South Devon Day 9 - Sidmouth to Lyme Regis

Saturday 2nd July 2022

South Devon Day 9 - Sidmouth to Lyme Regis

This was a long section. We had originally planned to do this in two 9 mile easy stages (Sidmouth to Beer & Beer to Lyme Regis) over 2 days. However, one of the reasons for these shorter days was to accommodate Dave (aka Dicko), who would be joining us for the end of the walk as usual and would hopefully take part in one or both legs. Unfortunately, Dave had sustained a knee injury and it was no longer possible for him to take part- so he just turned up with his lovely partner Sian for the drinking and baggage transfer. In addition, our car was not at the end of the walk due to the rail strikes, it was back at Plymouth. So we decided to knock off both stints in one day which would leave us the last day to just get to Plymouth, collect our car and then drive to Bath reasonably fresh for a final celebration night out there.

As for the walking - the first section (Sidmouth to Beer) is pretty good but also quite challenging - lots of ups and downs especially through steep wooded pathways. Branscombe looks a good place (apparently it has it's own brewery) and Beer (where we stayed that night) is excellent - A quiet, cosy, olde world village with it's very own babbling brook. It has nice pubs and restaurants so was a good choice to finish the 10 days there.

The second section from Beer to Lyme Regis is somewhat disappointing. I had heard it would be a highlight of our walk - but instead it was hours of trudging through a jungle like environment, with nothing but feet watching to avoid slipping or tripping, no views except for the mass of green which enveloped everything. On the entire SWCP, this was the worst bit of the entire trail for me. The Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliffs Nature Reserve was a massive disappointment to say the least. It was a shame for Rob, who not only had to walk twice as far than he had expected to do that day, but also had to endure many hours of that.

Not the best way to finish our South Devon part of the SWCP, but generally, over the 9 days, the walking and weather had been very good indeed. Only about 85 miles to go to Poole - and then we will have done the whole of the SWCP, watch this space !

The information contained in the material on this Website is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice.
Distance: 19.4 miles
Duration: 8:00 hours
Ascent: 3940 ft
Difficulty: Hard
Accompanied By: Davy & Rob
Weather: Mild with Showers

3D outline of route

Parking