Day 48 - Saturday October 16th.

After breakfast in my room I set off really early leaving the hotel at 7.05. The first three miles to Hartland Quay were very much up and down but I arrived at Hartland Point at 8.25 which waqs excellent time. Then as the path turned to the east it followed many field edges with only glimpses of the cliffs below. This was easier walking than for some time. There were a couple of dips down and up for small valleys. I waqs at Windbury Hill Fort at 10.35 and the long down and up tyo Mill Mouth. By 12.05 I had passed Clovelly - the path runs above the village and I had missed until I saw some benches and a view of the little harbour far below!

Before Clovelly the path entered mature beech woodland and this continued for miles past Bucks Cross and Bucks Mills until Peppercombe. I arrive4d here at 3.25. Prior to this I met two women who asked me how long it took to get to Clovelly, so I said 2 hours - and they told me that they had been 2.5 hours from Westard Ho!. Later we met up again in the Youth bHstel and they commented that my timing had been exactly right.

From Pepppercombe the path was again very much up and down although the cliffs were lower. I passed Green Cliff at 4.55 and arrived in Westward Ho! at 5.45. I went to a cafe and asked Hill"! and turn right and it was to be found on the right hand side of the road. It was so steep I can understand the local name!

Distance walked 22 miles

Dat 47 - Friday October 15th

After being given hospitality by John & Mary Smyth, Mary did all my washing which will mean I have enough for the rest of the walk. John took me back into Bude from Stratton and dropped me off at thye access point to the path out of Bude. This was a shortish walk as it was supposed to be the most difficult section. I started at 7.50 at Crookletts Beach, 8.40 at Sandy Bay, 9.10 at Duckpool and at 9.45 I was passing ther radio/ radar monitoring station above Lower Sharpness point. 10.20 at Hippa Rock, 11.00 Vicarage Cliff, and at 11.30 at Henna Cliff where I caught my first view of Lundy Island. At 12.30 I was at Marsland Cliff and at 12.55 I crossed a bridge over Marsland Water from Cornwall [Kernow] to Devon - I felt exhilarated! I stopped for lunch in Ronald Duncan's hut for lunch and resumed walking and by 1.40 was at Welcombe Mouth and Sandhole at 2.45, which is the turning for the Youth Hostel at Elmscott. Back at Marslland Water I met two men running from Hartland Quay to bude. They encouraged me to continue to Hartland Quay as I would have some hours before I could check in at Elmscott. So I rang the hotel and booked a room. At 3.45 I was at Speakes Mill Mouth with its fabulous water falll dropping 100 feet down a sheer slate rock face and then running 25 yards before falling still further to reach the beach. I arrived at Hartland Quay Hotel at 4.10.

At the hotel I asked about breakfast. They served it from 8.15 but offeered me a tray in my room which they brought up in the eveing. I was able to have an excellent breakfast as well make some sandwiches for the day.

Distance walked was 15 miles. This section was not as difficult as had been made out, or I must be fitter than I realised!

Day 47 - Friday October 15th

Having been given very good hospitality in Bude from John & Mary Smyth a retired Elim minister - Mary did all my washing which means in that respect I'm set up until the end of the walk. John took me back from Stratton to Bude and dropped me off at the Coast Path at 7.50. An early start was desirable as the guide bok stated that this was the most demanding section of the entire South West Coast Path. So I set off taking the view of taking it steady and not rushiing up inclines. I was at Sandy Bay at 8.40, Duckpool by 9.10 and was passing the radar/ satelite station above Lowwer Sharpnose Point. After this some of the ups and downs began to come with short stretches of reasonably level walking at the top of the plateau. 10.20 at Hippa Rock, 11.00 Vicarage Cliff [the local church was visible inland but no viacarage!], 11.30 Henna Cliff and for the first time I had a really good view of Lundy Island to the north, 1`2.30 Marsland Cl;iff and at 12.55 I crossed the bridge over the strewam called Marsland Water which has signs indicating that I had passed from Cornwall [Kernow] into Devon. Jubilation as this marked another milestone and home seemed so much nearer and I had survived the North Coast of cornwall which was not as bad as many had said. Maybe I'm just that much fitter. At 1.10 I stopped for lunch at Ronald Dun cans hut, which was open to the public so I said comfortably inside for half an hour.



After lunch I resumed walking and at 1.40 arrived at Welcome Mouth where I met two men running from Hartland Quay to Bude. We stopped and chatted and they said that I would be at Elmscott soon after 2.00 and that to stop there until the Youth Hostel was open to book me in at 5.00 was a bit daft and uggested I went on to Hartland Quay which wou;ld also shorten the next days journey which was quite long. At 2.45 I was at Sandhole where it is necessary to turn inland for the Youth Hosterl. so I rand the hotel [the guys I met gave me the telephone number] and I booked a room. At 3.45 I arrived at Speakes Mill Mouth where ther is an amazing waterfall. The stream runs down the valley and then at the beach cascades down an almost sheer slate rock face into a rock gully and runs for 40 yards and then there is another smaller waterfall before the stream enters the sea. At 4.10 I arrived at Hartland Quay Hotel which was about three strenuous miles on from Elmscott.

Distance walked 15 miles

Day 46 - Thursday October 14th.

At about 6.30 I had my breakfast - pasta bolognese. Never had a breakfast like this before but it was good in the circumstances! I left the hostel at 7.20am and the Coast Path is right between the Youth Hostel and the Witchcraft Museum so it took no time at all to resume the walk. By 8.28am I had reached the top of Fire Beacon Point - some climb. By 9.30am I reached the top of the aptly named High Cliff which at 723 feet is one of the highest cliffs in the south of England. By 10.30 I reached Crackington Haven and took a break to write some cards and have a pot of tea. This first part of todays walk was more demanding than I had been led to believe. At 11.30am I set off again from Crackington and pressed on over some demanding ups and downs until I got to Dizzard Point. On my way down I stopped and chatted to a couple about my walk saying that I had started from Dover on August 30th. I then continued down and then up the other side which was a bit like the ups on the Branscome to Sidmouth section in Dorset. At the top it was 1.00pm and there was a bench so I sat down to eat lunch. I had already noticed that the couple had stopped to talk to others also coming in my direction. They arrived at the top of Dizzard Point as I was getting ready to move on and they asked if it was true that I had started in Dover on August 30th. So they asked about being able to follow it on the web so if you have logged on to "Dudley's Dawdle" - welcome!

At Dizzard Point there was sign indicating 132 miles to Minehead - the end is in sight. So by now this is down to about 125 miles.

Once past Dizzard Point the walk got a bit easier with stretches of hill top plateau but with more ups and downs from time to time. At Millook I had walk down the road into the hamlet and then another long uphill slope to the plateau level. Then there was quite a long stretch on the road as the cliff path was no longer usable due to landslip and then down into Widemouth [pronounced Widmouth so I am told]. Once across Widemouth Sand the remaining stretch was parallel to the road at the top of relatively low cliffs and was an easy walk eventually leading me into Bude by the west side of the canal, from where I was collected by John my host for tonight. I arrived in Bude at 4.40pm.

Distance travelled today 17 miles - but quite physical miles although not unduly demanding. The terrain makes progress slower.

Day 45 - Wednesday October 13th

The b & b in Padstow was good. Julian my landlord was very flexible and more than happy to do an early breakfast so I had it at 7.00am. This gave me plenty of time to be ready and walk to the ferry for the first one to Rock at 8.00am. I was not charged for the ferry as I was walking for charity and this is their policy.

I had an easy initial walk to Polzeath, a village I knew of but have never visited before. By 10.17am I reached Lundy Bay which was clearly marked but have been unable to find on the map! At 10.35am I passed Trevan Point which is marked on maps! At 10.55am I arrived at Port Quinn and a sign indicating Port Isaac in three miles. It was quite a long 3 miles with all the twists and turns and ups and downs and I eventually arrived in Port Isaac at 12.40 where I was able to stop and at last have a cream tea previous places having been closed or not offering same said cream tea in the past two days.

This morning I saw three pods of dolphin at the same time along the coast.

At 1.05pm I resumed walking and discovered some discrepancies in the signposted distances like 6 miles to Tintagel but it was obviously much further. I quickly reached Port Gaverne just around the corner from Port Isaac and continued relentlessly on to Tintagel along a hilly coastline with no obvious identifiable features or bays. The only thing was, that from a very long way off I could see Tintagel parish church which is set high on the cliff top and some distance from the main village. I eventually arrived in Tintagel at 5.45pm too late to start the last part of todays planned walk the further four miles to Boscastle as there was no time to do it before it got dark. Had the first ferry from Padstow been at 7.00am it would have been possible.

So I decided what to do. I called in at a hotel and the barman rang for a taxi for me and Dave arrived about 15 minutes later. We had a good chat and I explained what I was doing so although the charge was £8.00 he took £5.00 and told me to put the remaining £3.00 into the sponsorship fund. When I arrived in Tintagel I was too late to do any shopping. So as the Youth Hostel was self catering I had some issues to resolve like breakfast in the morning. Linda who was on duty was exceptionally helpful and told me there was a spare can of soup and that there was some bread in the freezer. I then went out and bought a meal at a local pub. While there I asked for a pasty to take away so this resolved my day time needs. When I got back to the Hostel there was a small school group with two members of staff. These were the only other occupants of the hostel. They must have heard my conversation with Linda as they offered me some of their left over pasta bolognese. I did not need this as I had just eaten but they did give me a bowlful for my breakfast and put it in the fridge. So I no longer needed the soup. Quite an eventful day.

Distance walked today - 22 miles

There is no absolute agreement on distances as distances using GPS technology are "flat" miles and do not take into account the ups and downs. All distances are therefore approximate. Also there are alternative route options indicated on the routing and different people differ as to how far it is to walk between A & B - National Trust distance signs vary from the signed distances put up by the County Councils in some places!

Day 44 Tuesday October 12th

Peter and I left the house in Cubert at 6.50 a.m. and he left me at the coast path in Porth (Newquay) at 7.07. By 9.07 I was clear of Mawgan Porth (Trenance). At 9.45 I was at Bedruthan Steps, where there was some spectacular scenery. At 11.15 I had passed Porthcothan, which was a dead hole, and I also saw the Minnows Islands off shore. At 12.10, having seen the cafe sign from afar, I arrived at Treyarnon, only to discover that the cafe was part of the YHA hostel and was closed. I passed Treyarnon Bay and walked across the sands of Constantine Bay and Booby's Bay. All three bays were very attractive and at 1 o'clock I arrived at Trevose Head, where I had lunch. Part of my lunch was a bottle of Rev. Berrimans Cola with Chilli, which was interesting. At 1.30 I continued my walk passing Harlyn Bay at 2.55, which necessitated walking across the beach as there is no access above the beach, and this can only be done when the tide is out, which thankfully it was. I passed Trevone at 3.10 and then Butter Hole at 4.05. After Butter Hole was Pepper Hole which is an enormous chasm down to sea level and completely unprotected. It was a bit scary! When I passed Stepper Point peninsular and arrived at Harbour Cove, there was a clear path across the sand dunes at the back of the cove. Then I arrived in Padstow at 5.15 in time to do some essential shopping. Then I arrived at the B & B at about 5.40. Distance walked today 25 miles.

Day 43 - Monday October 11th

Today Peter & I left the house in Cubert [the village where he and his wife live] at 6.45am and drove to Portreath and eventually we found the coast path out of the village. It was nice seeing Portreath again and the cottage where I had a family holiday when I was17 years old - haven't been back until Saturday! At 7.20am I started walking up the road as the first part of the path has been closed due to landslips on the cliff making the path unsafe. Not a long way up the road I was able to re-join the path which then went seaward of the old Nancekuke Common Airfield which is now a radio/ radar establishment and the land farmed to produce cauliflowers. The base extended a long way, probably over half of the way to Porthtowan which I arrived at about 8.40am and then continued to Chapel Porth at 9.20am, then on to St Agnes Head at 10.00am and St Agnes village at 10.45am. I passed Trevellas Combe at 11.08am and this was a pretty little place - not much there just a valley with small beach and cliffs. At 12.30 I arrived at Perranporth and stopped at The Watering Hole on the beach for coffee and some chips. I resumed walking at 12.55pm and decided to walk along the beach - one of the best beaches in Cornwall. It is over 2 miles long with firm golden sand and the beach when the tide is out is over 300 yards from the sea to the top of the beach and in places much more. At 2.45pm I arrived at Holywell Bay one of the most attractive bays and beaches I have seen in Cornwall - backed by rows of sand dunes which run at right angles to the beach and some rise to over 100 feet and it is quite difficult to follow the official path. On the north side of the bay I stopped for lunch and resumed walking at 3.05pm and arrived at Joke Cove [yes, that really is its name!]. But you have to decide of course if the laugh is on the other side! I continued walking around two more headlands and then walked across Crantock Beach and having spoken to Peter on the mobile he came to pick me up as there was no point trying to cross The Gannel, the ferry being only available in the summer and the tidal bridge only usable at low tide. So the plan is for Peter to drop me off on the other side of Newquay and The Gannel tomorrow morning at Porth Beach in Newquay, skipping the rather tedious and repetetive urban walk in Newquay.

This morning when I started I had a problem with tendonitis behind my right ankle. This went during the day. However, my right knee which had not been good over the weekend was fine this morning but far from fine when I ended the walk. Tomorrow I am planning another early start to get me well on my way to Padstow for tomorrow evening. Tomorrow like today looks like being fairly gently walks along clifftops and not too strenuous - unlike the end of Wednesdays walk and the start of Thursdays which are the last two reallydifficult bits according to reports but not as difficult as last Fridays walk between Pendeen Watch and Zennor.

There are now only 10 days to go - the end is in sight. I weighed myself on Saturday and I now weigh 12 stone 8 ozs, having lost another half stone since I started stage two of my Dawdle on September 17th.

Today I walked 21 miles