For an Ordnance Survey map of today's walk (11.3 mi; 18.2 km; 1,189) click here.
Obviously, even if a route is the same, you
never have the same experience twice. Although the route for part of this day
was the same as our walking pilgrimage in 2013, there were many things that
felt different—and many that also felt the same. Here’s our experience of the
day’s walk, moving sequentially through it.
Barnstaple:
The same: A lovely breakfast and send off
from our host Jan at Herton B&B.
The same: The lovely weather, sunny and
warm (though warmer than last time).
Different: Simon May is no longer vicar at
Holy Trinity Church in Barnstable, so we didn’t go to the church for a blessing
before beginning this year’s walk (though we had friends at our home church
Bethel pray for us before we went). This meant we began walking a little
earlier, leaving our B&B around 9:20.
Different: Overhearing a group of
schoolchildren in Barnstaple about to head over the bridge:
Leader: “Children, this is the fifth time
we are visiting the leisure centre, so what do we do when we cross the bridge?”
Loud chorus of children: “Walk single
file!”
Leader: “Very good!”
 |
| The medieval bridge in Barnstaple: "Walk single file!" |
Ken and I did a lot of walking single file
on the roads, just to make sure we could both move over quickly if a car
approached from either direction.
The same: We enjoyed walking alongside the
park and river.
Bishop’s Tawton:
Different: There wasn’t a church work day
this time, but we did actually visit the church and take a brief rest.
According to the church guide, it is the only church in Devon with a tower
topped by a crocketed spire.
 |
| St. John the Baptist, Bishop's Tawton |
Tarka Trail to Landkey:
The same: Enjoyed the walk beside the
river, and the scent of wild garlic.
The same but slightly different: Ken once
again partly rolled one ankle when walking down a pitted cow pasture.
Different: Hearing one sheep bleating in
two tones, the regular “baaa” escalating higher to “eeeeah!” at the end, kind
of like Tarzan’s chest-beating cry.
 |
| A horseshoe in the sky for Joan! |
The same: We bought food at the little
store in Landkey to carry with us for dinner.
Different: Instead of accidentally pouring
most of pint of lemonade into his pack (!), Ken spilled only a little lemonade
on his hand while heading to an outside table at the pub in Landkey.
The route after Landkey:
Different: Instead of a long but beautiful
detour up to Gunn, we took a more direct route along the valley near
Swimbridge. This route was shorter but didn’t offer the grand views we had in
2013 (though were some nice valley views).
The same: Sara enjoyed all of the
wildflowers in the hedgerows, especially the pink campion.
 |
| A hedgerow full of wildflowers (no campion, though) |
Different: We liked walking the road through a forest on the way to West Buckland—no getting lost, the shade of trees, a slight breeze, views lower into a valley, and the smell of woods warmed by the sun.
West Buckland:
The same: We enjoyed little West Buckland
and its church. We saw our 2013 entry in the church guest book, and added in
this year’s entry that Ken’s new kidney had been going strong for eight years.
Leaving West Buckland:
The same: An ambiguous route across a sheep
pasture (also potentially ankle-wrenchingly hummocky) that made us wonder if
we’d find the way out at the bottom. But we did.
Huxtable Farm B&B:
Different: A greeting by two adorable lambs
who came to the fence to say hi.
 |
| The lambs pose for our first sheep photo! |
The same: Jackie greeted us with a
delicious cream tea—scones, clotted cream, strawberry jam, and Earl Grey tea.
Different: While outside near sunset
looking to take pictures across the lovely valley to West Buckland, to his
surprise, for the first time in his life Ken saw—and took many pictures of—“sun
dogs,” two small lights or “fake suns” on either side of the sun “caused by the
refraction of sunlight through ice crystals in the atmosphere” (Wikipedia).
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