Week 2 Day 1 - Croyde Bay to Braunton

We get up at 0640 intending to make an early start from Sherborne so that we can walk from Croyde Bay to Braunton before checking in to our cottage in the village of Littleham just west of Bideford. We manage to clear up breakfast, get everything packed in the car and away by 0855.


We stop for coffee at 11am in South Molton. One of the best toasted teacakes I have had for a long time. Best of all they put lashings of butter on for you whilst the teacake is piping hot so that it all melts and soaks into the cake. It rains briefly whilst we are there, but undeterred we press on through Barnstaple and park in the centre of Braunton.


We catch the 1215 bus to Croyde Bay (where we got to last September) and set off across the beach as the sun starts to appear. Lundy is bathed in sunshine and clear as a bell in the distance. The sea is relatively calm and there are a few keen surfers trying to make something of the piddling little waves.


We walk along the cliffs round towards Saunton and stop for lunch on a bench overlooking the sea. Soon the path crosses the coast road and we have to walk through gorse for about a mile. The gorse is in bloom and looks lovely but there are thousands of insects flying around in the warm April sunshine.


At Saunton we descend to the beach by the 4-star Saunton Sands Hotel and decide to walk along the beach rather than follow the official route through the sand dunes. The beach is 3.5 miles in extent and the tide is out so we have a lovely walk in the sunshine. We are surprised at one point as two young girls come galloping up behind us on horseback and startle both of us! Otherwise the beach is relatively deserted and we have the place to ourselves for most of the way.

At the southern end of the beach, with the village of Appledore seemingly within touching distance, we turn inland across the dunes to the White House and follow the path along the estuary for 3 miles up to Braunton.


We reach the car at approximately 1630, after walking 10.5 miles, and decide to move on as the parking ticket is close to expiry. We call in at the local Tesco superstore to get some provisions and head off to find our accommodation for the week - Cobb Cottage.


After a pleasant supper we tuck in for an early night as we want to start early tomorrow.


Distance completed today: 8.8 miles
Total distance completed: 62.8 miles (10.0%)