Instow to Westward Ho! 11

Back on the Tarka trail this morning after catching the bus back to Instow but only as far as Bideford. Before leaving the trail we had a cup of tea at a railway carriage cafe at East-the-Water.

 Bideford Long Bridge is one of the longest medieval bridges in England with 24 arches.

We had some useful footsteps to follow as we made our way through Bideford towards Appledore.

Appledore is a lovely Devon village with narrow streets and colourful houses.
Now apart from a couple of blisters my legs and feet had held up quite well through all the many ups and downs of the coastal path but on this flat walk my left knee decided it had had enough for now and started to give me problems as we left Appledore.
We cut across the beach at the end of the town and across to the Northern Burrows Country Park. At this point you are only 900 yards from Braunton Burrows having walked about 25 miles to get here!

View of Instow from Appledore

Looking across to Braunton Burrows

The Northern Burrows is an interesting area in the dunes protected by a pebble ridge. After a visit to the visitor centre and an ice lolly at the ice cream van we were soon into Westward Ho! and nicely timed for a bus back to Braunton that was now beginning to feel like home.
Margaret had a good idea to break our journey and have a look round Bideford and get something to eat there. As luck would have it the first place we spotted was Wetherspoons so we had another go at Mexican Monday. It seemed a long time since last Monday in Minehead and many miles had been travelled since then.
It was still lovely weather so after our meal and a bit of shopping in the Co-op we had time to sit on the river side for a while in the sun, people watching before catching the bus to Braunton and packing up to move on tomorrow.