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Dorset & South Devon Coast Path (South-West Coast Path Part 3)

Dorset & South Devon Coast Path (South-West Coast Path Part 3)

Excerpt:
Planning your walk


Contents | Introduction | How difficult is the path? | Planning your walk | Using this guide | Sample route guide: Bigbury-on-Sea to Salcombe


 


ROUTE FINDING

For most of its length the coast path is well signposted. At confusing junctions the route is usually indicated by a finger-post sign with ‘coast path’ written on it. At other points, where there could be some confusion, there are wooden waymark posts with an acorn symbol and a yellow arrow to indicate in which direction you should head. The waymarking is the responsibility of the local authorities along the trail who have a duty to maintain the path. Generally they do a good job but occasionally you will come across sections of the trail where waymarking is ambiguous, or even non-existent, but with the detailed trail maps and directions in this book and the fact that you always have the sea to one side it would be hard to get really lost.


Using GPS with this book
Given the above, modern Wainwrights may scoff while more open-minded walkers will accept that GPS technology can be an inexpensive, well-established if non-essential, navigational aid. In no time at all a GPS receiver with a clear view of the sky will establish your position and altitude in a variety of formats, including the British OS grid system, to within a few metres.
    The maps in the route guide include numbered waypoints; these correlate to the list on pp325-7, which gives the latitude/longitude position in a decimal minute format as well as a description. Where the path is vague, or there are several options, you will find more waypoints. You can download the complete list of these waypoints for free as a GPS-readable file (that doesn’t include the text descriptions) from the Trailblazer website: : www.trailblazer-guides.com (click on GPS waypoints).
    It’s also possible to buy state-of-the-art digital mapping to import into your GPS unit, assuming that you have sufficient memory capacity, but it’s not the most reliable way of navigating and the small screen on your pocket-sized unit will invariably fail to put places into context or give you the ‘big picture’.
Bear in mind that the vast majority of people who tackle this path do so perfectly well without a GPS unit. Instead of rushing out to invest in one, consider putting the money towards good-quality footwear or waterproofs instead.

ACCOMMODATION

The trail guide (Part 4) lists a fairly comprehensive selection of places to stay along the length of the trail. You have three main options: camping, using B&Bs/guesthouses/hotels, or staying in hostels and bunkhouses/camping barns. Few people stick to just one of these options the whole way, preferring, for example, to camp most of the time but spend every third night in a guesthouse, or perhaps use hostels where possible (as there are only a few on this stretch of the path) but splash out on a B&B where necessary.
    Note that when booking accommodation that is far from the path, remember to ask if a pick-up and drop-off service is available (usually only B&Bs provide this service); at the end of a tiring day it’s nice to know a lift is available to take you to your accommodation rather than having to traipse another two or three miles off the path to get to your bed for the night. (This is particularly true at the beginning of the walk, around Wembury/Hope, and even more so at the end around Lulworth Cove/Kimmeridge, where there are only a few B&Bs and they are usually a fair walk from the path – and the walking is arduous enough as it is on this section!)
    The facilities’ table on pp38-9 provides a quick snapshot of what type of accommodation is available in each of the towns and villages along the way, while the tables on p33-4 provide some suggested itineraries. The following is a brief introduction to what to expect from each type of accommodation.

Camping
There are campsites all the way along the South-West Coast Path. That said, there are few people who choose to camp every night on the trail. You’re almost bound to get at least one night where the rain falls relentlessly, soaking equipment and sapping morale, and it is then that most campers opt to spend the next night drying out in a hostel or B&B. There are, however, many advantages with camping. It’s more economical, for a start, with many campsites charging somewhere around £5-10pp (though we have found places that charge £40 in high season, with a three-night minimum stay over bank holiday weekends too!). There’s rarely any need to book either, except possibly in the very high season, and even then you’d be very unlucky not to find somewhere.
    Campsites vary; some are just a quiet corner of a farmer’s field, while others are full-blown holiday parks with a few spaces put aside for tents. Showers are usually available, occasionally for a fee though more often than not for free. Note that wild camping (ie not in a regular campsite) is not allowed.
    Camping is not an easy option; the route is wearying enough without carrying your accommodation around with you. Should you decide to camp, therefore, we advise you to look into employing a baggage-carrying company (see p28), though this does, of course, mean it will cost more and that you will lose

a certain amount of freedom as you have to tell the company, at least a day before, of your next destination – and stick to it – so that you and your bag can be reunited every evening.

Bunkhouses
The term ‘bunkhouse’ can mean many different things, though usually it’s nothing more than a converted barn in a farmer’s field with a couple of wooden benches to sleep on. Sleeping bags are usually necessary in these places. While not exactly the lap of luxury, a night in a bunkhouse is probably the nearest non-campers will get to sleeping outside, while at the same time providing campers with shelter from the elements should the weather look like taking a turn for the worse. Some of the better bunkhouses provide a shower and simple kitchen with running water and perhaps a kettle, and occasionally pots, pans, cutlery and crockery.
    There is only one bunkhouse close to this stretch of the SWCP, at East Soar Farm near Salcombe – though there are rumours of a camping barn being built at Bigbury-on-Sea. (Weymouth’s Bunkhouse Plus is excluded, as this, in all honesty, is more of a hostel than anything else.)

Hostels
It isn’t really feasible to plan to stay in a hostel every night on this walk as there are only three independent hostels (Plymouth, Weymouth and Swanage) and five YHA hostels (at Salcombe, Beer, Portland, West Lulworth and Swanage). However, they are worth considering, especially as they are good places to meet fellow walkers, swap stories and compare blisters.
    If you associate YHA hostels with cold, crowded dorms, uncomfortable beds and lousy food be prepared to think again. Many hostels provide good meals (breakfast is usually served 7.30-9am and evening meals 6-8pm) and a number are also licensed, but if you prefer to self-cater most have a fully equipped kitchen and some have a shop selling emergency groceries, snacks and souvenirs. In addition they now have a whole range of additional facilities from drying rooms to televisions and internet access.
    Dorms usually have bunk beds sleeping 4-6 people but a couple of hostels on this route have 2-bedded rooms. Toilet and shower facilities are still shared (few hostels have a bath) but YHA Beer has a 6-bedded room that is en suite.
    The curfew (usually 11pm) is annoying but many YHA hostels now utilise access codes on their doors to offer residents more freedom.
    Most of the hostels on this path are open all year but in the winter months at certain times YHA Beer, Lulworth Cove, Portland and Swanage are only open to prebooked sole-use groups. In fact at any time of the year they may be fully booked with schools or other groups so contact the YHA or the relevant hostel to check the situation. Finally, the cost of staying in a hostel (£16-23pp; with a £3 per night discount for members) is in most instances not that much cheaper than staying in a B&B, especially once breakfast has been added on.

Booking a hostel  Despite the name, anybody of any age can join the YHA. This can be done at any hostel or by contacting the Youth Hostels Association of England and Wales (% 01629-592700, % 0800-019 1700, : www.yha.org.uk).

 

Dorset & South Devon Coast Path (South-West Coast Path Part 3)

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