Cycling in Southwest England - Bike from Paignton to Salcombe via Dartmouth (3 of 3)

Riding a quiet corner of Devon - 50km

Paignton to Salcombe

Dartmouth - heading out on the estuary

Aiming for Salcombe today.
Started the day by having breakfast with an Aussie couple from Sydney who were touring the South of England. Not sure what exactly they have made of Paignton, but they thought the areas' description as the English Riviera was a bit humorous. Anyway they were having a good time driving around visiting Tolpuddle, Salisbury, Bath etc. and today were off to the gardens of Cornwall.

Heading across country

After a decent cooked breakfast at my bargain B & B I set sail for Dartmouth. The Main Road, A379, was busy but I was particularly keen to see Dartmouth and fighting the traffic seemed to be the easiest option. Reaching the Dart River I embarked on the High Ferry floating bridge, a bargain at only 50p for bike and rider. The more expensive Lower Ferry, further downstream, seemed to be a raft that was pushed by a tug! Dartmouth looked really smart, had a bit of nose around and vowed to return.

A look back at Slapton

Climbed up and out of Dartmouth on a back road which was deathly steep but the beautiful countryside made up for the pain. Had to rejoin the main road at Stoke Fleming before stopping for a coffee at Blackpool Sands – a very nice bay and beach! It’s very easy to overshoot the entrance as you belt down the hill, well, I missed it anyway! My last stretch of main road took me, via Slapton Sands, to Torcross. This was a wartime training area, preparing for D-Day, and tragically nearly 1000 American Troops died when their exercise was interrupted by German MTB’s. Lessons were learned no doubt and there is a Sherman Tank monument to those who perished.

Trees right down to the beach at Mill  Bay

Harbour-side lunch in Salcombe

For me it was then a ‘welcome’ return to NCN 2 and minor roads. The hill out of Torcross was  very hard and this was then followed by a breezy ride across the high country towards East Portlemouth. The descent back down to sea-level was on a farm track through beautiful woods which ended up at Mill Bay where I had my first sight of lovely Salcombe across the water. The ride up the estuary  towards the ferry was exceedingly pleasant and laid back, so nice in fact that I continued on past the dock and explored more of the small coves in the direction of South Pool. 

Then retraced my route back to the East Portlemouth Ferry and a small open boat ride across to Salcombe (about £1:80 with the bike). Bit of a carry up the steps from the dockside up to the street but you can dock further upriver to avoid any lifting.

I grabbed a Devon Pasty and a jam doughnut for my late lunch from a traditional bakery and sat by the Harbour to eat my well earned meal. Now, where is our Apartment for the week?