After the problems Fiona had with her feet on the Penzance to Falmouth walk in September we are pleased to say that the feet are now much better. Fiona is convinced that the orthotic insoles, whilst intended to correct the problems she was having immediately before the Penzance walk, she is now of the opinion that they were overcorrecting the problem and now that she is not wearing them on a day-to-day basis her feet have settled completely. Having done a number of local “test” walks recently, and also with the benefit of core strength classes at our gym, we decided to get back on the SWCP.
Our trip on a very cold December day (max 5ºC) was the relatively short walk from Torquay to Babbacombe. Arriving in Torquay at 10:30, and after the obligatory morning coffee overlooking the very attractive marina, …
we set off across the Millennium Bridge which crosses the entrance to the marina and climbed a road to the Imperial Hotel where the path then rose and fell as it wandered through gardens on the edge of the cliffs until it emerged on to the broad grassy expanse of Daddyhole Plain with great views back across Torbay …
Most of the path is very well constructed and maintained with lots of steps and attractive stone walls in places reminding us of a similar type of path in Catalunya which we walked in 2013. At Meadfoot Beach, although there was very little wind, the sea was crashing into and over the retaining stone wall – we would imagine that last winter at the height of the storms the road alongside the wall would have been totally impassable.
The rest of the route meandered up and down along the coast to Long Quarry Point nearby where we stopped at a viewing point to eat our lunch …
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Soon after, after a long drop down, we arrived at Babbacombe Beach and the attractive pub called the Cary Arms which we remembered visiting many years ago when it was run by good friends of Ann and Dave Giddings who we used to go on holiday with when our boys were youngsters. As we were stopping the walk here, rather than continuing along the coast to Teignmouth (another 6 miles which will be left for another day), we had to climb back up to the main road to catch the bus back to Torquay and then home by 16:00.
All in all a good preparation for 2015’s assault on the SWCP challenge. Very best wishes to you all for the New Year.
