Teignmouth to the Exe
Walked by Sally and Richard, Saturday 1st December 2012
About 15.5 miles, with 7.5 miles progress on South West Coast Path.
Click here for all our photos from this walk.
We had a lovely breakfast at Thomas Luny House and left just before 9am. It was a cold, sunny morning and we pottered around Teignmouth for a while, photographing the atmospheric mist over the river and the sea.
We eventually left Teignmouth by way of the sea wall. We were pleased to see that trains were running again, and we followed the railway towards Dawlish. There was a railway workman/engineer standing by the most recent land slip and as we walked past it became obvious both what had caused the problem and why they were continuing to monitor the situation; there was water pouring down the cliff, giving the sea a distinctive red colour, and it would have been quite easy for the railway lines to get covered in mud or indeed for more rock and vegetation to come down.
We had planned today's walk for a falling tide, because at high tide the sea wall becomes impassable in a couple of places (there are alternative inland routes, but these involve climbs and walking on busy roads). However, we hadn't foreseen the recent flooding and as we'd left Teignmouth a sign had alerted us to water, 'possibly contaminated' at Smugglers Lane, the road which we needed to follow inland as the railway headed into a tunnel. We'd chosen to ignore the warning, reckoning that the sea wall route past the landslip was so interesting that it would be worth following this route and then retracing our steps if necessary. We passed underneath the railway and there WAS then water flowing over the path - another place where a torrent from the cliff was finding its way down to the sea. However, with care (and bearing in mind we were wearing fairly watertight walking boots) we were able to get through.
We climbed up Smugglers Lane to the main road, turned right for a short distance, then turned right onto Windward Lane and thence onto a path. The guidebook says that the path is 'much better than following the road'. I'd assumed that this was simply because it avoids the need for road walking, but as we climbed, there were superb views ahead to Dawlish. The path was not too muddy, but the potential for slipping meant that progress was slow as we descended almost to the railway line (with another stream descending) before climbing back up to the main road.
We took the old road past very desirable properties on the outskirts of Dawlish then, after a brief walk back on the main road, descended through a park and then on a zig-zag path down to a cove, with excellent views ahead of us to the railway line as it passed through Dawlish. We followed the sea wall to the seaward side of the railway all the way though Dawlish, with a brief detour into the town to avoid a group of walkers who had just got off a train. We were rewarded by photographs of Dawlish's famous black swans.
We continued to the seaward side of the railway towards Dawlish Warren, sometimes beneath the level of the railway and sometimes alongside it. The South West Coast Path doesn't go onto Dawlish Warren (a sand bar sticking out into the Exe Estuary, now a nature reserve) itself, so we crossed the railway line at a footbridge and continued past the caravan parks and mobile homes, for which this area is also renowned. As we left the houses of Dawlish Warren behind we were delighted to discover that this section of the Exe Estuary Trail (a cycle and walking route, round the whole estuary) was now open, so we didn't have to walk along the road. We drew closer to the estuary and admired the view across it, though the railway line prevented us from adequately capturing the views in photographs.
We continued along the Exe Estuary Trail, sometimes on a cycle-way, sometimes on a pavement and just occasionally (as we skirted the little harbour at Cockwood - above) on the road itself - but it wasn't too busy. We reached Starcross at around 12.30 and it provided all the services we needed - toilets, a charity shop serving cups of tea and a Spar shop with sausage rolls.
The direct route of the South West Coast Path from Starcross is by ferry to Exmouth in the summer months, or by train round to Exmouth (via Exeter) in winter. However we had plenty of time, and the guidebook suggested an alternative route that follows the estuary then the Exeter Ship Canal to Topsham Lock, then takes a ferry (which supposedly runs through the year) to Topsham. From Topsham, the SWCP would continue by train or by way of the Exe Estuary Trail to Exmouth; we would return to Teignmouth by train.
So we kept walking! Initially we were on a road past Powderham Castle (seat of the Earls of Devon). It was a very quiet road, possibly partly because we walked past a 'road closed' sign and a couple of 'flood' signs and there clearly had been real flooding here. The road was dry now, though there was still some detritus on the road, and there were good views of the deer on the Powderham Estate and, over the railway line, to the estuary.
We passed Powderham Church (with good views to Powderham Folly on the hill to our left) and took a track over the railway line and onto an embankment. We followed this up the estuary - glorious! At Turf Lock there is a pub ('TheTurf') and the start of the Exeter Ship Canal, with lots of boats moored on it. We continued along the towpath of the canal for half an hour or so, sometimes passing and sometimes being passed by a not very good rowing crew.
We reached Topsham Lock and crossed the canal to the ferry landing point, with good views across the estuary to Topsham. Unfortunately the ferry was out of action this weekend, for boat maintenance. We tried 'Plan B', walking across Exminster Marshes to Exminster, from where we knew we could catch a bus back to Teignmouth - but, not surprisingly, the marshes were flooded. We decided our best remaining option was to simply walk the 4 miles back to Starcross, and this was actually a very pleasant option. We reached Starcross in plenty of time for the 16.07 train back to Teignmouth, which was packed (presumably with people who had been shopping in Exeter).
John and Alison greeted us with tea and fruit cake at Thomas Luny House and In the evening we went out to Fresco, which was very busy but they let us have a table on the proviso that we were out by 8.30pm - no problem! We had a lovely meal, though unfortunately my tummy was beginning to complain - I blame that sausage roll at lunchtime.