7 km along the coast and 12.7 inland
The remainder of section 57 in the SWCPA handbook
After visiting friends on the edge of Dartmoor, we stayed at Longmeadow Farm campsite on the edge of Shaldon. We had previously stayed at the same campsite almost 20 years ago in the first of our three VW campervans.
From the campsite we walked through the rather quirky and pretty village to the ferry, perhaps our first trip on public transport since March 2020. A pleasant open boat where we met a couple of girls, one of whom had walked all the Southwest Coastal path from Minehead. As the ferry only took cash and the girls were relaying on cards to save weight, the ferryman accepted what they had, and a fellow passenger also gave a contribution – the kindness of strangers.
From the ferry we walked to the pier – unfortunately now rather run down apart from “amusements” at the landward end.
From here we followed an inland route, tracks and footpaths, back to Dawlish, which took us to a snicket that lead back to the stream and so down to the beach. After a stop for lunch, we re-joined the coastal path and followed the promenade. There have obviously been cliff falls from the red sandstone in this area and a small diversion led to a rather steep climb to the main road. After a short while the path again descends before going back up to the main road again.
Contractors were preparing for major engineering works to the railway tunnel.Before long the path descends again to Holcombe beach, where there is a café. As it was a calm day and low tide, we did not have to worry about the warning signs about dangers on the sea wall. The path now follows the sea wall on the East (Seaward) side of the busy railway. Although the path is wide and in quite good condition, there is a large (maybe 4m) drop to the sandy beach on one side and the railway on the other.
On parts of the railway fencing and steep sandstone cliffs to the West, there were multiple instruments no doubt to inform a control room somewhere of any rockfalls so trains could be stopped in time. We stopped for a snack at Spey Point, where as well as picnic tables there was a huge sign made of masonry saying “Teignmouth”.
From here there is a trail with interesting information about the town as you approach, and later a temporary recycled art trail with installations made by local organisations about the sea.
We continued around the point to the lighthouse before catching the ferry back to Shaldon and walking back to the campsite.
