Stage two - Bedford to Hartland 17th March

Well, here we go!

Stage two began, for me, on the early train from Bedford. If you have a through ticket to Exeter they let you travel on the early commuter trains so I didn't have to wait till 9.30! Therefore, 7.28 saw me trundling down to London with the suited and booted!I did get some odd looks with my walking boots and rucksac!


My intention was to catch the 9.06 from Paddington which would get me in to Exeter in time for a connection to Barnstable, which in turn would mean I could catch a lunch time bus to Hartland, meet Tim and then walk along the coast to the farm.


However, the train was delayed out of Paddington (the best laid plans...) although in the circumstances noone cared as there had been a fatality on the line earlier in the morning (at Culham) and folk were very sober.

Barnstable

In the end I had a couple of hours meandering around Barnstable, enjoying a pasty and caramel slice, and caught the school bus at 4.30 which arrived at Hartland about 6.


Yvonne and Tim came to collect me, we got to the farm, dropped our bags and ran (almost) out to catch the sunset on Hartland point.

Sunset at Hartland Point

Simply beautiful. We had another excellent night's sleep and we set off about 9 next morning on the path we had walked before to Hartland Quay.