South Devon Day 8 - Exmouth to Sidmouth

Friday 1st July 2022

After a gentle stroll along the very long Exmouth seafront, it predominantly cliff top walking with a few climbs for most of the stretch to Budleigh Salterton. Then it's on to the very interesting Otter Estuary Nature Reserve before reaching the very quiet town of Sidmouth.

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Distance: 14.9 miles

Duration: 6:30 hours

Ascent: 1821 ft

Difficulty: Moderate

Accompanied By: Davy & Rob

Weather: Fine & Dry

3D outline of route

Parking

Leaving our B&B in Exmouth (Malindi) and saying goodbye to the lovely Debbie who made us very welcome.

Support arrives in the form of 'Mighty Atom' Rob. Here to drive us on to an even greater pace. We met up with him here in Exmouth town centre Dinosaur Park.

A kindly passer-by did the honours as we put on our best poses.

A very long seafront at Exmouth (nearly 2 miles) allows for a gentle start to the day.

The Geoneedle. The obelisk at Orcombe Point celebrates the twists and turns of the history of our planet. Apparently the different rocks exposed in the cliffs between Exmouth in Devon and Studland in Dorset show how the world changed between 250 and 65 million years ago i.e. Triassic-Jurassic-Cretaceous.

Sandy Bay towards Orcombe Rocks.

"What on earth am I doing here" Rob ponders whether he made the correct holiday choice for this year.

Littleham Cove and the headland is Straight Point.

Budleigh Salterton and the long shingle beach.

The River Otter Estuary covers a very large area and is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of the fine salt marsh habitat it supports and the adjacent Triassic sandstone rocks. Over 120 species of bird have been recorded on the site, including a number of particular conservation interest, including the whimbrel and black-tailed godwit. It's certainly very peaceful, but with Rob in charge there wasn't much time allowed for reading the information boards or doing a bit of bird spotting in the many hides dotted about. Yomp on.

Climbing away from Budleigh Salterton.

A brief glimpse of Sidmouth in the distance as we pass Windgates.

A gentle finish to the day as we approach Sidmouth.

Almost there - a relatively easy day today, tomorrow will be significantly harder.

Sidmouth.

Now that's a ford alright!! I like the bent post in the middle ! someone may have tried to turn into the river thinking it was a road?? Probably a woman driver.