| Global-warming is definitely with us
if the 2006 autumn is anything to go by, but occasionally we do
experience a drop in temperature. A plan to go hill walking suddenly
seemed mad one blustery day last week, so by some quirk of fate
we ended up in Bude.
Perhaps the logic went something like this: avoid the east wind
and find a west-facing shore where it's bound to be warmer because
of the vicinity of the sea, and where the hills will act like a
big barrier to fend of that chilly blast. The north Cornish coast
is ideal for such ventures - and Bude fits the bill best because,
if you freeze on your walk, you can repair instantly to one of the
many cafes or other warm hostelries.
Basic Hike: from Bude south along coast path
to Upton, then inland to canal at Robb's Bridge and then north along
the towpath.
Recommended map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 111
(Bude, Boscastle and Tintagel).
Distance and going: three-and-a-half miles -
very easygoing.
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Note that all maps on this site are only indicative.
You should never set out without the correct OS map. |
| We parked in the big car park adjacent
to Bude's Tourist Information Centre where we picked up two leaflets
- one outlining the Bude Town Trail, which we largely ignored -
the other heralding the Pethericks Mill marshes scheme which includes
a delightful little circular walk for those with only 20 minutes
to spare.
We began this longer route by crossing the bridge and turning
right along the canal-side towards the sea. I have written about
the glorious Bude Canal before but, for those readers who are unaware
of North Cornwall's answer to Suez, Panama and Corinth, here is
a basic history of the waterway.
It was built early in the 1820's to carry calcium-rich sea sand
to the farmers up in the Cornish and Devon hill-country where the
soil was poor. It was a magnificent engineering feat and stretched
nearly 35 miles from Bude to Launceston. Members of the Bude Canal
Trust is particularly proud of the unique inclined planes which
carried tub-boats up to 430 feet above sea level within just six
miles of the coast.
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| Like most canals this one was put paid to by the
coming of the railways, and it finally closed in 1891. But, thanks
to those ocean-facing locks, the port of Bude remained in commercial
use until the 1930's.
Anyone interested in learning more about the waterway can look
at Bude Canal and Harbour Society's website on www.bude-canal.co.uk
We continue seawards, past the big new lock-gates, to the South
West Coast Path.
You'll find it tucked away between some houses just south of the
lock, where a gate introduces walkers to the great expanses of Compass
Point and Efford Down beyond.
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| The Town Trail leaflet says: "These downs, with
their springy turf and furze give the true feeling of Bude and the
spirit of the North Cornish Coast. They have not changed for centuries
- it was here that part of the Royalist Army under Sir Ralph Hopton
camped on the eve of the Civil War Battle of Stratton on Tuesday
May 1643."
The first thing you'll see, perched on the end of the downs, is
a strange little building known locally as The Pepperpot. It was
built by a Sir Thomas Acland and it is said he modelled this attractive
structure on the Temple of the Winds in Athens. Its eight sides
indicate the points of the compass but are, alas, seven degrees
out of true - thanks to the fact that the building was moved once
to avoid being toppled over crumbling cliffs.
They'll probably have to move it again soon judging by the encroaching
erosion - and that will give some bright spark a chance to put it
back in alignment with the magnetic poles.
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| South we went, over the downs and along the cliff-tops
until we reached the Widemouth Bay road. This is where we gave up
our struggle with the wind and showers and turned down the lane
that took us through the hamlet of Upton and landed us on the eastern
bank of the canal near Rodd's Bridge. We had been intending to go
onto a place called Salthouse on the coast, where a footpath cuts
across the hill to meet the Atlantic Highway at the point where
the canal ceased to be navigable - but we will have to do that section
another day.
From Rodd's Bridge it was simply a case of walking north back
to Bude along the towpath. It is a very pleasant stretch indeed
- made all the merrier by the fact that we were able to turn right
near town and cross the Peter Truscott footbridge. This took us
on a meander around the Pethericks Mills wetland nature reserve.
Hundreds of birds were sauntering among reed beds doing their
best to avoid the wind. We staggered back to the car park decreeing
that the nest time an east wind brings sharp chill showers we'll
find a deep valley with a sheltered forest to walk in.
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