Day 5: Bude to Hartland Quay

N.B. A six-day walk on the north coast of the South West Coast Path (Padstow to Clovelly).
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The place we stayed in Bude featured a rather untrustworthy proprietor and indifferently clean rooms, so I got up early on a quest for cappuccino.   I'd seen several coffee shops the night before, so I was optimistic.  

Unfortunately, the streets were deserted for a reason - none of the coffee shops were open!!  Finally, I went to a general store which sold me an instant cappuccino.  I've had worse.  When I returned to the B&B for breakfast, the hostess saw my cup and said they could have made cappuccino for me.  I smile wanly, but honestly I think I'd have wanted to look at their espresso machine first.  

We were soon out of there, and we took a taxi to the start of the day's walk.  It is theoretically possible that  by doing so, we managed to skip a particularly steep ravine and hill (she said, all wide-eyed innocence), but fear not -- we got in a few ups and downs nonetheless.

Along the way, a bit of shipwreck was visible on the rocks.  A plaque on the bench overlooking the remnants explains:

"GREEN RANGER
This bench is made from part of the wreckage of the tanker 'Green Ranger' 
which went aground in a force 10 gale on the evening of 17th November 1962.  
Some of the wreck can still be seen on the rocks below.  
Northern Devon Coast and Countryside Service, July 2003"

Remnants of the "Green Ranger"

Another angle, as the tide is going out

The quality of the light made everything luminous

Fungus

As I dawdled with my camera and various adjustments, Bill and Sarah got far ahead.  But I still had to take a picture of this sign for Sarah.  (She's not keen on cows - let alone bulls!)  Happily, she did not see the sign - and we did not have to cross this particular field, in any event.

We walked along a little ridge, then descended to a bit of a creek or stream which we were supposed to cross.  (There were acorn signs behind us and acorn signs on the other side of the water, so it was Official Path.)  But we could not see any obvious, user-friendly way to get across.  No sign of a bridge - or even a former bridge.  Ultimately, we climbed over a fence, scrambled down a very short and crumbly cliff (maybe 18-24"), and picked our way across on rocks.  We were not setting challenges for ourselves; this was the easiest way across that we could find. 

On the other side, we encountered a walker (going the other direction) who asked us if we could confirm which way the path went.  We did.  She managed to get across the stream quickly and adroitly - making it look very, very easy.  Then she started sprinting up to the ridge.  Alas, it's athletes like that who make the rest of us look bad. 

We soon saw signs indicating that we were passing through some sort of nature reserve.  

I liked this little fold of land, almost like a skateboard ramp

The path became very hard to miss as we headed toward the Hartland Quay Hotel.

I liked the sag in the roof, and the lichen.

We enjoyed lunch outdoors at the pub, and went to a viewing point to look at Lundy Island.

The sign on the wall says "Strictly no dogs beyond this point"

We actually continued on beyond Hartland Quay, as we were staying in Hartland.

The "Pleasure House" folly

According to British Listed Buildings, this ruin is a "Folly known as The Pleasure House":

Folly. Possibly late C16 in origin remodelled in later C18. Coursed roughly square rubble walls. Roofless. Square on plan. Now partly ruinous tall structure, western wall has gone. Large roundheaded arch with dressed stone voussoirs and projecting imposts on east side. Signs of extensive alterations include traces of windows built up and there is also evidence of a fireplace on the 2nd floor and a staircase. 

The Pleasure House is first mentioned by that name in a letter of 1738 and is first shown on an early C18 map of the Abbey drawn to show the estate at the time of the 2 William Abbots in the later C16. The second Paul Orchard (1739 - 1812) is reputed to have altered the building so that he could back his carriage in and admire the view. 

Sources: The Book of Hartland - R. Pearse Chope; Hartland Quay - The story of a Vanished port - M. Rix and M. R. Meyers; Hartland Abbey, Devon II Richard Haslam:
[Country Life September 15 1983.]

A last, lingering look at the folly...

Narnian imagery: Puzzle (from The Last Battle) and the
cracked Stone Table (from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe)

Black Sheep

We passed a sewage treatment plant (pew!) and came to St. Nectan's.

St Nectan's

Sarah and I approached from the tower side (i.e, the east) and walked around 3 sides of the church only to find the doors locked.  Sarah retraced her steps to join Bill, and I decided to walk by the fourth side (the south) ... and the door was open there!!  St. Nectan was, according to the church's walking guide, "an early saint of Welsh or Irish origin."  Apparently the church tower is "the tallest in Devon at 128 feet and is known locally as 'Peeping Tom.'"

Inside St Nectan's - the "Devonian waggon roof"

In Hartland, we stayed at one of the two nicest places on the entire trip, Two Harton Manor, and had an outstanding dinner at the nearby Hart Inn, followed by serendipitous entertainment as we followed the sounds of music and sat in on a rehearsal session of the town band.  It was really lovely.  

The aesthetic of Two Harton Manor is clean and simple (almost zen), and very quirky and artistic.  The proprietor, Merlyn, is indeed an artist.  And also an excellent cook - we had a lovely breakfast.  Sarah naturally befriended the cat as well.

Close-up of the bookshelf in my room.

It is difficult to overstate the emotional impact of seeing these Penguin editions, grouped by color.  Among other things, it brings back the English classroom (my refuge and my home from home) at Le Verseau.  I so very much wanted to drop everything else, curl up in the armchair, and read! And it awoke in me a yearning to possess such a collection of Penguin editions myself.  They all seem very much worth reading.

N.B. A six-day walk on the north coast of the South West Coast Path (Padstow to Clovelly).

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