We’d been looking at the Coleridge Way for a weekend walk as it was nearer to Bristol where one of our party lives than most of our walks had been but we couldn’t find a suitable daily breakdown that had good accommodation options. After discussion and following the recent launch of the King Charles III England Coast Path, we decided to explore the coast alongside Exmoor. We realised we could walk from Coombe Martin, just east of Ilfracoombe, to Minehead in three well-divided days. It turned out to be a great decision. Not only was each day different but the closeness of Exmoor makes this stretch of the coast highly secluded. Between our chosen stops, there were almost no roads, no villages and scant few houses. We walked the first half of the weekend surrounded by birdsong and almost without seeing anyone else on the trail.

To get to the walk, most of the group drove to Minehead and paid for a relatively expensive taxi to Barnstaple. We’d chosen to stay the first night there as it has a train station that another of our party could use. On the first morning, we grabbed a bus to Coombe Martin and the start. At the end of the walk we picked the car up for the drive back whilst our public transport contingent took the bus to Taunton for a train back home.

Barnstaple provided us with a serviceable Chinese meal and a few beers on Thursday night, after which we went back to the somewhat bling AirBnB. More satisfying was Bramley’s takeaway cafe at the bus station on Friday morning, who provided an impressive fry-up-in-a-box whilst we waited for the bus.

• Day 1: Coombe Martin to Lynmouth
• Day 2: Lynmouth to Bossington Hall
• Day 3: Bossington Hall to Minehead

Friday - Coombe Martin to Lynmouth

• Distance: 15.2 miles
• Walking time: 6 hrs 30 mins
• Difficulty: Tough
• Lunch: Hunter’s Inn, Heddon Valley
• Accommodation: Orchard House Hotel, Lynmouth
• Dinner: Number Ten, Lynton

Due to the late-running bus, which was already going to take an hour, we didn’t get onto the trail at Coombe Martin until 10am. As a result we didn’t have time to explore the village and instead headed up the well-signposted SW Coast Path from the east end of the beach. Unsurprisingly there was no warm-up before we were climbing steadily past “Little Hangman” and onto the bigger peak of “Great Hangman”, the highest point of the day. The views back over the bay were lovely and the coast ahead was green and rugged. We also immediately noticed the huge number of vivid pink foxgloves. In fact these edged the path on-and-off all the way to Minehead.

The route rolled over two more reasonable hills and I got a crick in my neck gazing at the azure sea. As we approached Heddon Valley, the path grew rockier and stayed closer to the cliff edge, although never concerningly-close. After turning right into the valley, which was deeply lush, we could see the Hunter’s Inn poking through the trees a half mile away. The path dropped through ferns and into woodland to the valley floor turning over a stone bridge to pick up the service road that led to the pub.

After a couple of pints of Otter Beer and some reasonable pub food, we headed up the other side of the valley to reclaim the cliff tops. A light drizzle fell as a whole load more rain fell off to our left over the Bristol Channel. Passing a waterfall, we entered woodland and missed the coast path sign having been distracted by a neighbouring “comedy” sign pointing to Iceland, Russia and New Zealand. We realised our mistake before we’d dropped all the way down to Woody Bay and picked the path up again, passing a man who strolled cheerfully past with a dog and a shovel. There followed a small piece of road-walking before we reached Lee Abbey. It’s an imposing building but is painted a rather sickly colour. Crosses up on the hillside and the faint singing of hymns accompanied us as we slogged up the toll road to reach Valley of the Rocks.

We spotted some of the famous feral goats as the path turned into tarmac and we reached Lynton. A steep descent to Lynmouth harbour brought us to the Orchard House Hotel. Everyone was a bit perturbed by my choice of restaurant, back up in Lynton, but our host very kindly offered to save our legs and drive us. We had some good pizza in Number Ten and then beers in the Crown before gently walking back down again to our very comfortable beds.

Saturday - Lynmouth to Bossington Hall

• Distance: 15.1 miles
• Walking time: 6 hrs 30 mins
• Difficulty: Tough
• Lunch: Packed lunch from Lyndale Tea Rooms, Lynmouth
• Accommodation: Bossington Bunk House, Bossington
• Dinner: The Top Ship, Porlock

The breakfast in the Orchard House was fantastic and included Hog’s Pudding alongside its blood-based darker brother and the usual sausages, eggs and bacon. Our vegetarian was also well-treated. As a result, and having grabbed takeaway sandwiches from the nearby tea rooms, we cheerfully headed out into the drizzle.

The day had the worst forecast of the weekend and it proved to be accurate. Luckily, we spent most of the day in woodland so were only mostly damp rather than completely soaked.

First of all we had to get back up onto the cliffs. A steady climb-out along a switchback path through woodland then took us alongside the road for half a mile before we branched off onto the footpath. As we turned onto Butten Hill, accompanied by chiffchaffs, we were treated to a double rainbow on the hillside below. We soon reached the high point of the day before the path dropped and entered Gurney’s Wood, about four miles from Lynmouth. The visibility along the coast had been falling as the rain became heavier, so we were pleased to have some cover.

The next few miles were verdant and beautiful, obviously due to the high annual rainfall; itself due to the proximity of Exmoor, which drives the rainclouds up so that they empty themselves on the coast. Devon holds much of the UK’s remaining temperate rainforest, and the path was dense with trees and plants and alive with birdsong. As the ancient woodland changed into a plantation, a section of rhododendrons gave a carpet of pink flowers before we reached Sister’s Fountain, a 19th century stone structure above a wellspring, the latter of which was created by Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus as they strolled past one day.

Given the weather, we had resolved to stop for lunch before leaving the woodland cover, so we found some suitable rocks and ate our sandwiches. Having barely seen anyone up until now, we were now encountering many more walkers and the path moved back closer to the cliff tops. If truth be told, the next few miles were a bit samey and the woodland felt less unique than earlier. The path began to drop down as we passed Culbone Church, apparently the smallest parish church in England. The descent then became steeper as we went through the tunnels at Ashley Coombe, once home of Ada Lovelace.

Leaving the woods at last, and with the rain gone, we had swallows zooming past as we walked alongside a meadow to reach Porlock Weir and a pitstop at the Bottom Ship inn.

We’d realised that our accommodation was a mile and a half out of Porlock, where dinner was booked at the Top Ship inn. We had the choice of going straight into Porlock, saving our legs, but we would have to have got to Bossington Bunk House for last check-in at 9pm. In order to have the opportunity for showers and to drop our rucksacks off, we elected to go to the bunkhouse and then walk back. As a result, we crossed Porlock Bay via the marsh and walked through the pretty village of Bossington, only to find that check-in was no more than grabbing a key off a hook. Nevermind, we had a chance to clean up, put on dry clothes and then walked the half hour to Porlock for dinner and, afterwards, some beer and pool at the very welcoming Royal Oak.

Sunday - Bossington Hall to Minehead

• Distance: 8.8 miles
• Walking time: 4 hrs
• Difficulty: Moderate

Given the absence of staff when we checked into Bossington Hall the night before, we’d had the presence of mind to pick up some eggs, bread and whatnots from Spar whilst we were in Porlock. After a self-service breakfast, and slightly later than usual due to the late night at the Royal Oak, we picked up our packs and walked through the pretty village to the National Trust nature reserve for the last leg of the weekend.

After crossing a river, the track rose out of the reserve to reveal much clearer views than Saturday over Porlock Marsh and out to sea. The waves on the shingle on the beach were surprisingly loud and the path was surrounded by wildflowers as it narrowed to reach Hurlstone Point and the remains of a coastguard shelter. Around the corner, the cliffs became dramatic slopes of scree and a stony route snaked steeply up to the top.

For most of the rest of the day, we walked through moorland, covered in gorse and ferns. Twice, the path turned in-land to take us around the edge or to the bottom of a lush and verdant valley (or coombe). There were skylarks above and a gazillion foxgloves.

So it was all going well …until we stopped for a drink and a snack. Only one of us was in shorts and, when he stood up, he discovered a tick. Then, looking more closely, another one and another one. In all, he had fifteen attached to his legs. With a pair of tweezers, they were each carefully picked off. Sadly, Exmoor is notorious for these bastards. We made sure each spot was cleaned with an antiseptic wipe and some antibacterial handwash we were carrying. A few minutes later, one of us found one on his wrist (he also reported on Monday that another had appeared, having been transported home on his clothes). Once we were back on the trail, we warned a few shorts-wearing walkers to avoid the spot and to be wary in general. Eek.

Following the drama, we soon reached the highest point of the walk, having climbed pretty gently after the second of the valleys we’d crossed. This area had a few Exmoor ponies to keep us company.

We were now pretty close to Minehead and we gently dropped down through ferns and light woodland. After a short section of bridleway with the sea just off to our left, there was a steeper descent to the edge of Culvercliffe Green after which a pavement took us to the end of the walk, via a quick pint at the Old Ship Aground.

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