows or J's involuntary bowel loosening moment.
Our lunch stop only managed to improve this sense of well being with the sun now out and everything warming up to a nice comfortable T-shirt walking weather. It was a little cafe come shack just by Hartland point. There were a few garden tables out front (no seating inside) where we settled and removed our boots to let the feet breath a bit. Jason had huge ploughmans and I had a fine homemade soup (and the rest of J's ploughmans that he was unable to work his way through). This was a good lunch stop with friendly proprietors and good food. Plenty of it too.
Some steep climbs up from the beach crossings.
The afternoon had turned quite warm and we plodded along at a reasonable pace over open grassy clifftop paths where the scenery had turned much more rugged. We sat on a bench for a while for a bit of a rest in the sun by a waterfall that dropped straight down the cliff to the beach. I took my boots and socks off to let them dry out. The rain from the morning and the long wet grass had combined to completely soak my boots. looks like the Gortex lining is giving up. After a brief pause we moved on - and up. There were still a few steep climbs to do before the end of the day and then drops back to a beach only to head back up again.
As we approached the end of our days walk we headed inland to find the farm we were to stay at. Now this is another fine B&B worth a mention. We turned up and the landlady showed straight to an enormous conservatory and brought us a ten gallon teapot and an enormous fruit cake. We barley dented the fruitcake despite a good size slice each but at least nine of the ten gallons of tea went. This farm is literally in the middle of nowhere. The nearest pub is at Hartland Quay which was a good two hour walk away. This is where the landlady's son, Brad, comes in. He dropped us down the pub in his Landrover (proper agricultural one - not a glorified school run shopping trolley) and and met us down there a bit later with his very attractive girlfriend, Kate. We had another couple of pints and then Kate drove us back to the farm with Brad travelling in the back with the dogs and the single bench seat would only fit three.
As we approached the end of our days walk we headed inland to find the farm we were to stay at. Now this is another fine B&B worth a mention. We turned up and the landlady showed straight to an enormous conservatory and brought us a ten gallon teapot and an enormous fruit cake. We barley dented the fruitcake despite a good size slice each but at least nine of the ten gallons of tea went. This farm is literally in the middle of nowhere. The nearest pub is at Hartland Quay which was a good two hour walk away. This is where the landlady's son, Brad, comes in. He dropped us down the pub in his Landrover (proper agricultural one - not a glorified school run shopping trolley) and and met us down there a bit later with his very attractive girlfriend, Kate. We had another couple of pints and then Kate drove us back to the farm with Brad travelling in the back with the dogs and the single bench seat would only fit three.
