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Steve Woolven and Dave Hurrell recount tales of their adventures walking the 630-miles of South West Coast Path

I (Steve) had thought of walking the South West Coast Path in one go for a while, spurred on by reading Overend Watts’ book, ‘The Man who Hated Walking’, which I bought at a 'Mott the Hoople' reunion concert a few years ago.  

Having walked and completed many long distance paths, the SWCP was a challenge beyond possibility whilst working but was becoming a reality in my 60^th year as retirement loomed.  The idea was to walk the 630 miles, staying in B&B’s and to walk the entire path to every B&B, take every ferry crossing, wade through both Gillan Creek  and the River Erme crossings at low tide without having to use taxis. The planning was the key to success!

We built in 4 rest days with a plan in mind. These were Clovelly for a trip to Lundy to see the puffins (unfortunately the weather was against us so this did not happen), St Ives for the Wheal houses of the tin mining industry, Falmouth for a wildlife boat trip and Plymouth for the Naval History.  Five other people joined Dave and I for various sections which included Niki, my wife, for the first 10 days from Minehead to Hartland Quay and Campbell, who is with us in the photo, from Padstow to Falmouth. What a fantastic adventure with loads of memories. Our highlights must be: 

1. Arriving at Minehead on a steam train.

2. Watching the old Victorian sea lock being lowered at Charlestown to let a tall ship in and a boat out. 

3.  Wading across the River  Erme at low tide.

4.  Going to an evening performance of Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ at the Minack Theatre

5.  Going down the tin mines in Geevor.

6.  Our Falmouth rest day which coincided with the Sea Shanty Festival.

We thank everyone who maintains the path in such good condition. Including the walks to the B&B’s and back we walked 719.12 miles. Finishing at South Haven Point I felt I wished it wasn’t over.

Steve Woolven and Dave Hurrell.

Pulborough and Horsham