Erme Estuary to Bigbury-on-Sea - 5 miles

Clovelly to Hartland Quay - 10 miles

Clovelly

After yesterdays hard walk, todays walk was easy peasy.  A lot of it involved walking along the top of high cliffs, although there were still about 5 steep up and down bits.  Also it was a lovely sunny day so we could see for miles.

The only problem with this walk was that it was very hot and there wasn't really a lot of places for me to have a drink so Ann had to share her water with me. 

Also there were a few places where I had to go on my lead because there were sheep about and I can't be trusted not to go chasing.

We stopped for lunch at a little kiosk cafe at Hartland Point.  Ann had a ham & cheese sandwich and she gave me a little bit and I had a big drink of water in my super duper travel bowl.



Hartland Point



It was a lovely walk today though 25 miles in two days is hard going - even for a super fit collie like me!

Bude to Hartland Quay - 15 miles

This walk is described on the official SWCP website as being the most severe section of the entire coastal path.  .......................... And severe it was.

We parked Angela's car in Bude and started our walk at about 10am and we didn't get to Hartland Quay until after 8pm.  We stopped for about 1 hour altogether so today we have done more than 9 hours of walking.  I am a very, very tired little collie dog now.

The walk went constantly up and down some very, very steep ascents and descents.  It was quite hot but it was very misty so for most of the walk we couldn't really see where we were going.  In fact the sun didn't come out until 9pm when we'd finished our walk. 

Port Isaac to Tintagel - 9 miles



It's a long way down & a long way up

 This walk was described on the SWCP website as severe.  It was very hard in that there were loads of very, very steep up and down sections – but there were also loads of sections where we were just walking along the tops of cliffs.  Haven’t a clue who grades these walks but I would have said that yesterday’s walk was the hardest and that was the one that was described as moderate to strenuous.

Ann parked her car at Tintagel (£2 for the whole day) & then Angela drove us to Port Isaac where we parked all day for £4.80.  It was incredibly misty when we started our walk.    We could hardly see a few feet in front of us, let alone see where we were going to end up.  There was no one else about.  Well why would there be?  We set off from Port Isaac at about 10.45am and it was misty, horrible, windy & cold.  Ann & Angela had their anoraks on.  No tanning for them first thing?  However after about an hour or so the mist lifted and it turned into a really nice day.  Nowhere near as hot as yesterday because it was very windy but it was certainly a lot better than it was when we set off. 

There were a lot of signs on this walk saying that there was livestock grazing & dogs had to be kept under control but we didn’t see any livestock grazing.  I was off lead for pretty much all of the walk.  The only time Ann put me back on my lead was when we were walking past a field of black sheep that had a lone llama in the middle of them.  I couldn’t get to them and to be honest I hadn’t even spotted them until Ann told me I had to go on my lead as a precaution.

Ann’s friend, Angela that we were walking with, was very paranoid about keeping me safe.  She hated me going to the edge of the cliff to look over.  Ann was OK though, she knows that I know my limitations.



I had a lovely play in the water



Just about at Trebarwith Strand

We stopped at a really nice cafe in Trebarwith Strand which was just over 2 miles from Tintagel.  I had a lovely rest and a whole bowl of water all to myself.  Then when Ann & Angela had finished lunch they took me down to the beach so I could have a play & a swim.  It was great fun.

We didn’t see many people on the first part of our walk but by the time we got to Trebarwith Strand there were loads of people about and between there and Tintagel there were lots of people walking.

After our stop at Trebarwith Strand it was only another couple of miles to Tintagel.  And we only had to go up one more steep bit and then it was easy walking along the top of cliffs until the descent into Tintagel and then the walk up the hill into Tintagel village.

What a lovely three days of walking I've had.  I'm such a lucky little collie dog to be taken on such nice walking weekends.

Crackington Haven to Tintagel - 11 miles



At the start of our walk

 What a hot, hard walk I’ve had today.  This walk was described as moderate to strenuous on the official SWCP website.  The majority of it was strenuous – even for a super fit collie like me.  Ann parked her car at Tintagel (£2 for all day) and then Angela drove us to Crackington Haven where we also parked for £2.



Cooling down in the trough



It was very, very hot today and unlike our walk yesterday there wasn’t much of a breeze.  As there hasn’t been very much rain recently a lot of the streams had dried up so I found it really difficult to keep cool.  I found a little bit of mud to wallow in but that just made me feel sticky and uncomfortable.  Ann shared her water with me and I had my super duper travel water bowl with me so having a drink wasn’t a problem – but keeping cool was.  I found a little bit of mud to wallow in but it didn't really cool me down - it just made me feel sticky and uncomfortable until I found a trough to wallow in.  



Relaxing



Between Boscastle and Tintagel there was about 4 stream so that section of the walk was much better for me.



What a lovely herd of goats!



I was allowed off my lead for pretty much the whole of this walk.  There were a few sections that had notices up saying that livestock may be grazing but apart from a field of cows there wasn’t any livestock in the fields.  The only time I had to go on my lead was just after we’d started our walk.  I’d only been walking for about half an hour when we came upon a whole herd of goats with babies.  I was desperate to go chasing but fortunately I came back to Ann when she called me.   She was pleased with me because there were loads of people about so they all saw how obedient I was.  In fact there were loads of people on all sections of this walk.  There again it was a very hot sunny Sunday.

This walk was hard though.  There were sections of it where we were just walking along the top of very high cliffs.  But, there were an awful lot of up and down bits which were very steep.  Normally I’m super speedy and race up and down them no bother but even I was glad of the many rests we had today.

We started the walk at about 10.30am and got to Boscastle just after 3pm.  Admittedly we stopped for water/rests after most steep ascents but it was only just over 6 miles from Crackington Haven to Boscastle so almost 5 hours walking just shows how hard it was.

At Boscastle we went into the National Trust Cafe and sat in their courtyard area (though I was allowed indoors as well).  The humans had a pasty & drink and I had a huge bowl of water all to myself and I also got a bit of pasty.  We must have been in Boscastle for about an hour.



The end of our walk



Then I got to have a really nice wallow in the water.  Then we had to walk the remaining 4-5 miles to Tintagel.  Fortunately in this section there were about 4 streams that I could wallow in.  But that also meant there were four steep ascents/descents that we had to go up and down.

The humans, especially Ann, were getting really tired.  She was also getting very burnt on her shoulders and the back of her neck.  Her own fault really for trying to get a tan too quickly?

Anyway, we eventually made it back to the car in Tintagel at about 6.45pm.

I love my walking holidays – but I have to say they make me very exhausted.  I’ve had no sleep time today at all so now I’m flaked out in the B&B we’re staying in.

Crackington Haven to Bude - 10 miles

What a lovely day for a walk.  The sun was shining, the sky was blue and there was a very slight breeze which made for very good walking conditions.

We parked our car in the long stay car park down by the beach at Bude (£4.80 for more than 4 hours) and then went in our friend Angela’s car to Crackington Haven (only £2 to park all day there). 

Ann always thinks it a good idea if we get into our car at the end of the walk because quite often I’m very muddy by then and at least the back of our car is kitted out for mucky pups!



At the start of the walk



Today’s walk is described on the official SWCP website as strenuous and while some parts of it were very definitely strenuous I would have said the majority of it was moderate.  However, the strenuous parts were very strenuous. There were some very steep cliff ascents and descents. I zoom up them really quickly but inevitably the humans take forever so I end up having to come back down again to see why they’re taking too long.  I think they’re just old and unfit?!



It's a long way down there!



I was able to stay off lead for most of this walk – we walked through two fields of sheep when I had to go back on my lead and also we had to walk along the road for a very short distance.  But apart from these two areas and a very small section of the path just outside Bude where there were signs saying that doggies had to stay on their leads I was allowed to run free. 

Because it was so hot the humans kept stopping for drinks, and also Angela had a new camera so she kept stopping to take photos.  To be honest I was quite glad of the rests because I was very hot.  Ann was glad that there were a lot of streams on this walk because she didn’t want to share her water with me.  However when we got to Widemouth Beach the humans stopped for an ice cream and because we weren’t near a stream at that point Ann gave me some of her water in my super duper travel water bowl – it tasted lovely – and I could see a spaniel watching me jealously?!

I’ve had a great time today and I only did one teeny weeny naughty thing.  We got back to Bude at the end of our walk and Ann told Angela that I never went into water without checking if I could get out or not – and then I jumped into the canal.  Well it was ever so hot and I need to cool down!  Unfortunately I hadn’t realised that the side of the canal didn’t have anything for me to grip on to get out.  Ann wasn’t worried about me – she just thought I’d swim to the other side, get out there & then race across the bridge and come back to her.  Angela however, panicked, lay down on her tummy on the path and pulled me out.  There were a few people giving her funny looks – but I guess it means she cares about me.

Anyway I’ve had a great time today.  I’m hoping my walk tomorrow will be just as fantastic.

Westward Ho to Instow - 11 miles

I’ve had another lovely walk today – in the sunshine and pretty much on the flat.  When Ann took me for a little walk around the block before breakfast she wasn’t very happy.  It was raining, windy and generally felt rather cold.  ......But she was determined to do this walk come rain or shine, so I’d resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be a soggy doggie today.

Ann left her car in Instow for free and then Angela parked hers (£2.50 for the day) at Westward Ho.  Angela had worked out what direction the wind would be blowing so thought that we’d be best walking from Westward Ho rather than vice versa.  It was raining a lot when we were in the car however by the time we’d driven to Instow and then back to Westward Ho it had stopped.  In fact today turned out to be the best day of the whole weekend. 

On the beach at Westward Ho

I've found a tennis ball

First we had to walk round the Royal North Devon Golf Club and Northam Burrows Country Park.  Almost as soon as I got let off my lead I found a tennis ball.  Ann said she wasn’t going to throw it for me but I knew if I did my ‘appealing look’ Angela would.  I had about an hour and a half playing with it.  I was zooming about all over.  It was such fun.  But then we had to walk along a road into Appledore.  I had to go on my lead.  Ann said I could carry the ball if I wanted to keep it.  However, I accidently dropped it and I wasn’t allowed to go back for it, so that was the end of that. 

Me - in Bideford

Once we got through Appledore I was allowed to go off lead again as the coastal path went down by the Torridge Estuary and then up a little hill and through woods.  However once we got to the outskirts of Bideford I had to go back on my lead.  In fact I had to stay on my lead all the way from Bideford back to Instow.  On this section we were back on the Tarka Trail again but the path was running parallel to a very busy road so Ann said just to be on the safe side I had to stay on my lead. 

Today’s walk took us just under 5 hours.

Almost at the end of 50 miles walking

It’s been lovely having Angela walking with us.  It’s so much easier when we don’t have to get public transport to the start of our walks. 

Also ‘Sundene House’ has to be the best B&B in the world.  I’ve had a lovely time here.  I’m not sure what section of the SWCP we’ll be walking next.  I know I’m a super fit collie but 50 miles of walking in just four days is tiring even for me!