17th October – A trip to Exmouth

 17^th October – A trip to Exmouth

 

After a train-free Saturday for personal reasons, I decided to take advantage of the all day direct service from Grateley to/from Exeter due to engineering works (can’t remember if trains were running to Andover or to Basingstoke).  The plan was to head towards Exeter Central, taking the first Exmouth train to Exmouth before walking back towards Exeter along the Exe path.

 

The day began with the 08:35 service for the run towards Exeter Central, where I changed from the pair of 159s to a 166 for the run to Exmouth.  Seeing 166s in Exeter still looks strange to me, but the power socket allowed my phone a quick boost of electric before coming to the end of the line at Exmouth.  This is where I decided to change my plan from going straight towards the path back towards Exeter to doing a loop around Exmouth marina.

 

Beach at Exmouth

 

The first destination for me was the beach at Exmouth, passing a random dinosaur in a park, walking along the prom towards a slipway, quite nice to get some of the breeze from the water.  I did a loop around the marina following a path towards Shelly Beach, before heading back inland towards the Imperial Recreation Ground, where it was possible to stand on the sandbanks of the river due to the tide being out (very busy it was as well, but I suppose it’s a good place to take a dog for a run).

 

Back on dry land, I passed the station once more (the former 2^nd side of the platform now being used for the car park), heading along a footpath between the river and boatyard before joining the mixed use pathway for a short section before crossing the railway on a barrow crossing to reach a footpath which was sandwiched between the railway track (protected by a fence) and the river, quite narrow in places but very scenic

 

A narrow path between the water & railway

 

The footpath came to an end south of Lympstone as I joined the road passing what is called “The Rag” which gave good views of the river, before carrying on, swinging via the little beach at Lympstone and carrying on towards the railway.  This is where the map has changed because there is no access to the mixed use path from the footpath footbridge near the station, which forced me on a doubleback to cross the railway on the mixed use path footbridge (the access path which was shown on Open StreetMaps has been blocked off with “Private No Right of Way” signs (always a risk of that when using Open StreetMap in my eye, as it can show paths but actually they are private).

 

Anyhow back to the path, as I joined the main mixed use path (quite busy with cyclists out for a Sunday ride), a wooden path next to the railway, which passes the commando base (and as the gate of Commando station was open, I took a couple of photos of the platform knowing the Exeter train had only just departed so it should be quiet).  I carried on walking along the path, reaching Exton where I decided to have lunch sitting on the platform before heading back out on my feet.

 

158749 departs Exton station

 

At Exton village, the estuary trail moves away from being close to the river to the backroads, and even when the roads give way to the actual path, it didn’t give that many views of the river, as it was at the bottom of a small railway embankment.  Good views of a nature area mind, as I continued along the path before it came to an end south of Topsham.  I turned left to head towards the RSPB Bowling Green Marsh, doing a little loop of the reserve area (for no reason really), but sadly this is where a plastic clip on my bag broke so one of the straps came away.

 

I decided to cut the walk short at this point due to the broken bag (although to be honest I would probably have cut it short at Topsham due to the distance I had covered, the little bit at Exmouth added 3 miles, with various other shorter added parts).  I returned to the river front at what is called “The Goat Walk”, a narrow section of path next to the river, which was busy with visitors.  Anyhow I carried on towards Topsham station, along the river front, arriving with good timing for the next Exeter bound service (another 166).

 

Exe Estuary from The Goat Walk, Topsham

 

This 166 took me to Exeter Central, where with around 40 minutes before the next Salisbury train, I decided to pop out to a nearby Sports Direct to look for a replacement bag (as I like the style I had before hand due to the pocket layout), thankfully they had some of a similar design (but in purple instead of yellow, but hey-ho), better than nothing.  I returned to Exeter Central station, and waited for the next Salisbury service for the trip back towards Grateley.

 

I might not have completed my task in full (a job for another day to carry on from Topsham towards Exeter) but I had an enjoyable walk, certainly very beautiful in places (especially at parts of Exmouth where you could see & hear trains on the opposite bank near Dawlish Warren.  After the events on the Saturday it was nice to get some fresh air to allow some thinking to happen (trying to sort the mess of my head out).