8 July 2018 – Rob's South West Coast Path

Date: 20180708

Time: 9:50 – 14:15

Distance: 16.7 km

Stay: Mariners Hotel, Lyme Regis

Walk

Today is all about the English jungle. But before that happens, I first go into the local store in Beer to get a lot of water. It is very hot again and I don’t want to run out of water today.

After getting the water it goes up immediately. I have one more cliff to go and then I come to Seaton. Seaton is only a short distance away from Beer (but with a cliff in between). In Seaton I follow again the promenade, the route along the beach.

At the end of Seaton I leave the coast for a bit to cross the river Axe by the oldest concrete bridge in England, the Axmouth Bridge (1877). Then it goes up steeply to a golf course. I walk right through it and then I come to the point of no return. A sign warns me that the next piece is 3.5 to 4 hours walking and that there are no possibilities to go to the sea or inland. In other words, if you start this, then you have to finish it or go back.

I consider all options and check that my jungle equipment is complete. After much deliberation I decide to take a chance and I go in to the jungle. The jungle we are talking about here is the Axmouth – Lyme Regis Undercliff, an area where in the past several landslides have taken place (read cliffs falling down). Because the area is too unstable, man has never really intervened. This has led to a green area that is unique in England. The Coast Path goes right through it, a route of about 13 kilometers.

The first part goes past fields and over cliffs and is in general rather disappointing with respect to jungle. But then I come to a sign that describes the Undercliff and from there it is indeed through the jungle. Everything is green and grows together here. It is also humid here, despite the drought elsewhere. There is a great diversity of plants and trees. In the end, I distinguish two types of terrain. Where there are no large trees, everything is overgrown with shrubs and other low plants. Where there are large trees, the ground can still be seen and there are more ‘open’ spaces.
To make it easier for walkers, they have build a tower halfway. That’s handy, so you know you’re halfway through. Here is also a road and there is even a car parked. It is not so remote here.
It is constantly going up and down in the Undercliffs. No major differences in height, but one after the other.

After a couple of hours (two to be exact) wandering through the jungle (it is one long path, you can not get lost), I return to the civilized world on the Lyme Regis side. It is still a bit through the forest and then I descend to the old port of Lyme Regis.

Now there is still a stretch along the beach of Lyme Regis. Here it is very busy, good weather and Sunday. At the Rock Point Inn I stop for a pint on the terrace. Then I walk up the hill to my hotel for the next two nights.

All in all today was a completely different experience than the Coast Path so far. Certainly nice for the variety. What I found disappointing about the jungle was the amount of flowers. According to the descriptions many (unique) flowers grow here. I did not see them, everything was green and there were only few flowers. Probably the wrong time of the year.
In any case, I have been able to walk in the shade for most of the day.