We start today from our Airbnb and re-join the path near Ilfracombe harbour, an easy start, walking through the old town and past the two cooling towers of the Landmark Theatre. Suddenly we were out of the town and rising steeply to the Seven Hills, which afforded a view across Ilfracombe onwards past Great Hangman

Again, there is only the three of us and Lottie; Andrew’s ankle is still swollen and hopefully he will join us at lunchtime. The walk from the Seven Hills is straight forward I would go as far as to say, downhill all the way to lunch; however, two other people on the walk might tell me that my recollection is too rose tinted, anyway I can’t remember any strenuous uphill sections! Lunch was in the picture postcard village of Lee. Although a little busy, it wasn’t too busy for such a beautiful setting. The village, though, had obviously seen better days with a closed down sea front hotel and a pub that hadn’t been updated since the late 40s, but the houses and gardens were a dream. Chocolate box perfect, in fact. I can only assume the demise is because tourists demand beaches to be sandy and not rocky as Lee’s is. It’s a place to dream and to forget about the mad, miserable, and selfish place that our world has become…  bit too serious, sorry.

Andrew, as promised, joined us after lunch and we embarked on one of the most trying, but picturesque sections so far. Up only to go down and down only to go up, to me it’s the law of nature, to those that like their walking flat, it’s a pain in the a…  The walk to the lighthouse at Bull Point and Morte Point (we’d been past a few Points today, Flat Point, Shag Point, Breakneck Point. None of them seemed to live up to their names…  I was particularly looking forward to Sh.. Point, I mean Flat Point) was undulating, is I think the best way of describing it. The heat meant the afternoon was best suited to swimming rather than walking. Swimming, though, would not get us to Woolacombe and that well-earned drink with my new pint drinking wife!

The day eventually came to a welcome end and at last, I can say that the day finished as all good walking days should, with a pint in the local hostelry.

My thoughts are straying to Kilimanjaro as we walk this section. It’s suddenly dawned on me that it’s only two months away. I have to say that I’m enjoying this walk with Carolynn and two very good friends; it’s different and makes me realise that greater ranges aren’t the be all and end all…  but they still have a pull that I’m unable to resist and hopefully Kilimanjaro will be the first of three trips to those greater ranges over the next couple of years.