Bigbury-on-Sea to Salcombe, 22km, 448m ascending, 1709 cumulative ascending

When we arrived in Bigbury-on-Sea yesterday the close off shore Burgh Island was joined to the mainland with a sand spit. You could easily walk across. This morning near high tide the sand spit was covered by the sea and a tractor + trailer with very high seats was used to take people across. Dominating the island is the exclusive and extortionate Burgh Island Hotel, from £420 per night. It is a 1920s Art Deco hotel and inspired the setting for Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.

About 45 minutes out of Bigbury-on Sea we came to the first obstacle of the day – The River Avon. Not the River Avon of Stratford upon Avon etc. England has five River Avons, Scotland three and Wales one. They are all a tautology as Avon comes from the Celtic word for river, hence they are River River. This River Avon is 41km long and rises in Dartmoor National Park.

We knew there was a seasonal ferry operating that ran Mon to Sat from 10.00am to 11.00am and 3.00pm to 4.00pm. No service on Sundays. Our info was the season was from April 19 until September 30. We arrived just before ten and as instructed on the sign board attracted the ferryman, who is based on the other side, by shouting and waving. He came and picked us up and soon had us on the other side of the Avon at Bantham. He informed us that in fact today, September 21 was his last day, not the 30^th. If we had arranged our itinerary for one day later we would have had a taxi ride or a long walk around the estuary. We learnt later the timetable for the ferry runs very much on the whim of the ferryman.

Compared to yesterday this section of the coast is well used and we were never far from residential and holiday accommodation, cafes, car parks and thankfully toilets. After Burgh Island and the Avon Estuary the morning’s highlights were the distinctive holed Thurlestone Rock, the headland of Bolt Tail and the charming little settlement and picturesque harbour of Hope Cove, which is split into Outer Hope and Inner Hope.

From Hope Cove there were quite spectacular high cliffs, soaring above tiny, mostly inaccessible coves. The actually is called Soar and at each end are dramatic headlands, Bolt Tail in the west and Bolt Head in the east. Soar had many jagged rock formations both inland and on the coast terminating with a very narrow squeeze through a cleft in the rock at Sharp Tor. Turning this corner we were suddenly in the softer sandy bays of the estuary of Salcombe Harbour. This is where we stay tonight. Unfortunately The Waverley B & B is high above the water up a very steep and winding street. So we walked up to check and get showered, all the way down  to get a meal at the Ferry Inn and all the way up again to get to our bed.

Tomorrow first thing, we have our fourth ferry crossing. These are getting to be fun.