Porlock to Porlock Weir and Lynton

Wednesday 23rd April 2008

12 miles on Coast Path; total of 14 miles walking.

Click here for all our photos from this walk.

The sun was shining when we woke up and we had a lovely breakfast at Myrtle Cottage (Kippers and scrambled egg). Chatting to Sue (who cooked our breakfast and was going to transport our bags to Lynton), shopping for provisions for lunch and the walk back to Porlock Weir delayed us, so it was 10.30am before we got back to the South West Coast Path, which seemed rather late given the difficult walk I was expecting. But it was fine in the end.

We didn't actually go right down the harbour at Porlock Weir, instead staying on the minor road behind the village which brought us directly to the thatched 'Toll Lodge'. We, as walkers, were able to pass through the right-hand archway gate without paying, which brought us onto an 'estate ride' with 'whimsical arched grottoes', the creation of Lord Lovelace. We zig-zagged up a steep slope to a higher track and thence, eventually, to Culbone Church, one of two claiming to be the smallest in England (only 35 feet long and 12 feet 4 inches wide).

A bit further on we decided to take the alternative permissive path through Culbone Wood. There seems to be an expectation that this will become the official route, but it isn't yet (despite being described as such in The Aurium Press National Trail Guide). However it was lovely - the path was narrow and steep in places, but basically followed the contours through the oak wood, with pretty flowers, and streams and waterfalls in the combes descending to the sea. Eventually we climbed through Yenworthy Wood to rejoin the official path, and then followed a track through a 'Pinetum' to a convenient bench at Steepe Sturt where we stopped for lunch and celebrated the fact that we were almost in Devon by turning the map!

Along a track through darker (coniferous) forest, down a flight of steps to Sister's Fountain (reputed to be where Joseph of Arimathea drank on his way to Glastonbury - hmmm), up the track to Glenthorne House and then along a narrow path through rhododendrons - and we reached a path high above the sea, with views ahead of us to Foreland Point (though there appeared to be lots of hills in the way) and back the way we had come too. We continued to edge our way around the coast, with gorse-covered open ground interspersed with woodland, with combes (often with amazing names such as Pudleep Gurt) descending to the sea.

We came into clear view of Countisbury (to the left) and The Foreland (to the right) with the shoulder we were going to pass over between them. But first of all we descended, along the narrow tarmacked access road which leads to the lighthouse on Foreland Point (which we weren't able to see until the following day). After crossing a bridge and photographing lambs and gorse, we left the access road and zig-zagged our way steadily up onto Countisbury. At the top it was distinctly misty, with Lynmouth and Lynton just visible in the haze in front of us.

We skirted below the summit of Butter Hill and admired the pretty Countisbury church, nestling in the hill-side. The descent to Lynmouth was gradual - just as well as my knee was feeling distinctly uncomfortable - with good views in all directions. Eventually we took a small path which zig-zagged its way down to sea level through pretty woodland, again with lots of wildflowers. We came out just above the beach at the eastern end of Lynmouth and walked over the bridge to the centre of the village and the harbour. It's hard to imagine that most of the village was destroyed by a flood in 1952 - the river looks so tame now.

Whilst Lynmouth nestles at the mouth of the River Lyn, Lynton occupies the slopes high above. It is possible to climb up the hill between the two, but we took the easy option, the Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway, which is driven by the weight of water in the downcoming car. Good fun! A man who had been beachcombing with his grandchildren, and who travelled on the Cliff Railway with us, pointed us in the direction of Fernleigh Guest House where we were staying. Kate showed us to our room, at the top of the house, and we met Ray, who is obviously a walker himself, later on. A pleasant room, with views over the top of the surrounding houses to the surrounding hills. We ate at the Greenhouse Restaurant - a bit noisy, with a group of middle-aged locals celebrating St George's Day, but the food was excellent.

Following day