Woolacombe to Lee

23 December 2020

This walk is dedicated to Greg. The first time I will walk the coast path without him waiting at home for me. Fly high my darling boy.

This is the first venture on the Coast Path for 12 months. The Covid 19 pandemic has clipped many wings and with lockdowns and precautions I’ve stayed close to home, but walking has been done.

Quite a stormy sort of day and a promise of a soaking, but that won’t put intrepids off. In company with Tom. The car was left at Lee and we hopped on a Filers to Woolacombe. Last time here, 12 months ago, life was so very different. Talk of a virus in China was giving cause for concern. Families were celebrating Christmas together. Life was what later became known as ‘normal’. Nobody had any idea what a pandemic would mean to our comfortable lives, but now we know.

I started from the exact point of finishing a year ago. Not an inch of the 630 miles is going to be missed. It’s a steady climb alongside the Esplanade towards Mortehoe. Just above Grunta pool the coast path sets off away from the road. Soggy, slippery grass soon gave way to worse as the first downpour hit us. Never mind, waterproofs on and now my backpack even has a mini waterproof all of its own. Approaching Morte Point the wind got fiercer and the path narrowed. Far below black rocks rise out of the sea in jagged ridges. Around the corner the rain stopped and the wind eased which was fortunate, in a few places there is a sheer drop to the rocks below. Bull Point lighthouse focuses the eye up ahead and the sun came out to charm us. Soon after Bull Point we were challenged by steps plunging down to sea level and the inevitable climb back up on the other side of the steep valley, not once, but twice. The knees shake going down and the lungs shake going up. We sat between the steep valleys in the sun and had a picnic which charged our batteries sufficiently for the final slog. By the time we got to Lee I experienced the euphoria of a good walk ended. Would it be cocky to say I could have managed the last few miles to Ilfracombe after all. Well perhaps…….. but the car was there so what was a girl to do.

An exhilarating trek of 5 miles. Total 132.8