Coastal Discoveries:

The South West Coastal Path is a long distance walking trail between Poole in Dorset and Minehead in Somerset. It covers all of the coasts of Dorset, North and South Devon and Cornwall and is over 630 miles long. It is a wonderful trail, full of marvelous scenery, challenging walks and miles and miles of fantastic coastal scenery. We took 5 years to complete it and enjoyed every minute,

If one starts in Poole, you will first walk the coast of Dorset and one of the world famous sights along this stretch of coastline is Durdle Door, pictured above. This area pairs with Lulworth Cove close by to be one of the most scenic areas in this section of the coast. I have added a hiker to the painting as you can see. The trail winds off into the distance heading towards Lulworth Cove and Swanage in Dorset. 

Once you have left Dorset, you arrive in the town of Exmouth on the coast by the River Exe. The day we arrived, the weather was windy and unsettled, the sky grey and forbidding. We started from this point to walk back towards the town of Budleigh Salterton and later Sidmouth, both on the coast of Devon. With uncertain weather we had these two cut off points to take a bus back to where we had parked our car in Exmouth. This meant that we did not have to retrace our steps along the coast. We made it to Budleigh Salterton and caught the bus back to Exmouth, leaving Sidmouth for another day.

I was always impressed with the effect the weather had on the water and the beach when I took this photograph. There was texture in the scene as the storm stirred up the water and the flotsam on the beach. The sea birds were restless and the whole scene was accompanied by their cries as they circled above us. It was memorable, so I decided to paint it.

All along the coastal path you have the privilege of walking through miles of flowers which are scattered along the path. Sometimes you are walking along on grassy paths, sometimes by gorse filled hedgerows and often with a myriad of flowers beside you. This profusion I have tried to capture in this painting with a small rocky outcropping just offshore. The hiking path generally tries to hug the shoreline so you are always in view of the sea, in all its moods.

This photo was taken somewhere along the Dorset, Devon path which is the guieter and softer part of the South West Coastal Path. The water beyond is the English Channel. We again have a hiker on the trail just about to head off into the distance.

This picture was taken along the South Devon coastline. The flowers we met along our way impressed me as did the vistas as we looked out to sea. The irregular coastline is evident here as is the long coastal path which you can see in the distance. The path is close to the coast and in Dorset and Devon this can result in it being rerouted as parts of the coast disintegrate into the sea. This is called a diversion and we have come upon several of them as we hiked the coastal path. The coast erodes and the path needs to locate further inland to avoid danger. However, the main idea of this painting is to see a relatively mild sea, a profusion of flowers and the disappearing path in the distance encouraging you to "hike on". Vistas like these are common place on the South West Coastal Path.

Moving on around the coast in South Cornwall, we come to the Lizard Peninsula. Here we find the most Southerly Point in Britain a short distance from here and the most wonderful coastal walks you could imagine. This location is a place called the "Devil's Frying Pan". I was intrigued by the name but also by the rocks on the coast. The layers and striations on the outcroppings were colourful and interesting as was seeing the coastal path in the distance and the further coast as it wended its way north towards Cadgwith and later Coverack which is where we caught the bus to take us back to our car in Helston. This was a long walk but a very pleasant one. We were a little anxious at the end as we were trying to catch the one and only return bus to Helston. We made it with a little push at the end. Later we decided that it would be best to take the bus at the beginning of the walk and hike back to the car to avoid the possibility of missing the bus. We were learning our way around one way hiking and using the public transport system.

The tip of Cornwall, which is where this photo was taken, has a famous landmark called "Land's End" which is just around the corner from this painting of Sennen Cove. Land's End itself can be touristy with photo op signs and parking lots. Land's End is technically the most western point in Britain before heading across the Atlantic. It has become a Go To point for tourists and some intrepid souls hike from Land's End to John O'Groats in Scotland which was a little beyond our intentions and likely ability.

This whole section of the path has wonderful scenery and varied walking. Parts of it, Zennor to St. Ives, is rocky and rather scrambly while other sections allow you to trip along the cliff tops and enjoy the view. There are buses along this section of the route in season which we were able to use to facilitate our hikes.

Leaving the South West of England we find other coastlines worth exploring. The coastline in the North East of England bordering the North Sea on one side and The Yorkshire Moors on the other, is a delightful coast which includes the city of Whitby, pictured above. Whitby is the home of Captain James Cook and his statue is found on West Cliff looking out to sea. He is the local hero of this area.

The coastal path is well marked and easily done and includes access to bus transport which facilitates the hiking. It is also part of the Cleveland Way which goes through the Yorkshire Moors and down the coast to Filey. This painting was from a picture I took as we enjoyed an evening meal in an upstairs restaurant. The sun was setting and brightened the scene opposite. All the harbour houses were set alight by the glow of the sun which was an appealing focus for a photograph. There also was the old abbey on the hilltop behind the harbour to which we headed the following day to rejoin the coastal path on our journey to Robin Hood's Bay, our next port of call.

This scene is not one that I photographed but one that I discovered on a postcard. It seemed so representative of the many sights along the coast that were ours to enjoy on our many coastal hikes. The one difference was the setting sun casting its glow. Usually when the sun was low in the sky, we had completed our days walk and were home relaxing in our accommodation having no desire to be caught hiking along the coast in the dark.

The outcropping seen could be replicated all along the coast. The flowers, profuse at times, guided our paths and scented the air. The expansive views and the fresh air were enticing and brought us back year after year.

Coastal walking for us is the epitome of pleasure, adventure and healthful good exercise. Try it.

This is a Tropical Garden on the Costa Brava coastline. We wandered through the flowers and the paths and tried to keep out of the sun until we were picked up by the "Spanish Trails Guide". They had a cafe as well so we could have some refreshment while we waited. We took pictures and waited.

Now came the adventure part of the plan. Our coastal hike ended up being a round -a-bout tour on various forms of transportation - car, bus#1, bus #2, train and taxi until we finally rolled into Roses, our intended destination just shy of midnight. There were some wires crossed, some miscommunication and a great deal of waiting around until we finally arrived at the hotel. We stood by the side of a road with all our baggage for at least 3 hours during the course of the day. What a To Do! That is our primary memory or the Costa Brava coast - our adventure in being lost, and the paintings that resulted from the photos we took.

Following our very first cruise which was a week in the Mediterranean, the cruise ended in Barcelona where we decided to stay on for a few days before returning to England to hike. We decided to try hiking along the coast of the Costa Brava which is the coastline north of Barcelona. We had contacted a group called Spanish Trails to facilitate this. They picked us up at the ship and took us up the coast for a day's hike. However, we had not counted on the weather. July is Spain is frightfully hot - not our kind of weather at all. The hike was shortened to include a short stretch of coastline which you can see above and ended at a coastal garden a few miles up the coast. This was a photograph I took of the part of the coastline where we hiked in 35+ degree weather. It was very pretty but our discomfort cut the experience short. We were happy though to have been introduced to another coastline in our travels

In 2006, we discovered cruising and until 2020 and the pandemic, have enjoyed exploring the world by boat as well as by foot each year. We have tried to follow the plan of "Land and Sea" which included a two week cruise to "somewhere" and a 2-3 week sojourn in England, hiking. This gave us the independence of discovering new places as well as enjoying our favourite experience of hiking all in the same holiday. 

This cruise was from Venice and included an exploration of the Coast of Croatia which was new to us. This photograph was taken from the balcony of our stateroom at about 6:30 am as we cruised up the fiord towards Kotar. The captain had said that we would experience a treat if we woke early to see the sites we would be passing. He was right. As the sun came up, it cast a golden glow across the mountains which was reflected in both the valleys and the sea. It was an amazing sight and well worth the several photos I took as we passed by. Later one of those photos became the painting you see above.