13 - Buck's Mills to Clovelly

Stage Distance: 5 miles (Total Distance: 99 miles)

Another dry but overcast day.  Time for a quick look round Buck's Mills before setting off.  It's a pretty village nesting in the woods.  Old lime kilns on the beach are a reminder of the days when the boats from Wales brought the lime for processing.

The path leaves Buck's Mills and zig-zags up through Buck's Wood.  Then on through Kevill's and Barton Woods.  A real bluebell extravaganza.  The scent is almost overpowering at times. A brief walk across open fields and then back into Barton Wood before finally joining the Hobby Drive, built by the landowner in the early 19th century.  Projects of this type were usually built by Napoleonic prisoners and the unemployed during times of recession (the Big Society is not new then?).  The Hobby Drive continues for 2 or more miles well above Clovelly.  Some benches wouldn't go amiss but we settle for lunch on an old felled tree trunk.

On reaching Clovelly, it's down the lovely cobbled streets to the harbour.  It's a very picturesque setting, all the more uplifting due to the realisation that we've avoided the £5 per head entrance fee by not arriving through the normal channels!  It's a stiff climb back up, so we fully deserve the coffee and cake before heading for the car.

Logistics: Parked at Clovelly and drove the hire car back to Buck's Mills.
GPS Track: 13 - Buck's Mills to Clovelly (20110501).kmz 
Images: 13 - Buck's Mills to Clovelly