South West Coast Path. Day 1: Plymouth To Warren Point

Just over two years ago I walked two-thirds of the South West Coast Path from Minehead in Somerset to Plymouth in Devon — a distance of around 400 miles. I decided it was now high time I completed my epic journey along England's longest National Trail. So, on 14 November this year, I booked a room in the Squires' B&B, St James Place East, Plymouth, and took a train to the West Country. The next day I regained the path, my stomach knotted in expectation, and with joy in my heart.

On the dull and hazy morning of 15 November I left Smeaton's Tower on Plymouth Hoe and headed east.

Looking back towards Plymouth across Plymouth Sound.

Only 175 miles to go!

The path wound through a woodland of twisted trees and mossy branches. A few summer flowers still struggled on — mullein, red campion, gorse and one solitary squill.

See how the prevailing south-westerly winds have sculpted this tree into a pleasingly artistic shape.

I contoured round sandy, rocky coves and low headlands...

... and skirted the first of many caravan parks which have blighted this section of coastline.

The pyramidal Great Mew Stone Rock.

The river Yealm near Warren Point just beyond Wembury. 

There's a seasonal ferry across the Yealm but it had stopped running in September. So I retraced my steps to Wembury — only to find that the buses were on a one-day strike. I was about to phone a taxi when two kind walkers I'd met earlier gave me a lift back to Plymouth in their car. I would take a bus to Noss Mayo on the other side of the river the following morning, and resume my walk from there...

Pilgrims

This is the 14th century St Michael's Chapel at Rame Head. The couple in the picture had been walking short sections of the coastal path during weekends and holidays for several years...

After Cawsand and Kingsand, and a long but pleasantly wooded stretch through Mount Edgcumbe Country Park, I caught the Cremyll ferry across the river Tamar, the border between Devon (on the east) and Cornwall (on the west). It landed me in Plymouth, the end point of my journey. Here's Smeaton's lighthouse on Plymouth Hoe, the place where Sir Francis Drake insisted on finishing his game of bowls before going out to defeat the Spanish Armada - the ultimate in English cool...

And this is the exact spot (known as the Mayflower Steps) from where the Mayflower set sail in 1620, carrying the Pilgrim Fathers to the colony that would become known as Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA. The rest, as they say, is history...

Warships have changed quite a bit since the wooden galleons of Drake's time. This photo was taken in Plymouth's naval dockyards...

So I'd reached the end of my long trek around the coast of Devon and Cornwall. It was an abrupt ending, as endings often are. In a month I'd walked over 400 miles and completed about two-thirds of the whole trail. 200 miles, from Plymouth to Poole, still remained. Some day I would return...

The Solitary Walker is taking a break from blogging and blogreading for a while. He will be back!