Thursday 9th April

I really wish I had taken a photograph of the breakfast at The Cricket Inn - it looked as good as it tasted and was very eye-catching! After breakfast Julia and Kevin set off to walk along the flat stretch of sand between Beesands and Slapton. I set off and met them there, as did Kevin's family. Carol then walked with them all the way to Dartmouth. We all met up again at Blackpool Sands where we had a drink (Julia and Kevin also had cake!). I then drove on to Dartmouth to find our B&B - when I did so I was horrified! The position was perfect, right on the harbour side.......but our family room???? The main room had no natural light, only the light filtering through from my room and there was all of 6" at the side of their bed which had to be negotiated to get to my room or their bags.......my room had previously been part of the back yard which had been roofed over with corrugated plastic and a plywood floor added and a door....voila! A bedroom! The corrugated plastic allowed a dim green light to filter into the room and thence to the main room. A cat would not have got in, let alone allowed itself to be swung round. When Julia and Kevin inspected it we collectively decided Julia's idea of driving to Bristol to stay at Jean and Mike's home, to be the ideal solution, so we paid up and left. We got to Bristol around 7:30 and settled down with glasses of wine and a comfy bed in a proper room! We left at 7am this morning (Friday 10th) and I dropped Julia and Kevin off at Heathrow in plenty of time to catch their flight back home.....another trek over and the weather had been perfect for the whole time. I am hopeful (and determined) that I will be able to do the last 2 weeks of the South West Coast Path from Dartmouth to Poole in July, so keep reading friends!