Walking the Jurassic Coast

The south-eastern coast of Devon is called the Jurassic Coast for good reason. The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site covers 95 miles of coastline running from here in Exmouth, Devon to Studland, Dorset. It shows evidence of 185 million years of the earth’s history. The coast here showing rocks and fossils from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fame of the film series Jurassic Park (I find the website linked to about the films an intriguing representation of Baudrillard‘s concept of hyperreality - the films now need their own historical interpretation - should you view them in production of chronological order - just as scientists have spent decades determining the chronological order of the rock strata here!) has raised the profile of this area, but its Jurassic history was already well identified before the Hollywood industry took the era to heart.

More details on our walk along the Jurassic Coast later, first an update on our morning.

Breakfast

I woke, as is now normal at 5.30am made my breakfast and began on the epic blog post about our trip to the moor. The amount of detail in a post sometimes takes much longer than a simple description might, but I find it is worth it as I come back to read these blogs in later years. So, while time consuming, getting it right was also satisfying.

Drew got up at 7am and having posted the blog at 8.30am it was time to get showered etc. and dressed ready to head out for Saturday's adventure - a walk along the Jurassic Coast.

Exmouth to Budleigh Salterton

We left the house at 9.15am and made our way down to Manor Park in the middle of Exmouth. Rather than Google Maps, which is great for roads, but less so far paths. It is Drew's Strava that provides the route map for today.

Manor Park has the remains of an old watermill from a nearby village running in place of a fountain.

In a nice touch the path directing us to the starts of the Jurassic Coastal walk is also marked out with dinosaur footprints rather than just arrows. 

Coming out of the park we walked along Exmouth Beach, which we have visited previously on the first day we were here and last Thursday. The Exmouth Parkrun is coming to an end on the beach just as we walk past, reminding me of Lloyd and his family who often fit worldwide Parkruns (as well as their local one) into their holidays. 

The views remained as wonderful as ever.

After walking past the Exmouth Lifeboat Station

We soon reached the start of the Coastal path.

For anyone who wants to see all the photos from our route today you can access them on Flickr. They start here and you click/swipe left to move forward. 

The first highlight on the route was the Orcombe Geoneedle, placed here by Prince Charles in 2002 at the formal opening. It demonstrates the different strata of rocks in the cliff here including some for each of the eras represented.

From the Geoneedle the walk begins to climb toward the Haven Devon Cliffs Holiday Park, this static caravan park is so large that they have streets and caravan numbers.

The Coastal Path stays close to the cliff along this route until you come to Sandy Bay and the Straight Point Firing Range beyond. 

Walking around the Firing range with all its warning signs, the path then starts to climb and climb. 

As the map at the beginning of the post shows there is a very steady, then steep climb from 6 km to 9km along the route and the legs certainly feel this. However, the views are worth it.

The last mile or so was through a wood with dense trees and undergrowth. I began to wish I'd spent more time paying attention to the Radio 4 countryside programmes, like Countryfile and Open Country, that my mother used to listen to, which have people going along various routes identifying bird song, as there were six distinct songs that could be heard in the woods, but my identification skills led me to identify none! The woods also had a proliferation of butterflies - I counted eight different species, but again my identification skills failed me. I should have read this page before I went out. 

We come into Budleigh Salterton after two and a half hours and 10.4 km (6.7 miles)

The effort was quite energising, but I for one was ready for a sit-down and something to eat after the morning stroll. 

Lunch

Budleigh Salterton has a large range of coffee houses and lunch stops. We choose the Gingerbread House.

Which prides itself in providing local produce of the highest quality. Its map of local suppliers takes up one whole wall of the cafe.

For lunch Drew opted for cheddar cheese sandwiches, Drew loved the fresh bread and the strong cheese which provided a good kick to the palette. 

I went for the Moroccan Lamb pasty that was available. With large chunks of lamb, carrot and potato inside the pasty, the Moroccan element from the wonderful sweet and spicy flavour of Ras el hanout cooked through the meat and veg - lovely.

We washed our food down with an americano and a latte.

Budleigh Salterton to Exmouth

In planning today's walk, we had noted online that in addition to the coastal path between the two places, there was also a disused railway line walk. So having come to Budleigh Salterton by the coast we returned to Exmouth via the railway, now a cycle and walking path. Again, Strava provides the directions:

As you see it is both shorter and a lot less steep than this morning's journey. In this case 'a lot less steep' felt like flat compared to this morning. Though we did come across some cyclists who struggled up one of the inclines - mind you they were both in their 80s or 90s.

The walk was pleasant and well shaded, again the air was full of birdsong. 

The route led to the top of Exmouth, a short distance to our house which is above the town centre. We arrived back at 2.05pm. The return journey only taking one and a half hours and being 6.9km (4.6 miles). My step count was 15,800 for the morning and 10,250 for the afternoon. 26,000 steps is well above my daily 10k goal. Drew's step count is always higher than mine - he has smaller strides - his came to 31,331 steps by the end of the day!! [Co-pilot's note: I also, dear readers, included in my numbers the walk down to the church, a little distance away, to meet Mr B. My legs aren't that freakishly small.]

Back in the house

We got back to the house and consumed plenty of fluid. I wrote the blog post about the previous night's dinner. Then I copied the photos from the camara and began the process of labelling them for Flickr - I didn't finish before it was time for me to prepare for Mass, so they didn't get posted until later.

I know how much I've benefitted from walking since I retired, my initial 4 miles (since lockdown now 5 miles) six days a week have made me lighter, fitter and healthier. It also means this kind of extra effort takes far less out of me than the days when I was 20+ stone and would grumble about walking short distances up the hill of Treforest Campus. It seems odd to be able to go far greater distances now I am older than I would have dreamed of in my 40s, but I'm very grateful for it. 

Along the East Devon Coast

Today's travel was along the East Devon coast from Exmouth, to Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, Seaton and Lyme Regis (which pedants will remind me is in Dorset not Devon!!) 

The Route was something very close to this:

out along the coast. Back along the faster route.

Morning

For the third day in a row I awoke at 5:30am ready for the day ahead. First, I made my Weetabix, juice and tea and then I got the washing ready for the machine. Drew got up at 7am and the car finished charging at 8am. After a shower (I must write something about the shower in this house in a later post, a very good experience) I completed my ablutions and put the clothes on to wash just before we left the House.

Exmouth to Budleigh Salterton

We left the house at 10.10 and had arrived at Budleigh Salterton at 10.23. We parked on the sea front and used the RingGo app, originally downloaded in East Anglia last year, but which works in most parking locations here, to pay for the parking. Thus, avoiding paper tickets and the need to carry change, something which I've not done since before Covid.

With its pebbly beach Budleigh Salterton is more for the canoers and paddle boarders than for sun lovers.

We walked up the main street and were amazed to see that Budleigh Salterton managed to have 16 different coffee or tea shops within a half mile including many selling ice cream - that's not counting the coffee offered in the Methodist Church, which isn't primarily a coffee shop.

A large Methodist church

It was interesting to see the way the town had integrated its brook into the village, rather than in an underground culvert, as, for example, the one that runs down the street where I live, this one runs open between the road and the houses, so each house on that side of the road has a little bridge.

The Brook

Budleigh Salterton's one claim to fame is being the birthplace of the adventure and privateer of the First Elizabethan Age - Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh's naming of Virginia for his virgin queen and the failed colony at Roanoke Island along with his adventures in Venezuela were well known stories in my childhood and may be being told still. The museum in the town which celebrates Raleigh is only open between 2pm and 4pm, so we weren't able to visit.  

As it was too early in the journey for coffee or tea. We left Budleigh Salterton at 10:55am and headed through the Otter Valley to our next stop.

Sidmouth

Taking the gentle route to Sidmouth we went up and down along the coast and after the sleepy, quiet town of Budleigh, Sidmouth came as a shock. Unbekown to us this week is the Sidmouth Folk Festival this annual event, now restored post-Covid means the population of the town is quadrupled with large numbers of the incomers being aging hippies and musicians (and some both) from across the whole of the UK and beyond. 

We arrived in Sidmouth at 11.20am in the midst of a Morris Dancing display.  

Drew has strong views on Morris Dancing [Co-pilot's note: It is, dear readers, at best odd and more likely Eldrich] based on Terry Prachett's Book Lords and Ladies where Morris dancing by the men of Lancre allow the 'other dance' to break into the Discworld. Morris Dancers also features in another Pratchett book Reaper Man, where it says: 

The Morris dance is common to all inhabited worlds in the multiverse.

It is danced under blue skies to celebrate the quickening of the soil and under bare stars because it's springtime and with any luck the carbon dioxide will unfreeze again.

So, even getting Drew close enough to take photos with a long-distance lens was a bit of an effort. 

While the Promenade was full of stalls selling all sorts of items and singers/bands/groups every few yards of each other, so that the music became discordant when stood between them, the beach itself, bar for a lonely Lifeguard, was quiet.

The impressive hotels - The Victoria and The Belmont - at the end of the town show how this town benefitted from the British love of the sea in the height of the Victorian Era. Indeed, Victoria herself stayed in the town as a child for two years, her sons also loved the town with King Edward VII visiting twice and her younger son Arthur, Duke of Connaught, visiting more frequently. 

The Victoria Hotel

Gate House to the Belmont Hotel

St. Giles and St. Nicholas, Sidmouth

Having left the sea, we walked into the town of Sidmouth itself and found in the centre the large church dedicated to St. Giles and St. Nicholas.

This church has some amazing stained glass - much more than any of the other churches we have visited this summer. It includes the West Window donated by Queen Victoria and one piece of medieval stained glass in the Lady Chapel. For lovers of stained glass, the photos are all on Flickr - click here and scroll left to see them.

One of the lovely stained-glass windows - what amazing blue

Unusually, for an Anglican Church, the Church also has the Stations of the Cross around the walls. We wouldn't have spotted these, but as Drew was taking photos of the windows a friendly gentleman, stewarding the church, became yet another person wanting to converse with Drew. As Drew says: 'Can't people see I don't like being sociable' - obviously not. As with the stained glass, the full set of stations can be seen on Flickr, starting here.

The 12th Station - Jesus dies on the cross

The Church also did nice coffee and cakes, so Drew had a cup and a Walnut and coffee cake and I just had the coffee. 

Leaving Sidmouth at 12.40pm we had to go over a Ford - it has been a long time since I've driven across water, but it was all very stable.

Seaton

On the route from Sidmouth to Seaton we passed Branscombe and Beer both little villages along the coast.

Beer makes a big effort to make puns on its name and claims to be the only Devon seaside resort where you can take beer to the beach!

Seaton is, especially compared to this week in Sidmouth, a quiet coast town, typical of so many seaside resorts. It has a long Prom and is the first town on Lyme Bay. Its focus is clearly on the waves and the shore.

Offshore dark clouds began to gather, but thankfully on shore the temperature remained a comfortable 21C.

We walked along the Promenade from the Town to the Axe River Yacht Club.

The Axe River, more famous for its minster town a few miles up the river, flows into the sea at the end of Seaton beach.

One of Seaton's claims to fame is its Tram, we decided not to take the journey today, but on leaving the town we were stopped at a level crossing to let the Tram pass, so we got to see it from a different perspective.

We spent from 1:05 to 1:55pm in Seaton.

Lyme Regis

By 2.15pm we had arrived, across the Dorset border, in Lyme Regis. 

This famous resort town is more developed than that of its near neighbours and much busier on this sunny summer's day. By now the temperature 21c for most of the day has risen to 24c. 

Looking down over Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis is famous for the Cobb, the sea wall, which juts our from the town. It is famous for at least two reasons, both literary. The first the 1969 novel the French Lieutenant's women in which young Sarah is oft seen on the Cobb looking out to sea for her long-gone Frenchman with whom she had a non-consummated (but still scandalous to her town folk) relationship before he returned home. 

The second is Jane Austin's Persuasion where Louisa Musgrove coming down from the Cobb hits her head and suffers a concussion. Drew was tempted to re-enact this approach of coming down from the Cobb but managed it much more successfully than Louisa.

From the Cobb we walked along the Promenade passed the busy beach

and on to the Modern Tower at the end of the prom.

From there we walked through the town and up to the Langmoor and Lister gardens which look over the bay.

We had hoped to stop for some food at Mark Hix's Oyster and Fish House at the end of the gardens, but sadly they had no room and weren't taking bookings for later as they were full. 

We got back to the Car at 3.30pm and the temperature had reached 25C, so we used Air-con for the 55 minute drive back to the house. On arriving we emptied the washing machine and hang the washing to dry on the clothes horse in the conservatory - the heat in this room in the daytime means its drys clothes as fast as any tumble dryer! 

We had only done 57.3 miles of driving today which is only 47% of our charge. Meaning we have 53% - estimated 71 miles left. But we will top it up again over night. That being said we had also worked six miles during the day, 16,000 steps!

Dinner

After not getting into Mark Hix's place we decided we would eat back in Exmouth. We had seen a Mexican restaurant in Victoria Road Exmouth on our previous walks, so decided to give that a try.

The restaurant was much larger inside than it appeared from the front, so we were seated without any wait.  

The Mexican had been decorated to represent adobe and Aztec styles

and the service was speedy. [Co-pilot's note: By my reckoning, dear readers, our pleasantries with our order taker, ordering two starters, two mains and two sides and a bottle of water took around eight seconds - it was impressive.]

For Starters Drew had Chilli Devilled Mushrooms while I opted for the Nachos con carne.

For Mains Drew had Chicken Fajitas with the trimmings

while I had a Chicken and Chorizo Enchilada

We shared Onion Rings and Garlic Bread with cheese

This may seem like a lot of food, but it was just what we needed after a busy day. The napkins, cutlery and plates were the only remaining items at the end.

Was it the best Mexican I've tasted - no; was it the worse - most definitely not [Co-pilot's note: There was one very bad place in New York that gave me the squits]. Indeed, it was just what was needed for two hungry travellers. I suspect, given the age of clientele that the Mexican makes more of its money on cocktails and late night parties, but in that context the food was perfectly acceptable even though it had the feel of the microwave about it. 

We walked back up to the house by 9pm and put the car on to charge. With the additional walking this evening we are now up to 20,000 steps and 7.7 miles - and today wasn't supposed to be one of our walking days!! We were in bed for 10.30am, ready for tomorrow when we do have a walk planned.