Today would turn out to be a very complicated day. My original plan was to drive to Bigbury-on-Sea in my Fiat Doblo, which was also carrying my 50cc moped. I would dump my moped there and then drive around to Wembury. This I did without any hiccups; that is until after a mile from setting off from Wembury I had to cross the River Yealm by means of a ferry. Unfortunately, I could see no sign of the boat or ferryman on the far side. I hung around for about 30 minutes but no joy.
To complicate matters my moped was safely parked up at the end of the walk and to make matters worse about two-thirds along the walk I had to cross the River Erme. Fortunately, the River Erme is fordable at low tide, but I had a time-window to consider now!
Ok, my cunning plan was to walk back to the car and drive to a car park at Mothecombe, which sits very close to the River Erme. I would then walk across the Erme and onto Bigbury-on-Sea. I took my boots off to cross the river, which only came just above my ankles in one or two spots. The walk onto to Bigbury was only about 4 miles and quite a pleasant walk in the sunshine. At Bigbury I was able to jump on my moped and then drive it to Noss Mayo, a small hamlet on the River Yealm and about a mile from the ferry landing stage.
So, I parked the moped in Noss Mayo and walked about 8 miles to Mothecombe. The walking was along a well defined and engineered track called the Revelstoke Drive, built by Lord Revelstoke to impress his guests and providing an excellent viewpoint. At Beacon Hill, the Drive turns inland and the SWCP returns to being a footpath, with a few steep up and downs! It is late in the afternoon and when I arrive back at Mothecombe and the River Erme estuary is now at high tide and full of water.
It has been quite a challenging day and I am quite pleased how things have turned out. However, at the car I must now change my clothes and head back to Noss Mayo to pick my moped up.
Distance today = 15.5 miles
Total distance = 446 miles
Walking the Coast of Great Britain 