Today a Gill and I and a few of the WAGs group met in the South Hams, to reconnoitre a section of the South West Coast Path. The starting point was the National Trust Warren car park, south of Noss Mayo. The South West Coast Path Association list a circular route, of 4.5 miles on their website. They suggest doing the route clockwise, but due to the combination of steepness and uneven surface of the track, down into Noss Mayo. We decided to do it anti-clockwise, to make it less of a drain on the buggy batteries.
The group today consisted of 4 on buggies and 4 walkers, with us being out in the open we were able to social distance. Even in normal circumstances, we always seem to naturally spread out, so it is easy to obey the current rules. There was one very short section of track, where I had to be very careful, to avoid tipping my 3 wheeler over. Once we were on the asphalt road in Noss Mayo, there was a short icy stretch on the hill where the walkers had to be very careful.
From Noss Mayo we headed west out of the village along the southern bank of the river. It was slow progress as we kept stopping to enjoy the changing views of the river estuary. With it being a cold frosty morning, with hardly any wind, ideal conditions for the photo below..
The track through Passage Woods, was a long gentle climb up to the cliffs overlooking the Great Mew Stone and the mouth of the River Yealm. Although It was wet and muddy in places, it was not enough to cause any problems for the buggies.
Once we were clear of Brakeshill Plantation, we had lovely clear views of the coastline as far as Rame Head to the west. We could also see a shower approaching from the north west, luckily it missed us by a few hundred yards.
Although the Great Mew Stone is only a small lump rock. Back in 1744 a man’s punishment for a minor crime was to be banished to the island for seven years. More details of the story can be found on the National Trust website.
Once we were out on the cliffs, we were more exposed to the cold wind, so we diverted off the Coast Path back to the vehicles for our lunch. While we had completed the official circular route on the SWCPA website, we wanted to see if it could be extended further east. So after lunch we rejoined the coast path, heading east towards Stoke Beach.
This section was more demanding on a couple of points, the pedestrian gates were not buggy friendly. But we were able to use the farm gates. While the track generally followed the contours of the land, it was a lot wetter and muddier.
On the way we stopped for several minutes to watch a Kestrel hunting, on the grass slopes either side of the track. After about 2.5 miles we reached the point where the coast path crosses a lane, with a kissing gate and a padlocked farm gate. The member with the buggy with the shortest range, was concerned about getting back. As the wet muddy conditions had drained his batteries. The problem with disabled access will be fed back to the SWCPA, with the hope it will be resolved.
It was decided that the safest option was to return via the lanes, as this was the shorter option and would be easier on the buggy. So this meant we had to take the kissing gate off its hinges, for us to get onto the lane. I was able to manoeuvre my 3 wheeler through the gap, but the 4 wheelers needed a bit of man handling to get them through. We made it back to the car park without any problems. After getting the buggies loaded, Gill and I sat and had a coffee before heading back to Exeter. We stopped off at the Twisted Oak for a meal, before heading home. We had another nice meal with good service, as usual
