Appledore to Clovelly
Along the coast all day, a flat walk on the Taw estuary to Westward Ho! followed by an up-and-down cliff walk and a memorably wet trudge through a rare piece of "Celtic rainforest".
The route, day 35
All day on the South-West Coast Path. 17 miles/27.5 km, 750 metres ascent.
Appledore
The shore at low tide north of Appledore with a view across the Taw estuary
Northam Burrows
Westward Ho!
and the joys of the English seaside
Cliff Walk
Beach Walk
After miles of hiking up towards low-hanging clouds and down again into steep-cut valleys of streams, a flat section of beach seemed appealing. We left the coast path to walk along a lovely beach with no other humans in sight for miles, but it was not easy going over wet rocks and piles of stones.
Awful Weather – or Wonderful Rainforest?
We trudged for miles in the mist. Along the stony road called the Hobby Drive leading to Clovelly we walked under dripping trees. It wasn't raining, but water droplets made us completely damp, and the clouds hung so low that no views of this famously beautiful coast were to be had.
The famous view of Clovelly that we hoped to see (image by Philip Halling, geograph.org.uk, Wiki Commons)
The view that we actually got. Sit on the bench and enjoy the fog.
However, we should have rejoiced in the wetness, as we were passing through what is called temperate rainforest (also known as Atlantic oakwoods or Celtic rainforest). This rare ecosystem is thought to have covered one fifth of the British landmass at one time, and is now reduced to fragile, scattered fragments in Cornwall, Devon, Wales, the Lake District and along the west coast of Scotland. Temperate rainforest needs a mild climate and 1,400 mm of annual rainfall – twice as much as London gets – so that lichen, ferns and moss can grow in mid-air on the trees.
Guy Shrubsole, author of Lost Rainforests of Britain, published a blog on the subject, lostrainforestsofengland.org, and with the help of readers produced a map of the British temperate rainforests. One of the patches that was identified is the steep coast of Devon at Clovelly. A defining feature of the ecosystem is an abundance of plants that grow on other plants, including 500 species of lichen and over 160 mosses and liverworts in Britain.
As we marched under the dripping canopy, we needed no convincing that we were in one of those precious zones that Shrubsole is campaigning to protect. More information is available at www.woodlandtrust.org.uk and in articles on www.guardian.com.
The deserted beach below Babbacombe Cliff. John Sykes was here, 23 June 2024.