Hengistbury Head to West Parley (Stour Valley Path 1)

Hengistbury Head from the west

 Christchurch Harbour and Mudeford Spit

We had a free day in Poole, so it seemed like a good idea to begin another Long Distance Path, the 64 mile Stour Valley Path from Hengistbury Head to Stourhead in Wiltshire. We know Hengistbury and indeed Christchurch quite well, but this route will eventually take us into the north of Dorset, which we don't know at all.

We started at Hengistbury Head (the photos above we taken last year when we were walking the Bournemouth Coast Path - it was too dull to get a decent picture today) and followed the west side of the harbour - i.e the mouth of the Stour - towards Christchurch. After a while there was a nice view towards the Abbey, clearly showing the early Norman part as well as the later Gothic main body.

Soon after this we reached the centre of Christchurch and gained our first clear view of the river, basically full of boats. We once had an excellent lunch with our friends Chris and Jill at the Captain's Table opposite.

We skirted the river bridge at Tuckton and followed the river bank and then a road to come to the picturesque old bridge at Iford.   

Beyond the workaday new bridge, there is a path with the river on the right. There was a nice view towards a weir.

Now you enter Iford Golf Centre, with its lurid artificial greens. Crossing the course, we were misdirected by a sign pointing half-right, when the true route was left. We eventually realised our error and found our way to the footbridge over the A35 with its "Welcome to Bournemouth" banner.

On the other side, we were soon in the hamlet of Holdenhurst, with St John's church. We have seen its elaborate bell tower many times from the main road and it was a delight to see it up close. The church dates from 1837 and was added to in 1873.

On the village green there is a lovely thatched cottage and next to it a fine mansion, wonderfully named The New House (late 17th century according to Pevsner). They would have made a nice photographic group, but for the scaffolding.

We followed the road from Holdenhurst to Throop, rather enjoying the old-fashioned lamp-posts which lined the way.

At Throop there is very unusual choice to make: according to the OS map there are two alternative branches of the Stour Valley Way which reunite at West Parley. We decided on the right fork which took us past a former mill, and across a weir. There were a great number of mallards, almost all female, having a meeting on the bank.

We then crossed Throop Gauging Station to walk on the opposite bank of the river for the first time. I wondered what a gauging station was: it seems that there is a national network of such stations which measure river flows and provide advance warning of flood risks etc. 

This brought us, after a pleasant stretch of open country - the first really on the walk so far -  past Adventure Wonderland and into the Parley estate: golf centre, lake ..

 ... equestrian centre, barns, Parley Manor, where a wedding was taking place. I snatched a guerrilla snap through the young beech hedge which will in future prevent such things.

All I can find out about Parley Manor is that it dates from the early 1700s.

The last section involved a track across open fields and a bit of road to return to the Dudsbury pub where we had left the car. It had taken us so long however that it was too late for lunch and we had to content ourselves with a cold drink and a bag of crisps.

Conditions: cloudy and grey, becoming warm and sunny

Distance: 11 miles.

Map: Explorer OL 22 (New Forest).

Rating: three stars.

First impressions

It was to be expected that this first part of the Path would be a bit limited as it is all within Christchurch and Bournemouth. It was disappointing however to see how haphazard the signposting is, with many signs faded into unreadability and many places where you might expect a sign or a waymark but found nothing. The sign on Iford gold course pointing in the wrong direction was the low point. It seems clear that you need a map (of course, you should always have a map!) and that you need to keep a careful eye on it.

Next time we will pass near to the pleasant town of Wimborne, with its wonderful Minster, and we have high hopes that the route will be much more rewarding.

Plymouth: Mount Batten to Cremyll Ferry (South West Coast Path 39)

The Citadel from Mount Batten Point

Now for the final stretch of the Coast Path in Devon. We pick up the route at Mount Batten and pause to enjoy the view across the Sound to the Citadel, with the celebrated Plymouth Hoe on the left. We walk round past the marina and climb to then get a comprehensive view across the area known as Cattewater - the estuary of the River Plym. There is a just-so story to account for the odd name: there was allegedly once a rock formation which looked rather like a cat.

As we entered Turnchapel we saw the first of many variations on the usual methods of signing: finger posts and yellow arrows on low posts, both usually having the familiar acorn symbol. The idea with this older version was presumably that the appropriate directional arrow would be painted white.

Turnchapel has the character of a fishing village, with its neat cheerfully painted houses. Most have a doorcase, although in the case of the one on the extreme left it is painted on.

Passing behind some seemingly abandoned wharves, we followed a creek round to pass a new housing development on the end of Hooe Lake.

The lake itself has an interesting mixture of industrial buildings and hulks of old ships around its edges and at the far end what looks like a small castle. We followed a mixture of urban and woodland paths around the lake, passing another novel sign post on the way ...

... and emerged at Radford Castle, looking derelict and unloved. It sits on a dam separating the tidal Hooe Lake from the freshwater Radford Lake. All I can turn up on it is that it is "an early 19th century folly".

It has to be said that the next few miles were fairly grim: boat yards, light industrial areas, a length of the A379, chemical plants, more light industry. Not like anything previously seen on this scale in two hundred miles of coast! Of course Plymouth is by far the biggest urban settlement we have passed through and the most industrialised.

Eventually, we emerged onto a hedged tarmac path in Coxside which offers a great view back across the Sound to Mount Batten.

In the ivy hedgerow, alerted by a flash of orange, we spotted a Garden Tiger moth: staggeringly beautiful.

And at the end of the path, there is the ultimate signpost-cum-waymark. We saw other less dramatic variants too: red arrows on stone and red metal finger posts high up at right-angles on lampposts.

We pass the uninspiring National Aquarium building, cross the footbridge across the mouth of Sutton Harbour and reach the busy Barbican. It is too crowded and messy to be worth photographing. We continue along the harbourside to pass beneath the massive Citadel.

This picture shows one end. It was built in 1666 by Charles II and incorporated an earlier fort of Drake's time. Charles seems to have wanted to promote Plymouth as a cross-channel port and may also have had it in mind that the town supported Parliament in the still-recent Civil War - the guns were able to fire into the town as well as out across the Sound. It would have been nice to see the baroque Portal.

There was now a great opportunity to see Plymouth's newly refurbished art deco Tinside Lido, albeit looking into the sun. It originally opened in 1935 and was closed in 1992. It reopened after massive renovation in 2005.

Now we reached the famous Hoe. The first thing that struck us was the art deco column on the far side. It is in fact a war memorial to sailors who died at sea. After the First World War an Admiralty committee recommended that the three "manning" ports in Great Britain - Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth - should each have an identical memorial of unmistakable naval form, an obelisk, which would also serve as a leading mark for shipping. The memorials were designed by Sir Robert Lorimer, with sculpture by Henry Poole. The Plymouth Naval Memorial was unveiled by HRH Prince George on 29 July 1924. We saw the one in Portsmouth in February 2012 without realising that it was one of a trio.

Walking back towards the sea gives a fantastic view of Smeaton's Tower. This was once the third Eddystone Lighthouse, completed in 1759 and in use until 1877 when it was found to be unstable. The upper part was dismantled and relocated here as a memorial to its designer John Smeaton. The foundations and stub of the old tower remain on the Eddystone Rocks, close to the current lighthouse.

We walked through West Hoe to reach the monumental French chateau-style Duke of Cornwall hotel, which dates from 1863.

We somehow lost our way here and headed towards the Cremyll Ferry by a route that took us past the
imposing Royal Marine Barracks at Stonehouse. It dates from 1784, but the majority is mid 19th century.

At the the end of the walk, by the ferry, was the extraordinary entrance to the Royal William Victualling Yard. It dates from 1826-35 and was the work of Sir John Rennie. The 13 foot high figure on the top of the arch is the reigning monarch, William IV. The victualling work of the Yard is symbolised by the bulls' heads and tools on the facade.

Conditions: clear, sunny and warm.

Distance: 7.5 miles. We have now completed the coast of South Devon. Next stop Cornwall!

Map: Explorer 108 (Lower Tamar Valley and Plymouth).

Rating: Four stars for the best bits, but a lot was very dreary.

Plymouth city centre

 The Tudor House

We had planned to continue the Coast Path around Plymouth, but the forecast was so bad, including severe weather warnings, that we ended up making a late decision to do a city walk around Plymouth instead. One or two of the photos were obviously not taken today!

We started at the Barbican and where the Coast Path goes left, we turned right along the side of Sutton Harbour and immediately detoured left in New St to see the Tudor House and the similar Elizabethan House opposite it in this narrow lane. Both have jettied-out upper storeys.

We turned into Southside St and walked to the end to see the impressive Plymouth Gin Distillery, with its curving facade. It dates from 1793 and incorporates parts of the Blackfriars convent of 1383 - the old door can be seen to the left of the arched entrance to the distillery.

At the end we headed towards the newer part of Plymouth and stumbled on the so-called Merchant's House (Pevsner refers to it more prosaically as 33 St Andrew St). Unusually, it has stone side walls and a timber-framed front. The amount of window is very impressive. It too is Tudor.

Nearby, and not mentioned on the Plymouth Walks website, is the Prysten House, which Pevsner tells us dates from the late 15th century and was built by Plympton Prior. It is a fine sight, with a distinctly medieval appearance.

We now walked up to the huge St Andrew's church - the largest parish church in Devon - dating from 1430-90. It was restored in Victorian times and again after bomb damage during the war.

Immediately next door is the Guildhall complex including the Assize Courts and former city Treasury. We approached from the restored end - again after wartime bombing. What you see is late Victorian in a French Gothic style, with tourelles on the corners. Apparently the building was saved from demolition by a single vote of the Council in 1951.

At the end is the modern entrance, a curious combination of a squat octagonal tower and what looks more like an Italian campanile than anything else. This new part was opened in 1959, at the same time as the renovation concluded.

Opposite this group is the rebuilt town centre, a dispiriting collection of rather ugly concrete buildings. The whole of the centre was destroyed in the "Plymouth blitz" on 21 and 22 March 1941. I gather than for students of town planning Plymouth is a significant historical case study as it was, uniquely, constructed according to a single plan, the work of Sir Patrick Abercrombie. Kevin McCloud has hailed it as "beautiful and heroic" and is campaigning with English heritage to get it listed (Daily Telegraph 8 June 2011). However, even the City Council have apparently resisted previous efforts at listing. The one obvious good thing is that the centre is spacious, with wide pedestrianised spaces and thoroughfares.

We walked down the hill to see one last impact of the blitz. The Charles Church is seemingly so called because the residents had to petition Charles I to allow the existing single parish of St Andrews to be partitioned into two and a new church to be built. Construction started in 1640, but was suspended during the Civil War siege of Plymouth (1642-6) and not completed until 1658. The spire was was erected in 1767, replacing the original wooden one covered with lead. His chief historical interest is that "in spite of its date it is wholly gothic in character and largely in detail" (Pevsner).

The church was gutted in the blitz and was left derelict until 1957. At that point it was acquired by the City council who carried out preservation works. It is now a memorial to the civilians of Plymouth who died as a result of air raids during the war. It is an extremely powerful and poignant reminder.

From here we meandered back to the Quayside where we admired the proportions of the Custom House of 1810 ...

... and the pleasing collection of old buildings on the other side leading down to the Barbican.

Conditions: mild, but mainly grey and with a threat of rain

Distance: about 3 miles.

Rating: three and a half stars.

Warren Point to Mount Batten (South West Coast Path 38)

 The mouth of the Yealm

Having got to Noss Mayo last night, we resumed our walk on the other bank of the Yealm, at the edge of Wembury. I had noticed that the road down towards the sea passed some Almshouses, and as they are a special interest of mine I proposed that we should begin our walk there.

The Hele almshouses date from 1682. They consist of a terrace of six houses with a chapel in the centre, marked by the higher gable. They were founded by Sir Warwick Hele, the then High Sheriff of Devon. They make a typically picturesque group.

A bit further on we found the path down to the sea and followed a wide hedged track for half a mile or so. There were many butterflies in the hedgerow and just as we emerged to get our first view of the Yealm in sunshine, I had the opportunity to take a quick snap of this lovely Wall.

We now joined the Coast Path and headed along a level track near the top of a slope leading down to the sea. The landward side especially was covered in flowers - it was like walking through a wild garden.

Once on the grassy headland, first viewed in the mist and rain last night, the coast stretched away invitingly. The Great Mew Stone was now on the left and Rame Head could be clearly seen in the distance beyond.

We soon reached Wembury, passing the church of St Werburgh in its remarkable location so close to the sea. The handsome tower dates from the 15th century, although it and the whole south side of the church have been pebble-dashed, presumably to protect the stone underneath from the elements.

The path then goes round the back of the attractive beach, where any amount of rock pools demand exploration. The rocks extend out in increasingly flat shelves towards the Great Mew Stone.

The next milestone is Heybrook Bay, where we resisted a detour to that rare thing, a pub close to the Coast Path. As we turned the corner, a new vista opened up across Plymouth Sound.

At first we couldn't quite work out what we were seeing in the centre of the Sound, having stupidly left the relevant map behind. We subsequently established that the mystery element was the Plymouth Breakwater, curved in shape with a fort standing just behind it. There is a lighthouse at one end and a beacon at the other. Directly behind, on the far side of the Sound, is Picklecombe Fort.

The breakwater was constructed in 1812 as a safe harbour for the English fleet during the Napoleonic wars. The Breakwater Fort dates from 1860 and was thus almost contemporary with the Palmerston Forts near Portsmouth which I passed on the last leg of the Wayfarers Walk.

The path climbed and soon offered a view of Drake's (or St Nicholas's as it says on the OS map) Island. Drake set out from here in 1577 to circumnavigate the world, returning in 1780. In 1583 he was made governor of the island which later fortified against possible Spanish attack. In the 16th century it was used as a prison and bigger guns were installed as part of the 19th century defences of the harbour.

We now passed the holiday centre at Crownhill Bay and the popular beach at next door Bovisand, climbed up behind Bovisand Fort and walked through a wooded area from which we had a clear view of Mount Batten - the small hill on the left with a fort on top.

The large grassy area in the photo is called Jennycliff and having walked along there - a delightful open area so near to the city - we somehow missed our route and walked beneath Fort Staddon, seen here from further down the hill.

This strange building, spectacularly ugly and not especially fort-like, is improbably now a leisure centre and country club. It dates from 1869 and was originally a gun battery.

Soon after this we reached Mount Batten, as already noted a bit of a misnomer. Its tower dates from about 1650 (this time the fear was war with the Dutch) and was still housing guns 70 years later. In the 19th century it was a lookout post.

Conditions: clear, sunny and warm

Distance: again somewhat over 9 miles, of which 8.5 were on the coast path. Just one more leg to do and we will have completed the coast of South Devon.

Map: OL 20 South Devon.

Rating: Four stars.

Butterflies

This was a very good day for butterflies: we saw 16 different species, more than a quarter of the UK total. Red Admiral, Peacock, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Large White, Small White, Green Veined White, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Small Skipper, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Small Copper, Wall.