West Bay to Abbotsbury

(Our overall day number 58 - Part of The KC3 ECP Leg 10b11a - Dawlish to Abbotsbury)

West Bay to Abbotsbury

23rd May 2024 | Miles 9.9 | Elevation gain 638ft

Just under 10 miles to finish this trip, and very different to the previous days. From West Bay, the path takes an inland diversion over a golf course to avoid the crumbling ground at East Cliff. From Burton Bradstock, the terrain is flat, but not any less tough - for it's the start of the top of Chesil Beach and five miles of pea shingle. It's a slog and somewhat of a relief at the eight mile mark to turn inland for the final mile to finish at Abbotsbury.
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Getting there and back
We parked in the Abbotsbury car park, and caught the x53 Jurassic Coaster back to West Bay
Weather conditions
Dry and a little overcast
Walking difficulty
Moderate - three sharp little climbs at the start of the day, but the main challenge on this day comes with the shingle at the top end of Chesil Beach. From Hive Beach it's five miles of trudging on the shingle, and it's strenuous work

The story of our day in photos

Cheaper than the council car park!
East Cliff has become dangerous with land slips - not likely to change any time soon, so there's a diversion across the golf course
Heading up towards the golf course
And across it
Rejoining the cliff tops just before Burton Bradstock
Looking back towards the holiday park at Burton Freshwater
Hive Beach cafe - well worth a visit and refreshments to prepare for the dreaded shingle!
Here we go - five miles of exactly the wrong sized shingle
Trudge
Looking for the line of least bad shingle 😅
Taking a break 😖
Same view for five miles
Heading inland towards Abbotsbury
Looking over West Fleet towards Chesil Beach
Approaching Abbotsbury
End of trip cocktails, back in Sidmouth
Useful links
The Riviera Hotel, Sidmouth
Delightful location on the front on a sunny Friday late afternoon, for a glass of rose overlooking the sea
The Anchor Inn, Sidmouth
Pre-dinner pint here on Friday, in the nice beer garden, which allows dogs - unlike inside
The Loft, Sidmouth
Family run restaurant, open Thurs to Sat for dinner - offers an range of food types, we had the hake
Deli On The Strand, Exmouth
We had a pre-walk bacon roll and flat white here, after arriving in Exmouth on the bus on our first day walking
Dukes Inn, Sidmouth
We visited Dukes a few times! A welcome stop at the end of the first day from Exmouth to Sidmouth, and then dinner here a few nights later was excellent - very friendly people.
Myca's Seafood Restaurant, Sidmouth
We had dinner here on Saturday night - all the seafood looked lovely, but it wasn't cheap. The oysters and scallops were delicious, but they cooked the tuna steaks a little too much for our liking.
Sea Shanty Beach Cafe, Branscombe
This is a place to stop at, not just because it's a nice cafe that serves ice creams, but it also comes after six very tough miles from Sidmouth, with four to go to Seaton!
The Vault Bar, Seaton
Right by the bus stop back to Sidmouth, perfect for a drink-while-you-wait
The Bell Cliff Restaurant & Tea Rooms, Lyme Regis
Great sandwich lunch here overlooking the water, after completing our walk from Seaton. Sadly not open evenings since the pandemic.
The Marine, Sidmouth
We had a pint here after getting the bus back from Seaton, at the end of our tough day walking. Nice in the sunshine.
The Swan Inn, Sidmouth
We had dinner here on Sunday evening - decent pub food, we had the curry and the haddock
Teign Bean coffee shop, Teignmouth
There's a few of these in the area - including at Starcross Car Park. We had a coffee from the one on the front at Teignmouth, while we got our passport stamped at the coastguard station.
Spoken, Exmouth
We had a quick lunch here in the square in Exmouth - lovely outside eating area and the tapas were good too!
The Victoria Hotel, Sidmouth
Posh hotel, a few yards up a little hill from the front - as far as we could see it was the only terrace in town that kept the sun long enough for a glass of rose
Neil's Restaurant, Sidmouth
Mainly seafood - this was our favourite eatery in this trip - they do a fixed price two or three course menu, and we had some very special seafood
Hive Beach Cafe
On the beach at Burton Bradstock, en route from West Bay to Abbotsbury - followed by a lot of shingle so best to get well refreshed here!
Graze & Olive cocktail bar, Sidmouth
We had a couple of final night pre-dinner celebratory cocktails here
The Pea Green Boat
Fine dining overlooking Lyme Bay, a venue for our final night