| Day | Route | Mileage | Approx time |
| 6 | Braunton to Instow | 12 | 4.5 hours |
| 7 | Instow to Westward Ho! | 12 | 5 hours |
| 8 | Westward Ho! to Clovelly | 11 | 5.5 hours |
| 9 | Clovelly to Elmscott | 13.6 | 6.5 hours |
| 10 | Elmscott to Bude | 12.5 | 6.75 hours |
Almost a year later we returned to Braunton and found ourselves walking around the estuary for 2 days. We stayed the first night in the charming village of Instow, which is a pretty, unspoilt seaside village with fishermen’s cottages and large stretches of sandy beaches and dunes.
Instead of taking the ferry across the short hop from Instow to Appledore, we walked to the nearest bridge (in Bideford 3 miles away!) and then back down the other side of the estuary to the artistic village of Appledore. In between rain showers we wandered through the winding narrow cobbled streets, dotted with colourful houses, and window shopped the wide range of arts and crafts on display in the independent stores.
We passed through Westward Ho! and then into the steep and cobbled main street of Clovelly via Hobby Drive. We had booked a B&B in the village itself and so we were able to enjoy the place in the evening and early morning, free of day trippers. We admired the mishmash of houses, the uneven paths underfoot and gazed at the boats and sea birds circling around the harbour. Charles Dickens had described the village, which he called Steepways: “The village was built sheer up the face of a steep and lofty cliff. There was no road in it, there was no wheeled vehicle in it, there was not a level yard in it … No two houses in the village were alike, in chimney, size, shape, door, window, gable, roof-tree, anything.” Certainly a unique place oozing with character.
On our way to Hartland we enjoyed seal spotting in the bays below the cliffs and constant views of Lundy Island.
After Hartland Quay, the SWCP website described the next stretch of the path as “the toughest part of the entire South West Coast Path and involves a long hard day of walking, with some very relentless and tiring ascents and descents – many river valleys, huge strenuous climbs out onto the cliffs each time”. There were spectacular views from the high cliffs and it was exposed, far from villages and car parks, so we felt that sense of isolation and wildness that invigorates the senses.
We passed from Devon to Cornwall on this stretch and it was our first real taste of the wildness of the path. It was challenging, all weathers were thrown at us, we were exposed and felt far from civilisation. We felt alive as we became part of the landscape for the duration of that hard day and we came out stronger, fitter, more resilient and with a deep sense of satisfaction.
We were delighted to discover the Hawker’s Hut near Morwenstow, a little hut built from driftwood, reclaimed from shipwrecks, by the eccentric Victorian vicar of Morwenstow, the Reverend Hawker. Apparently he smoked a pipe of opium here with his literary friends, Charles Dickens and Alfred Lord Tennyson. It is situated on a high cliff above the crashing Atlantic, a great place to while away some time and to reflect on life. We used it as a café and a changing room; we ate our sandwiches listening to the rain drumming on the timber roof and the waves crashing at the foot of the cliffs. As I was gingerly peeling off my wet layers of clothing, a couple of walkers opened the door, hoping for some shelter. One glance at me, with wet hair stuck to my face and in a semi state of undress, they abruptly turned away. I found one item of dry clothing in my rucksack, so changed into that and we continued on our way, richer for experiencing some time in Hawker’s hut, and only a few miles to our end point of Bude.
| Drive to Barnstaple and park |
| Bus Barnstaple to Braunton (Stagecoach South West, Bus 21) – 20 minutes |
| Walk from Braunton to Bude |
| Bus Bude to Holsworthy (Stagecoach South West, Bus 6) – 25 minutes |
| Bus Holsworthy to Barnstaple (Stagecoach South West, Bus 85) – 1 hour 10 minutes |
| Instow | Wayfarer Inn, Lane End, Instow, Bideford EX39 4LB |
| Westward Ho! | Culloden House, Fosketh Hill, Westward Ho! Bideford, Devon EX39 1UL |
| Clovelly | Donkey Shoe Cottage, 21 High Street, Clovelly, Nr Bideford, Devon. EX39 5TB |
| Elmscott | Elmscott Farm B&B, Elmscott Farm, Hartland, Bideford, North Devon EX39 6ES |
| Bude | The Grosvenor, 10 Summerleaze Cresent, Bude EX23 8HH |
