Day 6 Westward Ho! to Clovelly

The day started with another of Frank’s culinary efforts – cheese omelettes; excellent! It was a cold and overcast day as the weathermen had suggested but the rain would hold off. Frank was set to raid the charity shops to replace the missing coat but they didn’t open until mid morning so we set off for our 11.7 miles of strenuous.
This was reckoned to be the hardest section of the walk. We took the full allocated six hours and we rested often but the ten ups and downs were completed without too much trouble. But some of those climbs and drops were enormous! Far more interesting than yesterday’s long and unwinding road! The views were outstanding and we could almost always see Clovelly tumbling down to the sea in the distance.


It was on this part of the walk that I bumped into the man who could double up as Bill or Ben. As he saw me he turned and walked the other way. I apologised.
‘I haven’t frightened you, I hope,’ I said.
He stared at me blankly and said, ‘Pardon, I am a little deaf. You could have said anything; the weather, the way, anything.’
I laughed and replied that Frank who was following up behind me was also a little deaf.
‘Is she?’ he said and walked on.
Clovelly is a tourist attraction with its narrow cobbled street and attractive harbour. There had been tales about having to pay to walk into the village but they were unfounded. Actually I have to say that I found it a little disappointing. Sure, the street was no wider than a donkey cart and as steep as they come but it lacked a certain charm. We did have a Devon cream tea while we were there and that was excellent.

But we were somewhat dismayed by the small hotel in which we stayed. We were boarded out at the house opposite. The bathroom window was so close to the street that I could have touched passers-by. I kept the blinds down and the window pushed to (it wouldn’t close) so that they could not touch me!
We had to wait until gone eight thirty before we were allowed back into the hotel for breakfast! Still we smuggled some of the food out for our lunch and that made us feel better.

Verdict: The worst B&B for security but the pack lunch from Alison was superb!