26th January 2016
Day 3 Lynmouth to Combe Martin
We had breakfast at 09:00 which was a bit late. By the time we were on the road it was probably after 10:00. Today the tail end of the great storm that struck the East Coast of America was due to hit Britain. It was raining heavily and blowing a gale. I’ll do a separate short description of the clothing we were wearing after this blog but it is not good reading if you are a Gortex fan!
It was a hard walk leaning into the wind and rain which was painful on the face. We decided rather than buying some food we would stop for lunch at the Hunter Inn which is about 6 miles walk. We arrived there very wet! Although it is just about half a mile off this famous coastal path this inn doesn’t seem to recognise the needs of walkers. There wasn’t a single coat hook in sight or a place to de-boot. It seems a shame as it could be an iconic walkers pub. Maybe they are searching for more wealthy clientele. We draped our wet gear over whatever we could find and ordered an excellent bowl of soup and bread and a ploughman’s lunch. One of the staff came out with a cloth and started mopping up the little drips of water on the terracotta floor to make us feel guilty.
Sadly time had passed and it was 2.30pm before we were back on the path. It was tanking it down with rain and the wind was near gale force on the cliff tops. The paths were running like streams and by about 4 pm visibility was dropping. Water was beginning to cascade out of the heath and we were having to jump deeper areas. As the path was due to lose height before the formidable Great Hangman climb we decided that the volume of water and the approach of darkness was a combination which could have been quite tricky. We had seen a sign a a while back pointing to a car park so we decided to retreat and take the road. The road was flooded too and we need to walk through calf deep areas to continue. Gaiters kept a lot of water out but not all. It was a long and rather dire walk into Combe Martin, without decent torches it would have been lethal. We arrived at Combe Martin High Street to learn that it is the longest high street in Britain and we were at the other end! Combe means wooded valley. It seems the whole village live on the High Street. We eventually arrived at Melstock House to a warm greeting by a couple who knew what walkers need. A big plastic tray for the boots, plenty of places to hang things up and a pot of tea to warm us up. They told us tales of rescuing walkers at midnight and sending out search parties. They are on day three of the path and some walkers are really suffering at this stage with nasty blisters from new boots and weary muscles.
Number of walkers seen on the path – 0
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