Their story, in their words…
The three of us set off from London on the early morning of day 1. We caught a coach from London Victoria to Bristol, then another one on to Plymouth, and finally ran to catch a local bus to Looe, where our hike would start.
We had stocked up on food back in London, so we had a quick snack, looked around the busy seaside town of Looe, and set off on the coast path. We had a tough but short stretch to do on day 1, before we reached our campsite and set up our tents for the night.
The next day we awoke bright and early, and after a quick jam sandwich for breakfast, we set off. Unfortunately, one of us was seriously struggling with the terrain, and couldn’t continue, and so left us at the tiny village of portwrinkle, catching the bus back to plymouth.
The remaining two of us continued on along the coast, walking through the military firing ranges at Tregantle fort, which were thankfully not in use as we passed through.
After a quick break at an ice cream van, we walked on round the bay to Rame head, which juts out from Cornwall into the English channel, providing stunning views both back westwards to Looe and even further towards Mevagissey and Lizard point, the southernmost point of the UK.
We could also see for miles eastward, where we would soon be walking, to Wembury, Challaborough and Prawle point. We then carried on round the head to Kingsands, before turning inland to find our campsite at Maker heights.
The next day, after packing up our tent, we walked the short distance along the coast to Cremyll ferry, having passed through the picturesque Edgcumbe country park, and caught the short boat ride into Plymouth itself, passing from rugged Cornwall into sunny Devon.
Walking on asphalt with our stiff shoes and heavy packs was tough, but it was not too long before we caught another ferry across Mount Batten and we walked on through beautiful forests around Jennycliff. After a quick drink at cliffedge cafe in Bovisand. The following section of our hike was beautiful and windswept, with long grass on either side and hidden beaches peppering the rocky shores.
A tense moment occurred when we reached Warren Point and realised that the ferry had closed for the day, but luckily we found a local water taxi which took us across the water, and we carried on. The following section, from Cellar beach to Stoke beach was our favourite stretch by far.
As it was darkening into night, there were very few other people on the path, and so we enjoyed the peace and quiet as we hiked along this incredibly rugged section, jutting out into the sea. We finally set up camp above Stoke beach, having walked 23 miles on our longest day.
The next day passed relatively uneventfully, aside from one ridiculously tough section consisting of a series of intense ascents and descents, all in quick succession. To add insult to injury, we had run out of water, and so had to complete the toughest section of the whole hike whilst very thirsty.
A few brief showers punctuated our day, as we ate our supper in the pretty village of Hope cove, having finally made it round the length of the bay, and we slept at a very isolated spot in the roaring wind by Soar Mill cove, just past Bolberry Down.
After a couple of hours walking the next day, we reached the large town of Salcombe, overrun with tourists yet still very pretty. We restocked our (very) dwindling supplies at the co-op, before catching yet another small ferry across to East Portlemouth. The rest of the day was very tough, comprising harsh terrain to the lookout at Prawle point, before a long slog to Start point. When we finally clambered to the top of the ridge at Start point, the relief was unbelievable.
The views both back to Prawle point as well as onwards across the bay were jawdropping. Our final destination at Dartmouth was visible in the distance, and we could see the short distance we had left to cover. We set up camp a short distance from Torcross, looking forward to the end of our journey.
Our final day began bright and early; we packed the tent up for the final time, and set off along Slapton sands, site of the D-day practice landings. We had one final pitstop for snacks at the top of the cliff in Strete, before maintaining a more inland route along the coast path to Willow cove.
We passed Deadman’s cove soon after, and finally reached Dartmouth castle in the early afternoon, well ahead of schedule. We made the victorious short stroll into Dartmouth itself, with views of the huge naval college above the stunning town. We bought some celebratory fish and chips, before spending the afternoon catching crabs in the harbour.
After that we caught the ferry across to Kingswear, and a bus to Paignton where our coach would depart later that night. We arrived back at London Victoria, nearly a week after we had left, nursing our battered feet and legs, but glad we had finished the challenge. Overall we walked 86 miles across the five and bit days of walking.
