Dartmouth to Paignton

Another sunny day. Various people thought that walking all the way to Paignton, after the notoriously tough stretch between Kingswear and Brixham, would be too much. It was certainly quite a demanding day, especially given the heat, but we managed it - and it was glorious walking. The section between Kingswear and Brixham is rightly described as one of the best of the whole South West Coast Path, and the section between Brixham and Paignton was more interesting than I'd expected it to be (though there were also more ups and downs than I'd expected!).

We left Avondale soon after 8.30am, after a lovely breakfast and chatting with Clive and the other two guests (ecologists from Pembrokeshire). We walked down into Dartmouth and bought supplies for lunch from the Co-op. There is a choice of ferry across the Dart - both the lower car ferry and the pedestrian ferry end up at the same place in Kingswear (the upper car ferry is further upstream). The lower car ferry is closer to the Co-op and also less expensive for foot passengers than the passenger ferry (costing just £1.10 each) so we used this - and stepped onto the ferry without waiting at all. It's a curious contraption - a floating platform takes a small number of cars (and us!) but is steered by a lightly coupled tug boat.

In Kingswear we climbed the Alma Steps, then took a narrow road towards the mouth of the estuary, with good views to Warfleet and Dartmouth Castle. We took a path down steep steps through Warren Woods to Mill Bay Cove then - like more to come today - straight up the other side. We continued to meander our way through woodland to Inner Froward Point, site of a Second World War defence battery. There is a choice of paths at this point, and we had no particular desire to go down the lower path only to climb up again, but we couldn't find the start of the upper path, so the lower path it was - we might have been reluctant to take it, but it was exhilarating walking with good views to (another) Mew Stone.

We continued our ups and downs, past the lower end of the wooded gardens of Coleton Fishacre. Clive at Avondale had recommended a visit; we didn't have time to do this, but Clive had also said it was two hours walking from Kingswear to here and we were on schedule, which was good news.

We reached Scabbacombe Head and descended, with wildflowers and attractive birdsong for company (and we saw several birds that we couldn't identify). We stopped for lunch with a good view of the attractive cove of Scabbacombe Sands, and the steep climb beyond. However, when it came to it, the climb wasn't that bad. We descended gently to Mansands, then climbed steeply again onto Southdown Cliff and thence to Sharkham Head, well pleased with progress.

As we descended to Brixham Harbour we saw huge numbers of people waiting for something - we realised the following day that they were just waiting for the ferry to Torquay. Brixham was very busy and, for all its history as a fishing port, it felt rather touristy. However, that did mean that it was easy to find an ice cream shop, and we sat and ate our Kelly's (Cornish) ice creams by the statute of William of Orange (who landed here) and a replica of the Golden Hind.

In was approaching 4pm when we left Brixham, so we phoned Merritt House to warn them that we would be late. The next part of the walk, around Churlston Cove then along a long green corridor between Churlston Golf Course and a wood, and down to Elberry cove, was much more attractive than I'd expected. We rounded Churlston Point and descended to Broadsands. There are lots of beach huts here and the sands really are sand, not shingle.

We climbed up, under the railway line (for the steam train which runs from Dartmouth to Paignton). From here to Goodrington Sands (more beach huts!) the path followed the railway, though (because the path can't go into the railway's cuttings or across the viaducts) we still got to go up and down, and my poor legs had had enough. We attempted to walk around Roundham Head, but we couldn't find the path (the way marks embedded in the pavement were few and far between and rather indistinct, though we did find some the following day). So we went straight to Merritt House. Paul was in the garden enjoying the sun, but had thankfully left a note for us on the front door. He was extremely welcoming (as was his wife Dianne when we met her) and Merritt House is a lovely place - they have thought of all the little details that matter so much, and they understand walkers because they enjoy walking themselves.