Deborah Martin

A very enjoyable walk: there’s something magical about walking from one coast to another. I decided to walk north to south since I live in South Devon and could divert from the route towards the end in order to sleep at home a couple of nights. (I diligently walked back onto the route the following day, hence the small extra mileage!) I think that April or May is the ideal time for this walk: in mid-May there were lots of bluebells and other wild flowers and a constant accompaniment of birdsong, but no problems with dense undergrowth or tall crops in arable fields.
Organising accommodation beforehand was probably the biggest challenge, but worked out in the end and I stayed at some lovely places and met such friendly people. I would advise anyone tackling this LDP to carry some food supplies with them because many pubs are not open or don’t serve food every day, especially early in the week, and the few cafes that are passed have limited opening hours. There are, however, some very good village shops on the route.
The rail crossing closure near Whelmstone Cross was unwelcome, entailing extra road walking which is always hard on the feet; let’s hope the path is soon reinstated. By contrast, the waymarking, particularly in Mid Devon, was very good. The Cicerone guidebook and its separate route map booklet were well worth the extra weight in my backpack!
Although parts of the route were familiar to me, others were not and I enjoyed the contrasting landscapes that made up this journey through time and place.