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A beautiful day again as we all loaded our cases into the coach, said our goodbyes, and made an early start about 9.15 a.m. We had two stops on the way back and its easy to spot a CHA group at a motorway station, just look for a hill and that's where they'll be sitting!

We had a very good journey home and arrived back in Bradford much earlier than expected about 4.30 p.m.

Many thanks to William for getting us safely there and back and transporting us around the narrow Devon lanes. Thanks to everyone concerned with organising the holiday, Ray and Jackie Wilkes, Keith and Jackie Hotchen, and of course thanks to the volunteer walks leaders Malcolm Walters, Mick Melvin, Frank Starr, Rita Schofield, Stuart Blaylock, Mike Smith and Colin Gregg. And thanks to anyone else I haven't named who has helped to make the holiday a sucess...........that's everyone really!

As usual it was a very enjoyable experience and an opportunity to see a part of Britain that you might otherwise not visit. All that remains to be said is see you all next year hopefully in Speyside.....................now that's an interesting place to visit. Make sure you book early!

Day 7 Friday

Well the last day of the holiday had arrived and we were still blessed with good weather. No 'A' party today and I decided to take the opportunity to visit Dartmouth and see some of the things I hadn't managed to see on a previous visit to this area. The coach dropped us off at Kingswear just across the river and we took the ferry across.

I made my way along to Dartmouth castle near the mouth of the estuary and down to Castle Cove where I sat for a while watching the sun sparkling on the sea and the waves lapping on the shore........very peaceful as I was the only person there until three more CHA explorers discovered my peaceful spot!

After a morning pottering around Dartmouth and lunch overlooking the river it became rather windy and I took the ferry back to Kingswear to explore the other side of the river. There was an impressive flight of steps leading up to the top of the village but I decided to take the coastal path towards the river entrance along a private road leading to some very impressive properties with tropical gardens, obviously this is the place the millionaires live down here!

As soon as the coastal path plunged downwards I retraced my steps back to the centre of Kingswear and took a path beside the railway alongside the river. This was the path the 'C' party had taken earlier in the day. About 1/2 mile along there was a bench in the sun and out of the wind, just right for admiring the view and reading my book before catching the service bus back to Paignton and Torquay, but not before seeing that steam train again!

Day 6 Thursday

The weather was set fair now for the rest of the holiday and today we set off south to Marlborough for another fine stretch of cliff walking finishing at Salcombe. I thought that this was the most enjoyable day of the week. Once again I joined the 'A' party led by Malcolm and we set off for the coast at Hope Cove and made our way via Bolt Tail and Bolt Head into Salcombe.
This walk had everything, great views, lovely wild flowers and bird life, beautiful coves and a very picturesque place to finish. Some people decided to catch the ferry into Salcombe at the end of the walk so only four of us completed the whole walk which was quite a bit further than we expected. However an ice cream and a sit on the quay watching the boats coming and going soon cooled us down before Mike gathered us all together to catch the coach back to Torquay.

Day 5 Wednesday

The Jurassic coast was our destination today and I was looking forward to this as I had never been to Dorset before but what a difference a day makes. The weather had turned cloudy and wet and it was also cold and windy. I decided that there was little point doing the 'A' walk as visibility was very poor and I didn't feel like toiling up those hills with no view to keep me going, so I opted for the 'B' walk led by Frank. Speaking of views if you follow this link you can get a taste of what we missed!

We set off from Seatown where the wind was blowing and the waves were rolling in.

There was a fair amount of undulation but it was difficult to tell where we were as the cloud was very low and visibility was poor to say the least. This is the best I could manage along the route. Unfortunately the coastal footpath had been diverted due to a landslip and the final part into Lyme Regis was mostly along roads and inland footpaths. By the time we reached Lyme Regis we were all ready for a cup of tea and a scone and were surprised to see that the 'A' party had arrived just before us. They had finished the last part of the walk along the beach, fortunately missing the areas of quicksand!
Whilst the 'A' and 'B' parties had been doing the coastal path a smaller group had been to visit Thomas Hardy's cottage. This is a walk that Jackie Wilkes would have led if she had been there and she sent me the following pictures taken by Sheila Hogg.

Anyone who has read a Thomas Hardy novel will know that the weather, particularly bad weather, is a strong feature and influences his characters' actions and feelings. Hardy wasn’t representing Dorset’s conditions realistically, he was exaggerating for artistic effect. So it was obviously Hardy's pessimistic influence that caused us to have the one day of bad weather when we visited his native Dorset!

Day 4 Tuesday

The main group went off in the coach to do the highest point on Dartmoor, Lydford to Okehampton, or the Lydford Gorge and Falls.

I decided that as I was at the seaside I didn't want to go inland and I would catch the bus to Brixham and walk back to Torquay. Jean Moxon decided to join me and we had quite an eventful day.

We caught the service bus in front of the balloon and arrived in Brixham 40 minutes later. The streets were thronged with cars and people so we wasted no time in setting off along the coastal path to Berry Head, a nature reserve with the remains of two forts and a lighthouse.It was very windy there so we didn't linger long and did a circular walk back to Brixham harbour for crab sandwiches before setting off around the bay back to Torquay. We stopped for lunch at Churston Cove after trying (and failing!) to negotiate the rocks and spent a little time sitting in the sun and enjoying the peace and quiet and the sound of the sea.

Things we saw along the way; a slow worm, Tom from Cobham in Surrey who is spending two years walking around the coast of Britain without any money, the steam train from Kingswear to Paignton, lots of beach huts - some with their backs to the sea, a lady from Yorkshire who had met the 'B' party on Sunday and recognised our accents; seagrass.

A most enjoyable walk that gave us the full experience of Torbay. I liked the small coves and wooded cliff tops but disliked the more populated areas of Paignton and Torquay.

A good day out and I was pleased that I had now walked the coastal path from Shaldon right round to Berry Head. The weather was still warm and sunny but the wind had increased causing us a problem with the bedroom door onto the balcony. However nothing that couldn't be sorted by the use of a pair of socks and a suitcase strap!

Day 3 Monday

The coach was fixed now so we were back on schedule, Sunday's schedule that is! We travelled south towards Plymouth and I joined Mick Melvin's 'A' walk from Battisborough Cross to Newton Ferrers. He had passed a sheet round the bus that showed a compressed view of the contours and it looked something like the alps! 'Yes it would be as hard as yesterday's walk' he said. Was he trying to put me off........I'm not sure but I decided to risk it as there were a couple of opportunities to shorten it if it got too much.

Once again we had lovely weather with a bit of a breeze this time. A couple of steep climbs before lunch but certainly nothing like yesterday's walk and then a beautiful, almost level, wide path on the side of the cliff all the way into Newton Ferrers....what a delight!

We arrived just in time to catch the ferry across to Newton Ferrers and had plenty of time for cream teas or drinks at the pub before setting off home at 5.15 pm.

Day 2 Sunday

Sunday dawned bright and sunny. We were very hot in our room as we didn't have a window to open, only a door on to the balcony. After a discussion with the others who had rooms opening on to the balcony we decided that in future we would leave our door open and trust that we weren't invaded by passing seagulls!

As we did not have a coach the schedule became a bit muddled and various groups took off to do their own thing. At least there was several good local bus services and many of us made use of our concessionary bus passes. I opted for an 'A' party walk that we had been going to do anyway on Monday. We caught the bus to Shaldon on the Teign estuary and Malcolm led the walk as he was the only one with a map!

This was a beautiful walk with good views and lovely little bays but it was very hot, we were walking into the sun all day, and it was very 'undulating', approximately 3000 ft of climbing.

We had our lunch and a paddle on Maidenscombe beach. The sand was very red in colour and Stuart noticed that as it dried out it was moving!
After lunch more undulations but also a bit of time for frivolities!

By the time we reached Babbacombe and had done several more ups and downs we were very ready for a cuppa on the sea front and more than a little tempted to catch the bus back to Torquay. However Malcolm encouraged us to carry on and the views of Anstey's Cove and Thatcher point were well worth it.

Plenty of time back at the hotel to sit on the balcony in the sun with my book and a nice cool bottle of Lucozade! Then after dinner sat out and watched the bats flitting around in the trees at the bottom of the garden.

Day 1 Saturday

Off we go again, this time down to the South Devon coast, staying in Torquay. I was picked up in Bingley as the coach made its way through to the main pick up stop in Bradford. This time it was William that drew the short straw as we travelled with our Sunday coach provider J.A.K Travel.

We had a good journey down, a bit busy on the roads as it was bank holiday Saturday and the weather forecast was a good one for a change!

We arrived at our destination, the 'Shelley Court Hotel', at about 6.15 pm and were greeted by Carole with tea and banana bread after which we claimed our luggage from the entrance and made our way to our rooms. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself and my room mate Maureen Crossley in a room with a sea view and also a large shared balcony. I don't know what we'd done to deserve this but we made sure we made the most of it throughout the week! This is the view that first evening from the balcony.

The ballon was a prominent feature of Torbay and a group of us were going to go up in it but by the time we decided to do this the weather had turned windy and it remained firmly on the ground for the rest of our time there.

After our evening meal many of us decided to stretch our legs and check out the delights of Torquay. There should have been a skittle competition in the hotel but walkers sitting in a coach all day feel the need for exercise and by the time we returned the skittles had been packed away. Just time for a quick drink in the bar and then..........oh dear, poor William, there was a problem with the hand brake sticking on the coach, his light bulb had gone in his bedroom, and his kettle had burned out, not a good day for him. He ended up taking the coach to Exeter to be fixed and returning in a small Volvo van that certainly wouldn't fit us all in for tomorrow's walk!