Three of us (the men) decided a walk would be preferable to a shopping trip, so we thought a walk to Suanton Sands for lunch and back again looked like a good idea. We headed into Croyde and then hit the beach and headed up between the dunes where the stream flows onto the beach, from there you can pick up a foot path that heads to the center of Croyde, along Carpenters Lane, rather than having to walk along the road. When we hit the main road J went to grab his Telegraph from the post office while T and I waited.
Head out of Croyde by taking Cloutmans Lane which turns into Milkaway Lane, perhaps because they used it to get the milk to town possibly? Take a right branch onto Pathdown lane, a suitable name had we been going in the other direction. It was a steep climb but meant that we got all the hard up hill out of the way at the beginning of the walk always the best option in my opinion. Eventually you get to the top of the hill which is wide and round, but at the very summit you have views all around. Over the top the foot path signs are mounted on large gate posts we speculated whether people ogt lost in the fog up there and whether veering off the path could lead to a fall off a cliff.
It would be mainly down hill from now on, we headed down to Saunton Court a very large house with a very manucured expansive lawn and garden, where you walk down the drive and eventually get to the main road at which point (according to the map) there was a vague path which you could pick up if you walked into the golf course club house area. We were a bit worried about being told to get out of the golf course but followed the road to the clubhouse then the signs to the driving range, were a trodden path headed down the back of some houses and parallel to the road and in the direction of the cafe at Saunton Sands.
It was time for lunch so we decided on the Cafe with the terrace who were more than happy to allow the dog. The cafe is run by the Hotel above and the smart waiters in all black seemed very good at their job. I order a coffee to go with my Smoked fish anti-pasto platter/starter, Mr T had the meat anti-pasto and J had spaghetti bolognese. The food took quite some time to arrive but the sit down after the long walk and the lovely weather was welcome anyway. The food when it turned up was excellent. I managed to leave my phone there when we left but realised very soon and was able to retrieve it by retracing only 100m or walking.
Again the walk started with a steep section up to the hotel over the road onto the foot path which climed a bit more to get above the road which it followed all the way to the end of the finger of land which ended at Downend, where we had to turn the corner and then walk back the way we cam up the road for about 75 yards, to follow the coastal path around the point and onto the beach at Croyde. We crossed the beach on the harder sand hwere the sea had been at high tide for an easier walk. Back at the hut we had a peaceful rest of the afternoon updating blogs and reading.
The ladies had followed us to the Cafe at Saunton and the service was even slower for them they they waited an hour while the waiters forgot their order then they were given their drinks for free as an apology. We had fish and chips for tea from Braunton.