Hello all
The walk from Seaton to Seatown took place on Saturday 22nd June and it is now Tuesday 25th. There is are three main reasons for the delay in the writing of blog 42, they are - alcohol, my birthday and gooseberries.
Alcohol and good intentions do not mix.
When I arrived home on Saturday I had a cup of tea and a shower and I had a choice, start writing the blog with or without a glass of red. Firstly I chose - with. Secondly I decided without the writing. The evening continued with a delicious meal and more wine.
The rest is a bit of a blur mainly caused by a couple of generous glasses of calvados.
The next day was my birthday. I had a great day with my family and lots of messages and cards from friends and family.
So now I am sixty-five. It doesn't seem credible that so many years have passed since I first graced the world with my good looks. (1st prize in a beautiful baby competition, Totnes 1955). Apparently I had glorious blond curls, all of which disappeared to be replaced with straight black hair when I was about two years old.
Prior to despicable changes by the government, I would now be a pensioner and in receipt of my state pension. As it is, I will now get what I "deserve" when I am 65 and 9 months. (As for the way that women of a certain age have been treated, I know that I have very little to complain about.)
And that brings me on to the subject of my bus pass.
The bus pass (allowing free bus travel to the elderly (not before 9 am)) should have been mine when I was sixty. All that I had to do to get my bus pass was fill in a form and present it with a valid birth certificate. The form was in my possession and ready to fill in when I heard that the rules had changed and the new age for qualifying for the pass was the new retirement age, in my case 65 and 9 months. I was well and truly gutted.
I don't think I have found it easy to get over my disappointment.
Anyway. I have had a marvelous birthday thank-you.
Whilst at home I have picked 39 pounds of gooseberries.
"I thought this blog was supposed to be about walking," I hear you cry.
Seaton to Seatown was a lovely walk and I enjoyed gorgeous weather for all of it. Seaton, which has been my home for the last few days looked splendid in the early morning sunshine. So here are three pictures of it.
Having walked across the oldest (standing) concrete bridge in the Country I climbed the steep road up to the golf course which marks the beginning of the countryside walk. Soon after the golf course the path drops into the under-cliff which is the main feature of the first half of the walk. This was the fourth time that I have completed this walk and I swore (after the third time) that I would never do it again.
At first sight it is beautiful as the path meanders through the trees and ferns.
But after about 3 to 4 hours of looking at your feet to avoid tripping and hardly a glimpse of the sea, it becomes rather wearing. There is a sign as you enter the under-cliff informing you that it can take 3 to 4 hours to complete the walk and that there are no exit routes along the way. I have to confess that I rushed along as fast as I could and completed it in two and a half hours. I did however stop for a few minutes at the only place where the sea can be seen.
One other thing about this walk through the under-cliff is this - because I was walking early in the day, it became clear to me that I was the first person to pass through the area on that day. I knew this by the amount of cobwebs that stretched across the path. I must have walked through hundreds and I was crawling with tiny spiders. This only ended when, after about an hour, I met someone coming in the other direction. From then on, both them and I had a cobweb free walk.
What a contrast it was to arrive in Lyme Regis. It was heaving with people and I added to the scene by stopping for an ice-cream and a coffee. It was fun people watching but I tore myself away and headed onward.
What followed was predominately road walking for about 4 miles as the coast path headed inland due to a cliff fall that has resulted in a "temporary" diversion. This "temporary" diversion has been in place for about 7 years to my knowledge.
After leaving the road I walked through some delightful meadows.
Soon Golden Cap came into view and I got ready for the steep climb by eating a family sized pork pie.
In an earlier blog I wrote about a bunch of cows which spooked me a bit by following me across a field. In that blog I wrote that I had another experience which I would write about in a later blog.
The waiting is over for you because here it is -
About 7 years ago I was walking on my own along this part of the path and approaching Golden Cap. I came to a field which had a sign on the gate informing me that there was a bull in the field. I could see the bull on the other side of the field and I walked on towards it's general direction because that was where the exit from the field was. As I got closer I could see that the bull was standing just in front of the stile which was my only way out. Slowly, I moved closer to the bull which was looking straight at me. I kept telling myself to show no fear and that the bull would surely move away and not charge me. I was not convincing myself. I was about 20 feet away and the bull had not moved ant I could see the bloodshot whites of his eyes. There was no way to pass the bull as he was right up against the stile.
So, I started talking to the bull in a fake dominant, farmer type way. "Come on now, Out the way!"
Nothing happened.
What I did next I would never advise anybody else to do - I walked slowly behind the bull and hit it on the backside with my walking pole. This did the trick and the bull moved angrily and reluctantly forward allowing me to pass behind it and swiftly over the stile.
And this is the funny bit about the story - when I got over the stile I realised that I was feeling faint. I had to lie on the grass with my feet up on the stile until I felt better whilst the bull looked on from the other side of the stile.
There was no bull in the field this time.
Golden Cap is 191 metres high and is the highest point on the South Coast of Britain. It is a very steep climb including many steps. Because I was running a bit late for my lift from Seatown, I walked/climbed all the way to the top without a break and was puffing when I arrived on the plateau.
The views from the top are amazing and my mobile phone camera can never do them justice. I took a few but here are just two. One looking back towards Seaton and Sidmouth and the other looking down at Seatown beach with Chesil beach stretching away in the distance towards the Isle of Portland.
My friend Caroline was somewhere down on that beach and I hurried down the path towards her and the car. We both had an ice cream and then she drove me back to Seaton to collect my van.
Then I drove home for my birthday weekend. (Have I mentioned it was my birthday?)
Tomorrow (Wednesday 26th June) I will be going back to Cornwall to complete the three days of walking that I couldn't do because I had a bad leg.
Take it easy.
Rob.
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/RobSetter
The walk from Seaton to Seatown took place on Saturday 22nd June and it is now Tuesday 25th. There is are three main reasons for the delay in the writing of blog 42, they are - alcohol, my birthday and gooseberries.
Alcohol and good intentions do not mix.
When I arrived home on Saturday I had a cup of tea and a shower and I had a choice, start writing the blog with or without a glass of red. Firstly I chose - with. Secondly I decided without the writing. The evening continued with a delicious meal and more wine.
The rest is a bit of a blur mainly caused by a couple of generous glasses of calvados.
The next day was my birthday. I had a great day with my family and lots of messages and cards from friends and family.
So now I am sixty-five. It doesn't seem credible that so many years have passed since I first graced the world with my good looks. (1st prize in a beautiful baby competition, Totnes 1955). Apparently I had glorious blond curls, all of which disappeared to be replaced with straight black hair when I was about two years old.
Prior to despicable changes by the government, I would now be a pensioner and in receipt of my state pension. As it is, I will now get what I "deserve" when I am 65 and 9 months. (As for the way that women of a certain age have been treated, I know that I have very little to complain about.)
And that brings me on to the subject of my bus pass.
The bus pass (allowing free bus travel to the elderly (not before 9 am)) should have been mine when I was sixty. All that I had to do to get my bus pass was fill in a form and present it with a valid birth certificate. The form was in my possession and ready to fill in when I heard that the rules had changed and the new age for qualifying for the pass was the new retirement age, in my case 65 and 9 months. I was well and truly gutted.
I don't think I have found it easy to get over my disappointment.
Anyway. I have had a marvelous birthday thank-you.
"I thought this blog was supposed to be about walking," I hear you cry.
Seaton to Seatown was a lovely walk and I enjoyed gorgeous weather for all of it. Seaton, which has been my home for the last few days looked splendid in the early morning sunshine. So here are three pictures of it.
 |
| There always seem to be fishermen/women at that end of the beach |
 |
| And no fisherwomen/men at the other end. |
 |
| Seaton is extremely famous for have the oldest (standing) concrete bridge in the Country. |
At first sight it is beautiful as the path meanders through the trees and ferns.
But after about 3 to 4 hours of looking at your feet to avoid tripping and hardly a glimpse of the sea, it becomes rather wearing. There is a sign as you enter the under-cliff informing you that it can take 3 to 4 hours to complete the walk and that there are no exit routes along the way. I have to confess that I rushed along as fast as I could and completed it in two and a half hours. I did however stop for a few minutes at the only place where the sea can be seen.
One other thing about this walk through the under-cliff is this - because I was walking early in the day, it became clear to me that I was the first person to pass through the area on that day. I knew this by the amount of cobwebs that stretched across the path. I must have walked through hundreds and I was crawling with tiny spiders. This only ended when, after about an hour, I met someone coming in the other direction. From then on, both them and I had a cobweb free walk.
What a contrast it was to arrive in Lyme Regis. It was heaving with people and I added to the scene by stopping for an ice-cream and a coffee. It was fun people watching but I tore myself away and headed onward.
What followed was predominately road walking for about 4 miles as the coast path headed inland due to a cliff fall that has resulted in a "temporary" diversion. This "temporary" diversion has been in place for about 7 years to my knowledge.
After leaving the road I walked through some delightful meadows.
Soon Golden Cap came into view and I got ready for the steep climb by eating a family sized pork pie.
In an earlier blog I wrote about a bunch of cows which spooked me a bit by following me across a field. In that blog I wrote that I had another experience which I would write about in a later blog.
The waiting is over for you because here it is -
About 7 years ago I was walking on my own along this part of the path and approaching Golden Cap. I came to a field which had a sign on the gate informing me that there was a bull in the field. I could see the bull on the other side of the field and I walked on towards it's general direction because that was where the exit from the field was. As I got closer I could see that the bull was standing just in front of the stile which was my only way out. Slowly, I moved closer to the bull which was looking straight at me. I kept telling myself to show no fear and that the bull would surely move away and not charge me. I was not convincing myself. I was about 20 feet away and the bull had not moved ant I could see the bloodshot whites of his eyes. There was no way to pass the bull as he was right up against the stile.
So, I started talking to the bull in a fake dominant, farmer type way. "Come on now, Out the way!"
Nothing happened.
What I did next I would never advise anybody else to do - I walked slowly behind the bull and hit it on the backside with my walking pole. This did the trick and the bull moved angrily and reluctantly forward allowing me to pass behind it and swiftly over the stile.
And this is the funny bit about the story - when I got over the stile I realised that I was feeling faint. I had to lie on the grass with my feet up on the stile until I felt better whilst the bull looked on from the other side of the stile.
There was no bull in the field this time.
Golden Cap is 191 metres high and is the highest point on the South Coast of Britain. It is a very steep climb including many steps. Because I was running a bit late for my lift from Seatown, I walked/climbed all the way to the top without a break and was puffing when I arrived on the plateau.
The views from the top are amazing and my mobile phone camera can never do them justice. I took a few but here are just two. One looking back towards Seaton and Sidmouth and the other looking down at Seatown beach with Chesil beach stretching away in the distance towards the Isle of Portland.
My friend Caroline was somewhere down on that beach and I hurried down the path towards her and the car. We both had an ice cream and then she drove me back to Seaton to collect my van.
Then I drove home for my birthday weekend. (Have I mentioned it was my birthday?)
Tomorrow (Wednesday 26th June) I will be going back to Cornwall to complete the three days of walking that I couldn't do because I had a bad leg.
Take it easy.
Rob.
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/RobSetter
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