Back at the Hunters Inn today to complete the second leg of the walk to Combe Martin.
Fiona dropped us at the door and then went off to visit the NT property at nearby Arlington Court, home of the National Collection of Carriages - she was very impressed and has plans to return next spring when hopefully the house will also be open and she and David can stop over for a night at the Watersmeet Hotel at Woolacombe.
After yesterdays rain the start of the walk was in sunshine although down in the valley near Hunters Inn it was still gloomy. DavidL, preparing for the dizzy heights at the top of Heddon's Mouth, especially as the NT guide advised that the path at the top to Peter Rock was not advised for children or anyone suffering from heights!, decided to have a little practice in the children's play area ...
... and then it was a half mile walk up the valley to meet the SWCP again which climbs steadily and seemingly forever up to the top of Heddons Mouth giving us a stunning view of the entrance to the valley ...
Towards the top we noticed in front of us a female trail runner and also a local lady with a dog which gave DavidL some measure of confidence that he could do it although he was still pleased when we got around Peter Rock and then along a very straightforward coast path. By now it had got a little bit cloudier but still very pleasant with views down the coast ...
After some miles we diverted off the official path near Trentishoe Down, at Justine's request, to get access to the long but steady climb up to the summit of Holdstone Hill which is the first Holy Mountain of the Aetherius Society. There are 18 other Holy Mountains worldwide including Brown Willy in Cornwall, Kinder Scout in Derbyshire and Kilimanjaro in Africa. Holdstone hIll is 1,149ft above sea level and about 100ft higher than Great Hangman which we would later climb and which is the highest cliff on the whole of the SW Coast Path.
In the shelter of the cairn on the top of Holdstone Hill we had lunch and then rather than retracing our steps down to rejoin the SWCP, we took a team decision to follow a rough unmarked track straight down to the coast path. When walking further along the coast path we spotted that if we had continued straight ahead at the top of Holdstone Hill on another unmarked path we would again rejoined the SWCP further along and shortened the walk even more - but that would have been cheating wouldn't it?
From Holdstone Down the path then descends steeply into the Sherrycombe valley. Along the eventful way down DavidA got very excited about a low flying transport plane that seemed to skim the top of the range and then spotted a Kestrel again followed by a buzzard being dive-bombed by a couple of crows all of which caused DavidL to loose his footing and land gracefully on his bottom. Finally down we crossed a stream where we had a game of poo-sticks. DavidL won but this was disputed as it was claimed that he had jumped the gun in dropping his stick. In any case the stream was flowing a little too fast for it to be a strictly authentic game - good fun though.
Another steep climb up out of the valley to eventually reach the summit of Great Hangman with magnificent 360degree views. The view below is from the top looking back towards Holdstone Hill.
At the top is a trig point and a huge cairn. Perched on the top was a cloaked chap deep in yoga meditation. We assume that he was alive but he didn't acknowledge or react to our presence.
Further along as the path passed Little Hangman we spotted a sheep, separate from the rest of the group roaming the cliffs, obviously in distress with what appeared to be a broken front leg. There was nothing we could do but when we got down to Combe Martin we reported it to the local store and they said that they would text the farmer - apparently not an uncommon incident.
The path then descends without problem into the car park at Combe Martin where Fiona was waiting. As ever at the end of the day we all adjourned for a drink to a very nice bar overlooking the beach and some paddle boarders out to sea.