The South West Coastal Path Chronicles: Swanage to South Haven Point

Date: 31st October 2021

Distance: 8.31 miles

Time: 02:50:21

Ascent: 843 feet

Total SWCP distance walked: 660.23 miles!

Route

Progress

Profile

Everyone's Bit

Today was a very special day. Because today was the day that team Lesley, Derek, Marina and Martin finished the South West Coastal Path. We've been using public holidays and annual leave to drive to Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset since 2017 and never wavered from our quest!

We've got up at 4:30 am many times. We've walked in sun and rain and howling, knock-you-off-your-feet winds. We've saved the life of many a (one) sheep from those same winds. And struggled up and down hills in yet more wild wind. We've narrowly avoided being swept out to sea! We've (appeared to) walk on water! We've watched brave surfers ride Atlantic waves! We've crossed many an estuary by one-man ferry. We've seen birds. We've seen bunnies. And seals. And a dolphin. Well, an ex-dolphin in fact!

We've seen the sun rise and we've seen rainbows and even that rare meteorological phenomenon, a glory.

Old boots were retired. New boots acquired! We've met loads of people. We even raised some money (£1,280 so far) for the Dystonia Society (and a big thanks to all who donated!).

And there have been blisters. And swollen ankles. And torn intercostal muscles and one very painful knee injury. And let's not forget, the toughest and most inspiring of our party has dystonia and did the whole thing without complaint and (almost) always with a great big smile!

And it's all. Been. EPIC!

Covid forced an 18 month pause in our adventure but it didn't stop us. And today, we completed that amazing journey feeling excited, a little proud of ourselves and maybe a little sad that it was over. But mostly happy!

We were met at the end by Lesley's daughter Bethan and her husband Martino, which was lovely. I don't know how long they'd stood in the cold wind to greet us but there they were.

So let's start at the end before moving on to the usual Martin/Marina and Derek/Lesley sections of this, the final page of this blog. Probably.

Approaching the finish!

Statistics

We walked a total of 660 miles.

We walked for 284 hours spread over the course of 57 days.

In all, we ascended a total of 115,924 feet which is 21.95 miles! Up!!

And with not a little help from our friends, we raised £1,096.59 plus £183.50 Gift Aid for the Dystonia Society. Feel free to donate a little more!

Martin and Marina's Bit

Martin and Marina stayed in a hotel in Poole rather than the usual AirBnB and one of the perks of this was..... starting the day with a massive, all you can eat breakfast! And no, there was no guilt at such gluttony. It was earned! It was fuel. It was justified! :-)

Once again, the weather looked completely awful. Heavy rain and strong winds. We set off in the car to meet Lesley and Derek at the end of the day's walk before driving in one car to the start, per our usual method. But things started to go wrong right away. Our stupid satnav decided to take us via ferry crossing, which we'd not expected. And the road to the ferry turned out to be flooded as far as the eye could see. We replanned our route and went the long way round, cursing the time we were losing. Every step of the way there was minor flooding and here and there, fallen trees had caused roads to be closed.

There were reports of heavy flooding elsewhere in the UK. The Cop-26 climate summit was due to start tomorrow. The weather was food for thought. Sheep by Pink Floyd came on the in-car music player. "What do you get for pretending the danger's not real?" sang Roger Waters. A good and scary question.

Thankfully, we eventually arrived and met up with Lesley and Derek and drove on to the start in Swanage. And started walking. And the weather improved.... always windy, occasionally rainy, but often not. The light was exceptional again and the sea looked amazing. Today was a short walk of only about 8 miles, with one climb of note. An easy day to be honest. But the scenery surpassed expectations and we saw a rainbow which became a double rainbow. And then as we got to within half a mile of the end, it appeared again, acting like a finish line in the sky!

We finished with three miles walking on the beach. Ordinarily this would have been a hard trudge but the sand was firm and easy to walk on. And then.... we saw the metal sculpture that marks the end of the South West Coastal Path and we knew we'd done it!

What a journey. What a fantastic experience. Big thanks to our friends Lesley and Derek for thinking of this in the first place and for being such great buddies over all these miles, all these hills and beaches and estuaries and ferries. Brilliant.

Derek and Lesley's Bit

The Final chapter of our swcp expedition, We have had highs & lows hills & valleys but overall we have had the most fantastic time.

Again over night the rain has been smashing against the windows with high winds, & as before the forecast for the day is not good.

Our journey from the accommodation to the start of the walk was a scene from a disaster movie with fallen trees, flooded roads & long diversions, However we made it to the start, with the sea crashing in over the promenade & even a boat blown up onto the pavement!

But again somehow we are blessed with a fabulous sunny morning, a blue sky & spectacular seas.

How did the forecasters get it so wrong?

But hey ho it's in our favour.

Only one very small hill ahead of us so a mainly flat walk relatively easy, Once up the hill we walk along the chalk cliff tops & past old Harry’s rocks.

The odd rain shower on us BUT resulting in wonderful rainbow displays in the sky above the white contrast of the cliff walls is a sight to behold, drawing us ever closer to that destination being the end of the swcp.

Soon we are back down at sea level walking along a windswept sandy beach, each step is a step closer to our destination, the end of the swcp.

Across a couple of little streams from land water run offs the end now in sight, the blue sign of the swcp.

And so we arrive, joyful of an adventure an achievement but in some ways sad that it is now over. (apart from a bottle of fizz to mark the end)

I will miss the path somehow its become a part of me.

Thank you Martin & badges, Thank you Derek along with certificates to cherish BUT most of all memories, photographs & or course this blog, again Thank you Martin for being official photographer & blog co-ordinator.