Porlock Weir to Lynmouth

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

WALK

DEVON

Porlock Weir to Lynmouth

Sunday 06 March 2011

Iwalked this section with two friends and this meant that we had the luxury of having two cars. So meeting at Lynmouth we left a car there and drove to Porlock Weir in the other.

At Porlock Weir, there is a large car park opposite the Ship Inn which is also where the bus service runs from should you choose to take the bus as I had done previously.

The South West Coast Path is hidden between the Ship Inn and the Anchor Inn, which are right next to each other and opposite the car park.

The path takes you up quickly above the small harbour and into fields before taking you into a wooded section that seems to go on forever. The OS map shows this as Yearnor Wood, Culbone Wood, Embelle Wood and Yenworthy Wood but it feels like one long wood and the path through the wood is often steep, muddy and slippery. When we walked this section the path had been diverted in several places due to mudslides.

There are a few things of interest to be found in the woods. The Church of St Beuno, whose main structure dates back to the 12th century and is apparently the smallest complete parish church in England can be found at Culbone and at the other end is Sisters Fountain, a small holy well and spring beneath a cross. It is said that Joseph of Arimathea drank from the spring on his way to Glastonbury.

There were not many views to be had in this section and the weather did nothing to make the occasional glimpses you did get worth all the effort. At one point there was a view to Foreland Point which, by my reckoning, put us at about halfway with still a few miles of woodland walking to be done.

The woods stopped just before we reached Foreland Point where we had good views back towards Porlock Bay where the sun was now shining. We crossed Countisbury Common and made our way down into Lynmouth.

As we reached the green park area on the seafront at Lynmouth we could see the sun now shining on Foreland Point. We were tired and a bit cold and would have welcomed the warmth of the sun but it was not to be.

On the bright side, so to speak, the drive back to Porlock along the A39 which follows the coast was at least in the sun and the car heater soon warmed us up.

Sisters Fountain. Joseph of Arimathea drank from here.

Looking towards Foreland Point from a gap in the woods

Lynmouth Bay from cliff path on Countisbury Common

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