England Part I - Minehead to Porlock Weir via Bossington - 9.5 miles

Three cousins, E and T and me.  The Three Adventurers.

Three days walking the spectacular coast of North Somerset and North Devon on the South West Coast Path. Can we do it? Do we have the stamina required?  This walk is described as "challenging'. Three days is a long time to be challenged. 

The first night was spent at Glendower House in Minehead, and after a hearty full English breakfast with all the trimmings, toast and marmalade and a couple of cups of coffee to fortify us, we started off on our Adventure.

The South West Coast Path starts at Minehead and continues for 630 miles (1014km) along the coastlines of Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset, ending at Poole. We definitely weren't planning to walk the full 630 miles.... although we did meet some ambitious people on the trail who intended to do just that. Our plan was to walk approximately the first 30 miles.

 

The start of the Coast Path on the seafront at Minehead is marked by a giant pair of hands holding a map. The weather was a bit "iffy"... grey skies and some drizzle in the air. The previous week had been all sunshine and blue skies... oh well. We had our raincoats with us.

 

The Coast Path took us through farmer's fields, then woodlands, and zigzagged up steep hills,  finally emerging at the top of North Hill, giving us a good view across the Bristol Channel. Then open moorland and fairly level trails past Selworthy Beacon and onto Hurlstone Point. Some rain in the air, and at one point we were bombarded with tiny hailstones. But we didn't care! We were on an Adventure!

Rain on top of Hurlstone Point

Porlock Marsh from Hurlstone Point

The 6000 year old pebble ridge that protected Porlock Marsh was breached by a storm about 8 years ago, and now the salt water floods the area every high tide, turning it into a salt marsh.

Coming down into the village of Bossington

We followed the zigzag path down the steep hill into Bossington, crossing a wooden bridge into the village, where we found Kitnor's Tea Rooms.... ahh... it was lunchtime.... perfect timing for three hungry hikers. And if you're reading this, Kitnor's, we are so sorry about our muddy boots on your clean floor!

Kitnor's Tea Room in Bossington

Myrtle Cottage on the left and Rose Cottage on the right.

From Bossington, we walked across the salt marsh towards the village of Porlock Weir, passing a memorial to the crew of an American Liberator Bomber who crashed not far from this spot in October 1942. Of the 12 crew members, only one man survived.

Click to enlarge the pic to read the story of this wartime air tragedy.

The Adventure continues.........

If you have done this section of the South West Coast Walk, please leave me a comment and tell me about it!