Heddon's Mouth

Thursday 3rd September 2020

The weather on this walk was terrible. Over the Bank Holiday weekend in Dartmoor I had been blessed with great, sunny weather, but since moving to Exmoor the weather had deteriorated. It had started raining when I got back to the campsite after my walk the day before and it was still raining when I got up, which was not making me enthusiastic about going for a walk. I was sitting in my car, sheltering from the rain, thinking I don’t want to go, I don’t want to walk in this weather, but eventually I got all packed to go and was back into my car ready to drive to the car park for the start of the walk, and my car wouldn’t start. It was just the battery, but I didn’t want to be calling out the A.A. in this weather so I was really unsure what to do. I didn’t want to do anything in this weather. After much delay I decided that I would go for a walk from the campsite and finish early so I could call the A.A. in the afternoon. My plan had been to drive to Hunter’s Inn, in the Heddon valley, and walk along the coastal path, but since I could no longer do that I decided I would start the coastal path from the campsite heading to Hunter’s Inn. Heading down the hill I entered Caffyns Heanton Wood, just as I had done the day before, but whereas then I had turned right towards Lynton now I turned left descending steeply through the wood until I reached a picturesque little valley with the stream of the lee running at the bottom.

Taking a track on the other side I soon reached a wood-lined road along with the South West Coast Path and walked along the road for a while, which is what I had planned to avoid as this section of the coastal path just follows the road, until events had conspired against me. Eventually my surroundings improved as I reached Woody Bay where the lovely orange flowers of crocosmia decorated the entrances to driveways. There I turned off the road onto a path that crosses the bay above Martinhoe Manor and led me through West Woodybay Wood until finally I emerged out into the open coastline with views out to sea from the bracken and gorse covered hillside. Unfortunately, because of the rain, the visibility was very poor when otherwise the views would have been fabulous walking along a narrow path high above the Bristol Channel, and instead I had to content myself simply with the walk. After passing Great Burland Rocks I swung round the headland and entered the long, narrow valley of the River Heddon where the path gradually descends to the bottom of the valley.

When I reached the bottom I saw a sign for Heddon’s Mouth so I left the coastal path and turned north past the raging river, swollen by the rain, and came out at the mouth of the river where it meets the sea in spectacular surroundings. A stony beach and fantastic rock formations provided me with lots to look at, though the rain was not making it easy and the rocks were very slippery. When I got fed up with slipping on the rocks I headed back inland, this time staying on the western side of the river, passing the coastal path as it crosses the valley until I reached a road not far from the Hunter’s Inn where I had planned to park. While wishing it would stop raining I had my lunch before setting off back towards the campsite taking a slightly different route branching onto a path that takes a higher route up the hillside and it wasn’t long before the rain finally stopped and as I climbed into the side valley of Hill Brook the air cleared down the valley affording me with views that I had not been granted earlier in the day.

After rounding the headland I passed the remains of a Roman fortlet, called the Beacon, and I couldn’t resist climbing the muddy, eroded path up to the top where I now had relatively good views down the coast. Back on the path I now had a much more pleasurable walk along the path with better views and without the rain, but eventually the path brought me back into West Woodybay Wood and robbed me of the views. This led me onto a road that took me back onto the coastal path at the point where I had earlier left the road. Not long after this point the coastal path has an alternative route that heads out to Crock Point and I was tempted to take this route now, but I needed to get back to the campsite so I could call out the A.A. to get my car fixed, so instead I branched off the road to climb through Bonhill Wood, crossing the Lee, and climbing, once again, all the way up to the campsite. It is amazing how much nicer it is to be walking when it isn’t raining. The views are so much worse when it is raining and you are keeping your head down just trying to get to your destination as quickly as possible. Without the rain you take your time and enjoy the views and your surroundings as you slowly stroll along the path. However, since this is Britain you have got to get used to the rain.