Week 2 Day 2 - Braunton to Bideford

We rise early, before 7am, have a quick breakfast of cereal, make our packed lunch and head off towards Bideford at 0755. Having parked in the long term car park on the quayside we head off to catch the bus to Barnstaple only to see the 0815 bus drive off just as we get there! Liz notices another bus displaying Barnstaple as its destination on the other side of the road (facing the other way!) so we rush over and get on board. We discover it has come from Exeter (service 315) and takes the direct route over the bridge avoiding all the villages. We arrive at Barnstaple Bus Station at 0840 (some 15 minutes ahead of the bus we missed) and just manage to flag down a bus leaving for Braunton. This means that we are up and running by 0900.


The walk to Barnstaple is along the Tarka Trail, a disused railway line on the north shore of the estuary. It is very flat, tarmac all the way and, after we leave Chivenor is pretty boring. We complete the 5 miles to Barnstaple by 1030 and stop for coffee in The Old Bus Station Cafe. On the way we watch some guys - some looking older than us - launching a couple of 6-man gigs into the river and going off for a row.

After coffee we visit the Tourist Information Centre, purchase a new map covering the later sections of this week's walking and head off along the Tarka Trail towards Bideford. This time we are walking in the opposite direction about half a mile south of where we walked before coffee. The trek to Instow is pretty unremarkable. Flat and straight on tarmac all the way. The only excitement is when cyclists come tearing past with no warning. They are so quiet we can't hear them coming unless they shout or the ring their bell - and several don't bother!


Just before Instow we stop for lunch in a picnic site with wooden tables and benches. There is also a mud hut with seats built into the wall but we prefer to sit out in the open air. We get quite cold and head into Instow for a hot coffee in the local sea-front pub.


The walk from Instow to Bideford is still quite flat but far more interesting than before as the scenery is constantly changing and there appear to be a lot more people out for a stroll or a ride on their bike. We get to East-the-Water, cross the old Bideford Bridge and head back to the car. We arrive back at half past three (six and a half hours from Braunton) having completed 15.5 miles.


We dump our rucksacks, change our boots and head off into town to have a cup of tea and do a little shopping. We call in at Morrisons to buy some more provisions on the way back to Cobb Cottage.



Distance completed today: 15.4 miles
Total distance completed: 78.2 miles (12.4%)