Coast challenge update week 7

Bridges, concrete, beaches; bridges, concrete, sea! That pretty much sums up today's run. It was the longest section of the Coast Path I've done yet, an eighteen miler from Barnstaple to Westward Ho! wriggling along the rivers Taw and Torridge and back out to the sea. The route took me three hours but felt surprisingly good, I think because it was so flat compared to recent weeks, and because travelling in a straight line instead of doubling back on myself meant there was a definite destination keeping me going to the finish. And what a finish! I had been to the beach at Westward Ho! before but only very briefly on a cold grey day, and didn't really realise what I had seen was only the tip of the golden sands which stretch around the Northam Burrows. The beach is beautifully wide, with sweeping views of the coast either side and its perfect sand backed by banks of those smooth grey stones which are somehow really pleasing to see and touch, and which make lovely bumping-scraping sounds as you scramble over them. I loved it.

The hardest bit was where the ever-reliable Coast Path signs started making like Alice and shrinking. Between Bideford and Appledore the path weaves between houses and muddy woods and is the first place for about 20 miles where the water isn't directly next to the path so you can't rely on keeping the water on your right side to be sure of your direction, but it was just here that the signs diminished to the occasional sticker on lamposts so sharp eyes were needed to navigate. Still, I made it through, and enjoyed jogging through Appledore's quaint colourful streets! Northam was a bit of a struggle too, purely because the finish was in sight and I had to make myself turn away and loop around the country park peninsula instead of cutting across the enticingly flat fields to end early. Looking back on the run now the earlier miles feel like a lifetime ago, and I can barely recall the first half from Barnstaple to Bideford, nevermind remember the good and bad points, but that's a route I have done many times before and I did take loads of photos today so have pictorial evidence that this section has actually been completed and not just imagined! I have also made a map of the total distance I've travelled in my Coast Challenge so far so will upload that with the pictures.

Route:

Barnstaple- Fremington Quay- Yelland- Instow- Bideford- Appledore- Northam Burrows- Westward Ho! 18.5 miles in total.

Distance on Coast Path:

71 miles to date

Map: