Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK)

154 Bridgewater to Pawlett, via Dunball Wharf

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

I’m not expecting much from today’s walk: just a slog through industrial estates and along a busy road, until I get to Dunball wharf and a river footpath. Bridgewater is not the prettiest of towns, but any marina looks nice if the sun is shining. Continue reading →

Posted in 11 Somerset | Tagged hiking, photography, river, travel, walking | 16 Comments

153 Stert Point to Bridgwater (River Parrett Trail)

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

[Warning: For anybody following after me, the route of this walk is no longer passable. The river bank has been breached to create the Steart Marshes, and walkers would need to make an inland detour to get around the breach.]

Today I am heading down the west bank of the River Parrett to Bridgwater, the first point at which I can cross the river and continue my coastal walk.

But, when my husband drops me off in the car park at Steart Village, and just beside the monument that marks the beginning/end of the West Somerset Coast Path, I see a footpath sign. And I discover I can walk even further along the coast, and maybe get to Stert Point itself.

So off I go. (This is another unexpected eccentricity displayed by the West Somerset Coast Path – it doesn’t actually end where it says it does!) Continue reading →

Posted in 11 Somerset | Tagged coast, photography, river, travel, walking | 25 Comments

152b Hinkley Point to Stert Point

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

Filled with relief at the prospect of leaving the sinister perimeter defences of Hinkley Point Power Station, and glad to escape from the tracking cameras, I go through a gate, into a field. No cameras. No high fence. Only green grass, marching pylons and – and cows.

Cows. With no udders. Are they heifers? Or bullocks? Uh oh. Here they come… Continue reading →

Posted in 11 Somerset | 14 Comments

152a Kilve Pill to Hinkley Point

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

Today I am walking from Kilve to Stert Point, via the Hinkley Point nuclear power station. It is a hazy morning, with intermittent sunshine. I take a photo of a dog walker on Kilve beach, while looking back at the way I came yesterday. The white peaks of Minehead’s Butlins are just visible on the far shore.

Continue reading →

Posted in 11 Somerset | Tagged coast, hiking, nuclear power station, photography, travel | 14 Comments

151 Watchet to Quantock’s Head and Kilve Pill

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

I’m staying in Kilve and catch the 8:50am bus to Watchet to resume my walk. I’m the only passenger on the bus (a County Council subsidised route) until we hit the outskirts of the town. It is a wonderful sunny day. I wander down to the harbour and take photographs.

At the bus depot (in front of the train station) I didn’t see any signage for the Somerset Coast Path and the trail is not marked on my current OS map . But last time I was here I noted a path running down the seaward side of the railway line, and this is where I start my walk today. Since it runs along the coast, it must be the coast path. Continue reading →

Posted in 11 Somerset | Tagged coast, england, photography, travel, walking | 17 Comments

150b Dunster to Watchet

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

From Dunster Beach I begin walking westwards towards Watchet. I am looking across a wide bay. Below the rocky foreshore are lines of wooden groins, an expanse of mud, and then a stretch of water, with low cliffs on the far side.

My map shows only minor curves along the coast, so the wide bay comes as a surprise. And where is Watchet? It must be hidden around the corner, just beyond where the flat land rises to form a headland. Continue reading →

Posted in 11 Somerset | Tagged coast, railway, steam, travel, walking | 15 Comments

150a Minehead to Dunster

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

My B&B landlord told me the council say Minehead is a tourist destination, but fail to promote the town. I don’t know if this is true or not, but Minehead has, potentially, much to recommend it as a holiday centre.

There is the Thomas the Tank Engine, for a start.
Continue reading →

Posted in 11 Somerset | Tagged coast, hiking, photography, travel, walking | 17 Comments

149c Minehead, and the end of the South West Coast Path.

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

I am walking along Culver Cliff, through woodland, towards Minehead. Nearly there. And that means I am nearly at the end of the South West Coast Path.

As I follow the path, sloping downwards towards the outskirts of the town, I am overcome with a very strong feeling. An orange line crosses my map at about this point. That means I am crossing over a boundary, moving out of Devon and into Somerset. Out of the domain of pixies and pirates and into the world of scrumpy and Glastonbury. I feel the division as though it is a physical barrier, an invisible wall that I am about to walk through. Continue reading →

Posted in 11 Somerset | Tagged coast, hiking, photography, travel, walking | 15 Comments

149b Hurlstone Point to Minehead

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

Beyond the old lookout tower of Hurlstone Point the footpath continues. This not the official South West Coast Path but, according to my map, the track should loop around the headland and re-join the SWCP on the other side of the peak.

The path is narrow – a ledge really – above a steep drop to the sea. There is a warning sign – Walkers are Advised to Take Precautions when Using Path in Adverse Weather Conditions. What type of precautions? What does that mean, exactly? Luckily the weather this afternoon is fine.

Continue reading →

Posted in 11 Somerset | Tagged coast, hiking, photography, SWCP, travel | 9 Comments

149 Porlock Weir to Hurlstone Point

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Ruth Livingstone

Setting off from Porlock Weir, the first section of the South West Coast Path runs along Porlock beach for a few hundred yards.

I wouldn’t really call this a beach. Shingle! It’s my least-favourite walking surface, after mud. But the path seems well-defined and I certainly don’t want to walk along the road.