Walk 395 -- Freshwater East to Manorbier

 Ages: Colin was 79 years and 121 days. Rosemary was 76 years and 263 days. 

Weather: Hot and muggy. A negligible breeze. 

Location: Freshwater East to Manorbier. 

Distance: 4 miles. 

Total distance: 3985 miles. 

Terrain: Some beach. Mostly clifftop paths. Very undulating. 

Tide: Out. 

Rivers: None. 

Ferries: None. 

Piers: None. 

Kissing gates: None. 

Pubs: None. 

‘Cadw’ properties: No.13, Lamphey Palace. 

Ferris wheels: None. 

Diversions: None. 

How we got there and back: Yesterday we towed our caravan from home to Freshwater East. The caravan site is a 5 minute walk from the beach, so that is where we started the Walk. 

At the end we came to Manorbier beach. We intended ringing for a taxi to take us back to the caravan site but I couldn't get a signal on my phone. I was all in at the end of the Walk, the terrain had been challenging, the weather was hot and I had been very slow. But after a rest and an ice cream I felt a lot better. So we decided to walk back along the local lanes which wouldn't be so challenging – after all it was only four miles. I got about halfway, and sank exhausted on to a roadside bank. Fortunately a couple of Good Samaritans caught us up, namely Richard and Margaret. Seeing the state I was in, they fetched their car and drove us the rest of the way. We were deeply grateful to them. 

We realised we are going to have to rethink the way we do the rest of our Round-Britain-Walk. We still have about a thousand miles to go and we are not up to it any more — especially me. Old age has caught us up. 

 

Lamphey Palace 

Lamphey Palace is a medieval ruin situated a couple of miles north of Freshwater East. It was mostly built in the the 14^th century by Henry de Gower, Bishop of St David's. It was used by high-ranking clergy until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1546. It was damaged in the English Civil War, and subsequently used as farm buildings until it fell into complete ruin. It is now owned and maintained by Cadw. 

We started today's Walk at the bridge over the stream at Freshwater East beach. First we followed a tarmacked path up into the dunes until we reached a kind of platform with seats all round — an ideal place for disabled people to overlook the beach. There were lots of wild flowers blooming in the dunes. 

From there the path was loose and undulating across the dunes, so we decided that we would prefer the firm sand of the beach as the tide was out. We made our way down there and really enjoyed walking along by the lapping waves. We came to the end of the beach but we hadn't seen a way up to the path on the cliffs. The rocks at that end of the beach looked interesting, but I'm afraid I've forgotten most of the geology I learned in the 1980s when I got my degree with the Open University. It's too long ago. 

The two ways up we thought we had seen as we were walking along both involved a scramble up a vertical cliff — we are too old for that! So we had to backtrack, which is something we never like doing. I was making for the end of the dunes, but Colin noticed some steps before that. Sure enough, they led up to the Coast Path. The path up was quite steep, but by no means vertical. 

The Coast Path at that point was great! It was smooth, almost flat and had recently been strimmed for ease of access. But soon it started to undulate, quite steeply in places. There were lots of steps which my knees were not totally happy with. 

We left Freshwater East behind and climbed West Moor Cliff. The views were fantastic, but the visibility was poor because of the mugginess. It got very hot and there was hardly a breath of wind. 

 

 

We rounded a corner and got a lovely view of Swanlake Bay. I was feeling hot and tired by then, so we sat on a bank and ate our cereal bars. That was the only food we had brought with us because we intended having lunch in a café in Manorbier — after all, we had reasoned, it is only four miles from Freshwater East. Little did we guess how difficult we would find it to get there. 

We could see how undulating the path was from that point on. The downhills were very steep with few steps — I found them particularly difficult despite using my poles. I had completely lost my confidence

The views and the wild flowers were a great compensation. We rounded Swanlake Bay, a lovely beach with few people on it because you can only get to it by walking. 

We climbed East Moor Cliff the other side and got our first view of Manorbier in the distance

By then the sweat was pouring off me in a constant stream and dripping from the end of my nose! And I kept getting cramp in my calves. I mistakenly thought that once we had climbed East Moor Cliff it would only be a short hop to Manorbier where we planned to have lunch. But it was at least another mile of steep and difficult terrain and the heat from the sun was immense! There was hardly a breath of wind, especially where the path zigzagged inland to get up a hill. 

At last we came out on to the lane where there was a small car park. Just past it was a bench that overlooked the beach which was about a hundred yards away. We sat on it and called it the end of the Walk. 

 

That ended Walk 395. At that point we intended starting Walk 396 at that bench next time. It was quarter to three and we hadn't had any lunch. The Walk had taken us four hours, ten minutes and it was only four miles! We were both dog-tired and overheated. When we had rested a little we didn't go down to the beach. Instead we walked down the lane to the main car park because we wanted to use the toilets. I took a photo of Manorbier Castle which was over a hedge opposite, but it was a pretty poor photo.

Then we bought an ice cream each and I tried to ring for a taxi to take us back to the caravan. But I couldn't get a signal on my phone. What to do? 

We didn't want to walk even further away into the village which was up a hill. We felt a fraction refreshed after a short rest and the ice creams, so we decided to walk back along the road. It should be far easier walking than the cliff path and they were back lanes so there shouldn't be much traffic to buzz us. And what's four miles of easy walking anyway? We've always been able to do that and more, no matter how tired we've been. 

Old Age — that's what stymied us! 

We managed up a steep hill at the beginning, after that it was more or less flat. It was deadly boring and I soon began to seriously tire in the oppressive heat. After about three miles I sank down on to a roadside bank because I felt I couldn't go on any further. A lady in a car stopped to ask if I was alright. She offered us a lift, but she was going the wrong way. Just then a couple (Richard and Margaret) walked up from behind us. They said they were staying at a cottage just two hundred yards further on, and if we could get there they would drive us all the way to the caravan site which they reckoned was two more miles distant. We accepted their offer — I really couldn't walk another two miles in that heat. Richard drove us to the entrance of the caravan site at Freshwater East. After a rest, a drink and a bite to eat I felt fine. 

 

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We really are going to have to rethink the rest of the Round Britain Walk. We still have about a thousand miles to go and I'm just not up to it anymore. We've had so many setbacks in recent years (my knees, financial worries, no car, no caravan, Covid and I've had a lot of back trouble). Colin is amazingly fit physically, but the isolation of the pandemic restrictions has taken a big toll on his mental health. 

I am bitterly disappointed. Colin is disappointed too, but not as much as me because it has always been very much my project. But we' re not giving up completely, I am making plans!

 

 

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Difficult Decisions

We are very disappointed. After 23 years and 3985 miles we are going to have to throw in the towel! This is a project I have wanted to do ever since I was a child, but old age has caught up with us before we have been able to finish. We have had a lot of bad luck. Since we started in 1998 I have had five operations on my legs and Colin has had three on his bladder. Right at the beginning our walking was curtailed for about six months because the countryside was 'closed' due to the foot and mouth crisis. The weather has often put the kibosh on our Walks, especially in Scotland, and we have come home earlier than we intended. We had to take two years out because of my arthritic knees. Then we had financial problems over a mortgage and had to take another two years out. During that time both the car and the caravan packed up and we couldn't afford to replace them until the mortgage was finally paid off. The Covid pandemic was the last straw, when we were unable to leave our homes for nigh on two years over a series of lockdowns.

I had seen the fact that I might have to give up coming for quite some time, but I was always in denial. With grim determination I wanted to finish and say, “We walked every inch of the way!” But I can no longer walk the distances I used to. I need to rest a lot more often. I am very slow. I cannot cope with big steps or steep downhills, and the coast path is full of these. It has become an impossibility. After the incident on the way back from this last Walk I have had to accept defeat.

But we have done much to be proud of. We have walked nearly four thousand miles of the British coastline. We have walked all round the Scottish coast. We have walked in every kind of weather it is possible to experience in the British Isles. We walked to Cape Wrath from the ferry and out via Sandwood Bay in one day!! I entered the story of that epic Walk into a competition and got it published in a book by Hilary Bradt called “To Oldly Go” — the only piece of writing I have ever had published!

And we are not giving up entirely. We plan to continue from Manorbier, visiting every access point on the coast and doing a bit of walking here and there where it is not too undulating. We will get back to Bognor one day, even though we don't live there anymore.