Braunton to Instow

We woke to a wet morning, and it was still raining as we ate a superb breakfast (including croissants) at Silver Cottage. Breakfast was served in the dining room of 'our' cottage, but with Mrs Metcalf appearing though the connecting door from her cottage next door. At the time we visited, Silver Cottage didn't advertise or participate in the Tourist Board ratings system, but we thought it was a lovely place! By the time we were ready to leave the rain was stopping and, despite threatening clouds, it stayed fine all day.

We retraced our steps to the roundabout at Velator, and from there followed the former Ilfracombe to Barnstaple railway all the way to Barnstaple. This old railway now forms part of the Tarka Trail, which we were to follow all the way to Bideford. We should warn you that this section of Tarka Trail, all on former railway lines, has a tarmac surface. My legs would have been more comfortable were this not the case, but we weren't too much troubled by the cyclists for whom, presumably, the surface has been laid. And we certainly wouldn't have done as some walkers do and skip the whole section of path from Braunton to Appledore or Westward Ho!, just because it runs inland around estuaries. Neither would we have contemplated walking the whole 23.5 miles from Braunton to Westward Ho! in one day, as both of our guidebooks suggest. My legs just wouldn't have coped with so much walking on a hard surface, but aside of that we really enjoyed having time to explore the towns and villages we passed on route, and to admire the flora and fauna. And the flat walking by the estuaries made a change from the many ascents and descents of the previous few days, and added to the variety that was the most memorable feature of this leg of the South West Coast Path.

The Tarka Trail has information boards from time to time, and near the beginning there was a pretty little nature reserve. Soon after this we passed the Royal Marine Barracks, home of the bright yellow Sea King rescue helicopters (which we'd seen and continued to see buzzing about). Then we followed the estuary to Barnstaple, admiring many birds, including redshank, oyster catcher and cormorant, feeding on the mudflats. The official route now crosses the new bridge on the outskirts of Barnstaple, but we decided to carry on to have a look at Barnstaple itself. We crossed an interesting little bridge over a side channel and then approached the older Long Bridge along an attractive paved quayside. We headed up into Barnstaple itself and were somewhat disappointed, probably because it was a Sunday morning so nothing was open. After a cup of coffee we crossed the Long Bridge and looked for our onward route, another old railway line. The new road layout and a partially complete subway system confused us and we ended high up on a road out of Barnstaple when we should have been on a path that we could see much further down the hill.

Once we were on the right path (the old railway line from Barnstaple to Bideford) it was again easy walking. Initially the views were of the estuary then we went through the Fremington cuttings where there were lovely wildflowers on the banks, including primroses and orchids. At Fremington Quay the old station building and signal box have been turned into a cafe/heritage centre/lookout. We stopped for tea and cake (including some delicious carrot cake), learnt all about the railway and the quay (used for exporting Devon Clay), viewed the estuary from the lookout and checked the names of the birds we'd seen earlier in the day.

We walked a little further along the surfaced railway line then turned off on a path (not part of the South West Coast Path, though we'd recommend it as an alternative route if you have time) round Home Farm Marsh. This was very pleasant and gave us a break from walking along the surfaced track (though the section of path from the dyke back to the railway line had itself been surfaced!). There were good views of the estuary, which looked very different with more water in it.

In order to reach Carlyn Guest House (on the outskirts of Yelland), we stayed on the railway line (on the Tarka Trail) when the Coast Path took a diversion back down to the estuary. A short distance further on, at the Oil Installation, we turned inland - the guest house was less than half a mile from here and very easy to find, and we sat talking with the owner, Gwen Gaglione, in her garden.

In the evening we walked into Instow (about a mile along the road). It's a pretty place and quite upmarket, with a choice of restaurants. We had a walk on the beach whilst waiting for the restaurants to open, then had an excellent meal at "The Bar".

Following day