Carolynn and I are on our way to Minehead to do three days of the South West Coast Path. We’ve just stopped for our first coffee break at Gloucester Services…  what a fantastic place! Busman’s holiday springs to mind. But I have to admit that even after 37 years in this business I still get excited looking around new petrol stations and the ideas that start to form from looking at other sites…  sad isn’t it?

Anyway, let’s discuss the South West Coast Path. I hate long distance paths, or long distance anything, for that matter. And past experience does not bode well for me to complete it! The same can partially be said for one of the companions on this trip, Andrew, a veteran of two failed Pennine Way attempts. Failure to finish any long-distance footpath is in my case, a common theme. Pennine Way, tried twice, failed twice. West Highland Way, also, tried twice, failed twice. The reasons: knee, ankle, weather and the worst excuse of all, a burst appendix! I suppose the last one could be classed as a reasonable excuse. After the appendix episode, I came to the conclusion that long distance footpaths, were not for me…  a 100% failure rate!

Looking back over my trips to the Himalaya. I’ve attempted four mountains and summited only two. Even my maths isn’t bad enough to know that’s a 50% success rate/failure rate. Over the years that I’ve been walking/climbing I have absolutely no idea what my success rate has been. But on a scale of 1 – 10, every walk/climb that I have completed or failed to complete is an 11 to me which is all that really counts.

The only thing I would question is the word ‘success’. If you go to the Himalaya to climb a specific mountain, then ‘success’ has to mean whether or not you summited…  or does it? To the purist, yes it does. To many it’s the enjoyment that’s important, summiting is just a by-product of that enjoyment. As Alan Hinkes said, ‘Coming back in one piece is a success, reaching the summit is a bonus.’  Maybe that’s true of any Himalayan expedition, but for a walk in North Wales that could be classed as a little overdramatic. The ‘Summit is a bonus’ I believe to be true of any expedition though, whether in the greater ranges or the lesser ranges of North Wales, Scotland, Lakes etc. It’s not about ‘The Journey’ or ‘The Climb’ it’s about the enjoyment that you, as an individual, can take away from the expedition. 

I appear to have gone off track. Long distance footpaths…  mmm, since those dismal failures, I’ve steered away from any long-distance walking. But I have, once again, been inspired to attempt one of the longest ones in the UK, by none other than my long suffering and patient wife, Carolynn. It all started when we were in Barnstaple last year and we did a small six mile section of the South West Coast Path and for some unknown reason I asked her if she wanted to walk it all…  and to my complete surprise she said YES – that’s only the second time in 30 years! Happily, two good friends of ours, Andrew and Caroline, have decided to join us, not forgetting Lottie, their dog, which I know will incentivise all of us.

So, four of us stand at the above monument waiting to start the 1013km journey from Minehead to South Haven Point. My goodness that number is big! Time isn’t an issue, we have as long as life itself. If I was pushed, I suspect it will take approximately three to four years, walking just two or three days at a time. Anyway, this is the first three days.

Don’t let the above photograph fool you into thinking that the day started sunny and warm. The photograph was taken the evening before. No, the day started cool and dank and to cut a long day short the weather didn’t change for the rest of the day. There are two routes for day one, the high easy route and the low, clifftop rugged route.

Being the sort of man I am, we, of course, took the high easy route! The day was one of an initial steep climb with then happy wanderings over easy moorland paths.

The only real difficulty of the day was walking across Bossington Beach, a stone bank that ran for 3km, with an interesting river crossing near the end. Well, interesting for Caroline, anyway, (please don’t get the names Caroline and Carolynn mixed up, I have in the past and it’s very embarrassing)  as her feet ended up very cold and wet.

We finished at Porlock Weir. This would be my second visit. My first was over 45 years ago when my sister and I went on holiday with our Aunt and Uncle and it’s a place that sticks in both our minds as over the years we’ve both mentioned Porlock Weir, with a smile.

The day finished in a place where every good walk should finish amid tales of all of us losing our way in the swirling impenetrable mist and of us wading through a raging torrent of waist, nay, neck high water, clinging to each other for dear life as we crossed the mighty river, which doesn’t even have a name on the OS map! But that’s what a couple of pints in the Bottom Ship Inn does for you!

The following day started wet. And being the experienced walker that I am, Carolynn left it to me to pack the required requisites for the trail…  I only forgot one thing: her waterproof jacket. In a desert climate, it probably wouldn’t have mattered that much, but in England in the middle of February, it was a fairly essential piece of kit. Luckily for me it was quickly rectified with a trip to the local Rohan shop. She now possesses a far better waterproof than I’ve ever had! Divorce, would, however, have been far more expensive!

Again it’s a day of easy, relaxing walking up to the smallest complete parish church in England, Culbone Church of St Beuno. We then carry on along the permitted lower path, walking the contour along a wooded track of emerald, mint, olive, pine and forest greens, in fact, every shade of vivid green imaginable.

There are numerous bench and stone seats for the weary walker to admire the view… of even more trees, as the coastal forests have been left to grow as nature intended. The weather improved dramatically after lunch and for the first time we walked with the sun lifting our spirits.

Suddenly the wood ends and we see our final destination, Countisbury. The coast path has the final laugh, though, as we descend 250m into the valley to then have to climb back up to the summit of Countisbury Hill, with a wonderful view of Lynmouth…

But most importantly… to where every walk should finish! And once again the tales abound, of the 5000m of ascent on near vertical wet and slippery paths. Of the torrential tropical rain in the morning giving way to the Saharan heat in the afternoon… facts, what are they? At least there was no snow!

Day Three started downhill, brilliant, but in the back of my mind there is a nagging feeling ‘whatever goes down, MUST go up’! For now, though, we walked steeply down into Lynmouth to a well-earned coffee and cake…  hey this is my kind of walking!

And to top it all we all agree to use our initiative and hitch a ride on the historic water-powered funicular cliff railway from Lynmouth to its twin Lynton, a height gain of over 150m. Some call it cheating, but hey, who cares?

Today is a day of dramatic landscapes and rock formations known as The Valley of the Rocks, made famous by R. D. Blackmore’s Lorna Doone…

and the beautiful valley, where Lee Abbey stands. Then back to the cliff hugging path as it leads into Heddon’s Mouth and once again…  to where every walk should finish! Today there are no tall tales, just an appreciation of a great day’s walk, all washed down with a Devonshire cream tea!

The first three days completed. The first time I’ve walked any great distance with Carolynn; I hope she sees and feels what I have over my years of wanderings and that she realises it doesn’t matter whether those wanderings are in the Dolomites, Himalaya, North Wales or a stroll down the local canal, it’s the enjoyment and in this case the company, that’s important. The icing on the cake is that we are wandering with two of our very good friends, Andrew and Caroline (not forgetting Lottie the dog).

The last day was, in my eyes, the most rewarding. Ambling along the clifftop, with a constantly changing vista, the sun peeking in and out of the clouds and then to finish up a hidden valley, with only one sour thought, next time we have to go from sea level to the highest point of the whole walk!