By: Blonde Two
There is a world of difference between walking somewhere and driving there. You can end up seeing things from such divergent angles, that you end up wondering if you are really where you think you are.
The driving route between Torquay and Totnes for example is a well-known one for me. I love Totnes market and am often to be found combining a rummage and a vegan lunch with some book deliveries to the most excellent Totnes Bookshop (which this summer had ‘Dart the River’ at number four on its best seller list!)
I have long intended to walk the route and was thrilled when Blonde One (B1) and Our-Scottish-Friend (OSF) said they would join me. I knew some bits of the of route and not others and, despite having a map (thanks Ordnance Survey), had a hard time working out which section of the road I was nearest to:
We walked first to Cockington (village of thatched tourism) where familiarity led to a navigation error! It was just as well OSF knew those particular lanes well. Plus if we hadn’t gone the wrong way, we wouldn’t have seen the Angel Tree!
The lanes were well-tended and the views back to the sea superb!
Next we walked across the fields, under the perfect clouds and steadily uphill to the ring road. Not very exciting, but it was interesting to discover an underpass (but not underpants) that you can’t see from a car.
Then we walked through Marldon and up the steep hill behind the church. Marldon is a village that has spread out somewhat since its first invention, but still has a most excellent pub.
After that it was down into the dark lanes behind Berry Pomeroy Castle. I don’t like it there, I once took my Scouts at night and won’t be doing so again!
Eventually we arrived, down a lane that I didn’t even know existed, at Totnes. Here we are on the Brutus Bridge admiring a scene from ‘Dart the River’.
It was a great walk and only one of the many possible routes between Torquay and Totnes. Maybe we will go for a riverside one next!
That is like getting a taste of the kind of walks I enjoy most. My long distance walks come in two variations: recognised LDPs (long distance paths) usually marked on the OS map with alternating red dots and red diamonds, and other routes that I devise myself, e.g Lowestoft to the Lake District. I prefer the latter, and your walk falls into that category. With an LDP I feel obliged to follow as closely as possible the published route, but with my own routes there is infinite possibility for improvisation and I can vary the route as I wish, sometimes to suit available accommodation. There is always anticipation at what I might find round the next corner, or in the next village, and as you say walking gives one time to digest and appreciate the surroundings, and also the chance to meet and talk to interesting (or otherwise) people, which, for me provides what I think of as a “blogger’s gift.”
The interesting thing was that we have picked out at least two completely different routes between the two towns. I think we will explore both eventually.