Thursday 30 April 2026

Day 10 of walking
Hartland Quay to Morwenstow
Distance: 14.45km
Total distance: 208.46km
Climbing: 635m
Total climb: 6307m

Today was one of the remotest and most beautiful stretches of coastline the SWCP has to offer. There are no villages or refreshments between Hartland Quay and Morwenstow. Despite a steep scramble up out of Hartland Quay the first part of the walk is gentle, passing two waterfalls, a small one at Wargery Water and a much more impressive one at Speke’s Mill Mouth. After an easy walk up a valley to Swansford Hill you are straight into five incredibly steep descents and ascents scrambling over valley after valley. It is an awe-inspiring and dramatic coastline with jagged edges of rock stretching out into the ocean, headlands with high steep cliffs and tiny inaccessible beaches.

There were strong winds today, gusting up to 65km/hour. It was a cross wind for us and it was a bit unnerving at times on the high cliffs with a side wind blowing you toward the edge. There are also lots of signs warning of steep cliffs which are often undercut and can drop into the sea or rocks below at any time. We handled the walking very well today but feel a bit beaten up due to battling the wind all day.

We crossed the border from North Devon into Kernow (Cornwall), and there was a sign to let us know. Unfortunately the photo I took there is horribly out of focus, I think I slipped on the little bridge just before the sign. I will get a better photo next time we pass this way. Ha ha! There is also a sign saying 300 miles (480kms) to Plymouth. Plymouth is the end of the Cornwall coast and where you cross into South Devon. Now we are in Cornwall we can have genuine Cornish Pasties and Cornish Cream Teas.

On one of the descents we came across a lovely little stone hut. Ronald Duncan’s hut. Author, poet, playwright and pacifist. He built the hut so he could have views of the sea while he was writing. We made an entry in the visitors’ book and you could read some of his poetry and other work. It was another poem by John Moat called Welcome Beach that took my fancy:
“The pebbles are out of order. Some man’s
Been down to meddle with the stones again
………..”

Shortly after our fifth steep climb and descent we were able to get off the roller coaster and go inland to the hamlet of Morwenstow. This is an ancient tiny settlement with just church and church yard, tea rooms, an inn/pub and a B & B. Someone had recommended to us the multi award winning Rectory Farm Tearoom for its cakes so we called in to sample Cornish sticky cake, a chocolate fudge cake and a hand made lemonade. It was charming and the cake was nice but Barbara thought it a bit snobby and $35 for two bits of cake and a fizzy drink is a bit up there. It was nice and warm and a relief to be out of the wind.

We then had a look in the church, dedicated to St Morwenna and St John the Baptist. The earliest part of the church is from Norman times but it is a bit strange in that the columns down one side of the nave are Romanesque and down the other side gothic. It is one of those lovely churches you find standing in the English countryside with an enormous bell tower. It has a large graveyard overgrown with masses of pink wild flowers. One of the vicars was the Rev Hawker, of Hawker’s Hut fame. More on him tomorrow.

We are staying in Morwenstow tonight in the 13^th century Bush Inn. Another lovely old country inn and again we are upstairs in an attic bedroom. We stayed here eight years ago in the very same room. Downstairs in the bar we had a delicious meal. For those who only read the blog and look at the photos for the food we had: Beef and ale stew with mash, carrots, onions, broccoli and parsnip (Barbara) and I had Cornish sausages with gravy, onions, mash, and the same vegetables. Large meals but after a day out climbing and fighting the wind we downed the lot.

Despite all the steep climbs and the wind we feel good tonight. We are not fast walkers. Not Ferraris, more like old Massy Ferguson tractors, put us in low gear and we can chug along forever.