SWCP Day 8 – 17 April 2017

Westward Ho! to Clovelly

I bonded with three Finnish ladies in the mudroom of the Culloden House B&B, while we all tightened our boots before setting off for the long walk to Clovelly.

First out of the docks, I took a fancy to the tiny beach houses set inexplicably half-way up Kipling Tors – the headland west of Westward Ho! – and opposite a crumbling Edwardian pile. They struck me as characteristic of the fading seaside town.

But, back to the Finnish trio – three friends who had agreed to complete the swcp before they retire (a few days at a time). We spent much of the day leap-frogging each other along the undulating clifftops and navigating the steep down-ups.

Deemed a ‘strenuous’ walk, there were certainly lots of down-ups, but it wasn’t extraordinarily difficult. I even took the time to get creative with my camera…

…the trident cloud had me looking for Poseidon and his mermen.

Through every woodland section, beautiful bluebells were in full force under a bright-green canopy, but the path also went through a delightful variety of open heath, heart-stopping cliff-tops, and freshly tilled fields.

The last time I was at Clovelly, I had the most amazing cream tea. It stuck in my mind and became a great incentive tool as we faced a couple of big down-ups mid-way through the walk – at Peppercombe Castle (red phone, anyone?), and then at Buck’s Mills…

…where I left the Finnish trio to their picnic lunch and strode ahead with motivating images of fluffy scones, strawberry jam, and clotted cream in mind.

Eventually, the path leveled off and I began the gradual descent along the Hobby Drive to Clovelly – built through the early 1800s by men returned from the Napoleonic War at the behest of the romantically-inclined Sir James Hamlyn Williams. The naturally-beautiful landscape here is made even more evident by the botanical garden-type accents, and occasionally offered glimpses of the unique Clovelly.