Week 1 Day 1 - Minehead to Porlock Weir

We get up at 7 am, shower, dress, eat breakfast (cereal), check in at reception (as it was closed yesterday) and drive in the Golf to Porlock Weir hoping to catch the bus to Minehead. We know it is touch and go if we will make it in time and the bus is pulling up to the bus stop just as we arrive.


Liz goes off to get the car-parking ticket (£4 for the day), leaving me to hold the bus. There are a few people getting on so I assume I have time to get my things together first. When I next look up, the bus is pulling out and Liz is standing there aghast at my incompetence!


Having wasted £4 on the parking ticket, we drive to Minehead, spend another £4.20 on parking, have a coffee, buy some waterproof trousers for me and set off on the coast path in pouring rain.

The day continues to be a succession of showers and sunshine all the way to Porlock Weir. We have lunch in fine weather sitting on a bench at the top of Hurlstone Combe overlooking Bossington Beach and the Bristol Channel. After lunch, the walk across the marshes between Bossington and Porlock Weir is fascinating. The sea has recently breached the pebble ridge of Bossington Beach and floods the land behind at times of high water. Luckily the water levels are low today and we can cross the marsh and see all the dead trees and changing vegetation.

When we finally get to Porlock Weir we have a couple of hours to kill before the bus arrives to take us back to Minehead. We take a leisurely afternoon tea in a delightful tea shop overlooking the bay, stroll around the village and sit on a bench for half an hour until the bus comes.


After getting back to Lynton, we shower, change and go out to dinner at the Bath Hotel in Lynmouth to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary.


Distance completed: 9.5 miles, 1.5% complete.