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Train to Totnes, steam train to Kingswear, ferry across the Dart to Dartmouth (where I plan to stay the night), then walk round to Salcombe via Start Point to see brother and both sisters. Elder sister is over from NZ, which is the occasion for the get together.

The weather forecast has just changed from, "The weather will be perfect all week," to, "It's going to pour with rain in South Devon." :-5:wah:

Ah well. Won't melt. Will be fun anyway. :-6

Have fun, I was round those parts six weeks ago. Kingsbridge, anyway.There seemed far fewer visitors than in previous years.

Sounds awesome, Clodhopper. Enjoy the adventure. I'm planning to walk in the Cotswolds in October.

There seemed far fewer visitors than in previous years


That's a bit of a surprise. I thought there'd be more, what with the economic situation and increasing awareness of climate change. I have a rather two-tone response: it's great for me; but the area relies on summer vistors for its money... Maybe it'll pick up now we're into school hols.

When we were kids we'd occasionally chug up the Estuary with the flood, tie up at the Crabshell in Kingsbridge, do whatever shopping we'd gone to do, and then pootle back to Salcombe with the ebb tide. Great birdwatching place. First colony of Little Egrets in Britain. Must have been there thirty years, by now.

Have fun Clod

Sounds awesome, Clodhopper. Enjoy the adventure. I'm planning to walk in the Cotswolds in October.


Thank you. Currently I am just one big grin.

I think I recall you mentioning the Cotswold Expedition some time ago. Sounds great!

....Really must finish packing. Atm am looking at vast heap of kit (inc kitchen sink) and wondering how I'm going to get it all into my backpack...

Pruning required. Don't think I need two pairs of walking boots. Will take the light summer ones and hope it's not too rainy.

Enjoy yourself!

Get pictures of the area for us. That's the closest I'll probably ever come.

Clodhopper;1320953 wrote: Train to Totnes, steam train to Kingswear, ferry across the Dart to Dartmouth (where I plan to stay the night), then walk round to Salcombe via Start Point to see brother and both sisters. Elder sister is over from NZ, which is the occasion for the get together.

The weather forecast has just changed from, "The weather will be perfect all week," to, "It's going to pour with rain in South Devon." :-5:wah:

Ah well. Won't melt. Will be fun anyway. :-6


That is a wonderful occasion to have your sister here from New Zealand!:-6

Seems like a very nice trip to get there, do have a great time mate!

Hoping that weather forecaster is wrong!

Have fun Clod


That's the plan!

Farewell and adieu to you, fair Garden ladies ,

Farewell and adieu to you ladies insane*;

For I've received orders to make for old Salcombe

But I hope very shortly to see you again.

*apologies. Was really struggling for a rhyme. :wah:

Don't have the technology to put photos on the 'net. But here are some links:

Salcombe:

Salcombe picture - Google Search

Start Point:

Google Image Result for http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/imag ... 65x350.jpg

Slapton sands:

http://www.zenoshrdlu.com/kapstuff/slaptonley.jpg

Clodhopper;1320970 wrote: That's the plan!

Farewell and adieu to you, fair Garden ladies ,

Farewell and adieu to you ladies insane*;

For I've received orders to make for old Salcombe

But I hope very shortly to see you again.

*apologies. Was really struggling for a rhyme. :wah:


Very nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's late here. Could you help me with two syllables, rhyming with "Spain" - and complimentary?

Cheerio. Am sleepy and still must write down emergency phone numbers and instructions for lodgers.

Clodhopper;1320970 wrote: That's the plan!

Farewell and adieu to you, fair Garden ladies ,

Farewell and adieu to you ladies insane*;

For I've received orders to make for old Salcombe

But I hope very shortly to see you again.

*apologies. Was really struggling for a rhyme. :wah:


That was brilliant, thank you! ----------Odie's always insane!:yh_rotfl

now, just go and have the most wonderful time with your family eh?:wah:

now, just go and have the most wonderful time with your family eh?


Yes Ma'am!

Thanks, Odie. Goodnight.

Clodhopper;1320998 wrote: Yes Ma'am!

Thanks, Odie. Goodnight.


goodnight my good friend and have a great time.......You will be missed.:-4

have a wonderful time Cloddy:Dthe pics look ab fab!:wah:

Clodhopper;1320953 wrote: Train to Totnes, steam train to Kingswear, ferry across the Dart to Dartmouth (where I plan to stay the night), then walk round to Salcombe via Start Point to see brother and both sisters. Elder sister is over from NZ, which is the occasion for the get together.

The weather forecast has just changed from, "The weather will be perfect all week," to, "It's going to pour with rain in South Devon." :-5:wah:

Ah well. Won't melt. Will be fun anyway. :-6


This reminded me of a post I made in an old thread, back in 06..

http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/gener ... post319247

Thanks for the kind wishes.:-6

It was indeed an EXCELLENT two day walk. The weather was near perfect, the pack wasn't too heavy, and the ground was much, much steeper than I remembered. You climb out of Dartmouth by zigzagging up a cliff face and there were other places where you couldn't stand upright facing the slope with your feet flat on the ground - you had to be on tiptoe.

Slapton Sands is now something of a shrine to the US servicemen who lost their lives in Operation Tiger (a rehearsal for D-Day. Slapton Sands was chosen because apparently it looks very like Utah Beach). In a lovely gesture, the Americans have responded to the local effort to recover the Sherman and tell the story with a bronze plaque giving the details and a commemoration for all the local people who were evacuated at short notice for a year or so so the American Forces could practice amphibious assaults. Apparently the entire area was cleared of people and farm animals (it's a farming area famous for the quality of its cream) for six miles inland!

Further round at Start Point itself, I met some very elderly Americans pottering back from the lighthouse. They were all smiles and clearly having a wonderful time. I gave them my best cheery "Good Morning!"s, wondering if they were veterans back having a look at some of their youth. I think they were.

Further round, the cliff path gets very exposed. It's "one slip and you'll be lucky to tell the tale" walking. There are warning signs saying the path has eroded, and in some places it has. In others, it's just about scrambling, not walking. Lots of lizards skittering off the path, where they had been sunning themselves. Then it was round into childhood holiday territory I knew well: Looking across to Bolt Head and Starehole Bay from Gara; Limebury and the Bar, the Poundstone the Wolf Rock and the Blackstone; and then the Ferry across from East Portlemouth to Salcombe.

Absolutely shattered. Loved it.

Then four days of family. Was fun and involved my sisters never stopping talking. At all. Ever. :wah:

It all sounds well worth the exercise.

Did you end up with an impression on visitor numbers? Are they really down or was it just me they hid from?

Clodhopper;1321979 wrote: Thanks for the kind wishes.:-6

It was indeed an EXCELLENT two day walk. The weather was near perfect, the pack wasn't too heavy, and the ground was much, much steeper than I remembered. You climb out of Dartmouth by zigzagging up a cliff face and there were other places where you couldn't stand upright facing the slope with your feet flat on the ground - you had to be on tiptoe.

Slapton Sands is now something of a shrine to the US servicemen who lost their lives in Operation Tiger (a rehearsal for D-Day. Slapton Sands was chosen because apparently it looks very like Utah Beach). In a lovely gesture, the Americans have responded to the local effort to recover the Sherman and tell the story with a bronze plaque giving the details and a commemoration for all the local people who were evacuated at short notice for a year or so so the American Forces could practice amphibious assaults. Apparently the entire area was cleared of people and farm animals (it's a farming area famous for the quality of its cream) for six miles inland!

Further round at Start Point itself, I met some very elderly Americans pottering back from the lighthouse. They were all smiles and clearly having a wonderful time. I gave them my best cheery "Good Morning!"s, wondering if they were veterans back having a look at some of their youth. I think they were.

Further round, the cliff path gets very exposed. It's "one slip and you'll be lucky to tell the tale" walking. There are warning signs saying the path has eroded, and in some places it has. In others, it's just about scrambling, not walking. Lots of lizards skittering off the path, where they had been sunning themselves. Then it was round into childhood holiday territory I knew well: Looking across to Bolt Head and Starehole Bay from Gara; Limebury and the Bar, the Poundstone the Wolf Rock and the Blackstone; and then the Ferry across from East Portlemouth to Salcombe.

Absolutely shattered. Loved it.

Then four days of family. Was fun and involved my sisters never stopping talking. At all. Ever. :wah:


Welcome back!

Sounds like climbing was fun, being on your tiptoes, eeekkkkkkkk!

the path has ended? ekkkkkkkkkkk!

Your trip sounds awesome especially with your family and seeing your sister from N.Z.

Clodhopper;1320970 wrote: That's the plan!

Farewell and adieu to you, fair Garden ladies ,

Farewell and adieu to you ladies insane*;

For I've received orders to make for old Salcombe

But I hope very shortly to see you again.

*apologies. Was really struggling for a rhyme. :wah:


We will rant and we'll roar like true Garden posters,

We'll rant and we'll roar all on the green lea.

Until we strike soundings in the channel of old Salcombe;

From London to Dartmouth is thirty five leagues.

Enjoy

Did you end up with an impression on visitor numbers? Are they really down or was it just me they hid from?


Actually, I asked about this a few times as I went round the coast. The consensus appeared to be that it was very early season - too early to tell. They are waiting for the school hols.

We will rant and we'll roar like true Garden posters,

We'll rant and we'll roar all on the green lea.

Until we strike soundings in the channel of old Salcombe;

From London to Dartmouth is thirty five leagues.

Enjoy


:wah::wah::wah:

Thank you, I did! (Even if a picky pedant would get uptight about the scansion of your third line. I'm not, so I won't. :sneaky:)

I recommend a holiday in the South West to anyone. Beautiful country. In sun it's just gorgeous. In bad weather it's spectacular.

Welcome back!

Sounds like climbing was fun, being on your tiptoes, eeekkkkkkkk!

the path has ended? ekkkkkkkkkkk!

Your trip sounds awesome especially with your family and seeing your sister from N.Z.


Thanks Odie. It was indeed great fun.

For me, walking with a pack is a form of meditation: I enter a sort of trance state at times and find a couple of miles have disappeared under my feet while my mind was elsewhere. Getting your mind distracted is easy: One minute you are walking along a beach with no wind at all and the sea making small sounds as it laps and curls against the coast; the next minute you've climbed 50 metres in 100, are cresting the headland to the next cove, feeling the delicious breeze and watching the coast curve round to the south, with distant headlands against the sea and sky until you can't tell which is which. Then you plunge down the slope to the next cove and do it all again. Bliss. :-6

Clodhopper;1322571 wrote: Thanks Odie. It was indeed great fun.

For me, walking with a pack is a form of meditation: I enter a sort of trance state at times and find a couple of miles have disappeared under my feet while my mind was elsewhere. Getting your mind distracted is easy: One minute you are walking along a beach with no wind at all and the sea making small sounds as it laps and curls against the coast; the next minute you've climbed 50 metres in 100, are cresting the headland to the next cove, feeling the delicious breeze and watching the coast curve round to the south, with distant headlands against the sea and sky until you can't tell which is which. Then you plunge down the slope to the next cove and do it all again. Bliss. :-6


now that you've described it....it does sound relaxing.:-6

Sounds like an absolutely, wonderful adventure Clod. Glad you had a good time.

Wish I was adventerous as you. A few years ago, I climbed Mt. Errigal in Donegal, Ireland. This mountain was 2500 feet/762 meters. Nearer the top of the mountains were tons of small rocks to climb over. I also had to hug the mountain on tip toes. On our way down, we basically slid on our bums over the rocks:)

This was the scariest experience of my life. Don't think I'd climb up to the top again, but would give it another go to climb half way or so.

This is the area where my Dad lived.......Dunlewy.



Attached files

Good afternoon Kathy Ellen.

That does look steep! Bet the view from the top was quite something.

I think I've said before that Donegal is about the only part of Ireland that I haven't at least visited once. It is an error I will have to rectify at some point.

You'll love Donegal Clod...especially the northwestern area around the Gaeltacht....That's where my family live...Dungloe, Bunbeg, Dunlewy....all gorgeous places with beautiful people.

I found a few pictures of me on my climb to Errigal Mt. They're a bit fuzzy, but I think you can see how steep the mt. is at the top.

I had to prove to some rellys that a Yank is not afraid to climb the mt.:wah: The buggers didn't believe that I'd do it

It was breathtaking at the summit. I honestly didn't know that Errigal was part of a mountain range called the Derryveagh mts.



My Dad and his cousins would run up and down the mountain all the time. They'd even sleep on the top of the mt.:wah:

You can click on the pic a few times to enlarge it.

Attached files

Ooops - missed your reply, KE. It must have been fantastic - and VERY steep! Chuckle. I slept on the top of Cader Idris (2nd highest mtn in Wales) a couple of years ago in November. The views over the Irish sea were just gorgeous. It was also one of the coldest nights I've ever spent. Thank Heavens for good sleeping bags.