LIFETIME of WALKS by DEREK HARWOOD

Sylvia stayed in the car reading a book. Parking at Widemouth Beach car park was £2.30 for four hours and there was further parking (free) on Lower Longbeak just north of Widemouth Bay. From the car park it was soft sand and a gradual ascent to Higher Longbeak. There were excellent views along the coast in sunshine. It was an undulating walk to Bude Haven, with constantly changing views. I walked past the campsite at Lynstone where Colin and I camped on the Coastal Path walk in 2002. This brought back lots of memories. I turned the corner at Compass Point and walked along the canal path to the A39. This was a complete contrast to the cliff walk only a few minutes before. There were a surprising number of canoes on the canal, paddled by schoolchildren. In one group of canoes there were several capsized and children in the warm water, and there was another group of children playing with a ball. I took a short cut along the river at '3' and '4' to bypass the two bridges and the main A39 road. It was very warm in the shelter at '4', protected from the cool easterly breeze. I met a couple in the field just after '4' who recognised me and were also walking exactly the same route. Their walk was part of a book of walks, not the 'AA' book. A farmer had made tractor tracks to follow across a field which had recently been ploughed after the corn harvest. When I reached the road I turned left back to the car park. This increased the distance from the 5½ miles of the official walk. I maintained a good pace throughout due to gradual ascents and good paths after a dry period. .

Location Map: - www.streetmap.co.uk
Bude

There was evidence of recent floods along the river just before the A39 trunk road at '3': debris in hedges up to approximately two feet above the path, and two bales of hay in hedge.