Coombe Martin to Woolacombe, 22.4km, 1011m of ascending, 3,677m accumulative ascending

Another blue sky day, about 20 degrees, no wind so very hot climbing many steep cliffs. Ran out of water near the end of the day so we are dehydrated tonight. Our accommodation, Sea Croft, is about a 30 minute walk, off the path, up a hill out of Woolacombe which is a bit of a bummer after a long hot day. The arrangement was that our host would pick us up in a car park in Woolacombe at 7pm and drive us to Sea Croft. We arrived in Woolacombe about 4.45pm and considered walking the extra 30 mins but quickly decided against it and went into the flash Woolacombe Bay Hotel for a cool drink instead. We were easily the dirtiest, smelliest people in the bar. Went to a café for something to eat and about 6.00pm rang the Sea Croft people to come and pick us up, which they did very promptly.

This morning was a section of rocky inlets separated by rugged headlands. One of the inlets, Watermouth Bay is large enough to moor many boats, has a large holiday camp and has a great view back to Great Hangman and Little Hangman which we climbed yesterday. Soon we reached Ilfracoombe which has a nice old part of town and a pretty harbour. It was also teeming with people, everyone out enjoying the sun on a beautiful Saturday morning. The harbour part of town also is overrun with every conceivable form of tourist tatt and garbage. Not a pleasant place for us coming off the quiet remote cliff tops.

Ilfracoombe has a controversial steel and bronze stature on the harbour pier. It is the tallest statue in England and is the work of Damien Hirst. The statue is of a woman, Verity, with half of her body skinless, the skull and womb (including a developing foetus) revealed.  She stands on a pile of books, holds a set of scales behind her back and a sword pointing to the sky. So what is it all about? A ‘verity’ (Veritas) is ‘the quality of being true’ and Hirst describes the statue as a modern allegory of truth and justice. It all seems a bit puzzling and a bit unsettling.

Also in Ilfracoombe this morning were hundreds of motor cycles, all makes models and sizes, and their proud owners encased in their leathers. It was quite a carnival atmosphere with much revving of engines and loud music. All a bit much for us so we went to a bakery and had them make us a nice fresh baguette and we headed for the hills – literally.

After Ilfracoombe the path meandered through the greenery of Torrs Park, past the lovely little Lee Bay, where a group were struggling to bring their dinghy in over the rocks, and up onto the cliffs for a roller coaster ride from the tops down into valleys and up again. Past the Bull Point Lighthouse and the seals at Morte Point. Morte Point is a place so wild it was once referred to locally as ‘the place God made last and the devil will take first’. Morte is the French for death.

Rounding Morte Point suddenly Woolacombe is before you and it is dominated by the vast Wollacoombe Sands. A long beach we will tackle tomorrow.