2015 Walking Trip in Devon, Great Malvern, and The Shropshire Hills: Coast Hike, Prawle Point to Slapton Sands, May 11

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He said
Our walk today started in a lonely coast, far from any crowds or population center; in short, out in the middle of nowhere. But it was on the south coast at Prawle Point and quite pristine. This area and many other areas on this coast have been the sites of many shipwrecks over the years, even before the Spanish Armada of the late 1500’s. After all, Plymouth has been a busy port for commerce and for the military for centuries, and it is close by. Today, this coast was lonely, but also gray, foggy, and with a building breeze. This was good weather for a hike because the temperature was not arctic and the wind was mostly at our backs. Our path was close to the breaking waves with craggy rocks lining the route and once in a while, there would be a small beach whose name would always be ‘this’sand or ‘that’sand. So, a town near the mouth of a river would be ‘river’mouth and a beach would be somethingsand, oh and a valley would be ‘name’coombe… chose you own name and be famous in the area, and be from 600 years ago.
The day progressed from gray to filtered sun, although it was never warm exactly, it was pleasant for walking. We passed the lighthouse at Start Point where we had a snack. We then went over the ridge and left most of the wind behind as we started on a long up and down path straight towards our destination of Slapton Sands. We met our driver at the Sherman DD tank car park, this Sherman tank that was lost in April 1944 on a training exercise, sunk by German E boats. This tank model had a floatation device, but this particular one was under the sea for 40 years before being recovered in 1984 and it's now on display as a memorial to those who died in the area (almost 1000 soldiers).

She Said:
A much better start to today - I took a couple of Dramamine before getting in the taxi, and Tony the Taxi Driver was also sensitive to my needs and drove mindfully of them.
(The Dramamine did present its own problems, though - I was drowsy the whole walk and at times had to really push myself to put one foot in front of the other. Still, much better than the alternative.)

Lots of flat rocks today on the Path so I built a couple of Cairns to say "Hey! I was here!). Also, in some areas, the grasses were very spongy underfoot. Comfy but a little creepy, too. It felt like waiting to sink into the muck, and then - wet boots, wet socks and probably plenty of swearing. But, we never sank.
Much gorse in full bloom along the Path, its beautiful bright yellow color a perfect counterpoint to the gray mist and the green hillside. Gorse smells like coconut (and, R thinks, a hint cinnamon). In any case, it is heady stuff.

A short break now for some Taxi Driver (Tony) tidbits:
- The Koran must have been written by a left hander because it is read from right to left, so everyone else after that wrote from right to left.
- Re: Driving on the left side of the road - Wellington was right-handed so made everyone ride their horses on the left side of paths so that his right arm (his sword arm) would be free to wield his sword; Bonaparte, on the other hand (literally), was left-handed, so he made everyone ride on the right.
- In the future, wouldn't it be cool if we kept the same drive train in our car and just changed out the body to suit our needs? Two-seater as a young person, 4-6 seater for families, two seater again for retirees.
- The Bluebells are in bloom here now. English Bluebells are blue and Spanish Bluebells (probably brought by birds, pooped out with ready made fertilizer, and overcoming everything now,) are deeper and more purple.

We ate First Lunch sitting on the side of the Path with a gorgeous view of the Start Point Lighthouse and two large sailboats sailing by. Picturesque as all get out.

We passed through Hallsands, a ruined town on the coast. Hallsands was built close to the sea on a natural rock shelf. In the gear up to WWI, the sand and shingle under and around the shelf was mined out and used to enlarge the port at Plymouth. The locals went crazy, warning of instability. Corporate didn't listen, no more sand and shingle swept into replace the mined materials, and during a severe storm, Hallsands dropped into the ocean! The ruins of the 10-15 houses still half cling to the hillside, and the residents never did get adequate compensation from the company. Recognized now as a huge injustice and a tragedy.

Beesands was next - very upscale holiday homes (most from the 1700's) along a short promenade by the sea. Lovely.
(Saw two creepy eels hooked and hanging from a fish dryer at the boat ramp.)

Torcross was our end point today - again, an 8.5 mile day. Torcross is another seaside holiday hamlet, located on Slapton Sands with the added attraction of a WWII Sherman Tank displayed close to the beach. It stands as a memorial to the 946 US Navymen who died on Slapton Sands in Operation Tiger, the practice maneuvers in prep of the D-Day landings in Normandy. German Intelligence became aware of increased military activity along the south Devon coast and sent in torpedo boats to patrol the area. The Americans were in Landing Crafts and were surprised by the German ships. Two US Landing craft were completely destroyed and sank and two others heavily damaged.
It should also be noted that military practice for Normandy was done with live ammunition - the generals wanted to accurately simulate the real invasion.
The tank was part of the Landing Craft payload and was raised, intact, from the sea bed in 1984. After 40 years, the treads still worked. It was cleaned and painted and now sits as a silent and sad reminder of the sacrifices of war. The British have installed several plaques around it, one with the names of all the American servicemen who died during this practice for Normandy.
(Devon villagers had six weeks to find a new place to live, pack up all their belongings, and move. Farmers had the added headache of finding places for all their livestock.)

While we waited for our taxi, we enjoyed wicked good chocolate and caramel ice cream bars in a tiny park near Slapton Ley, the fresh water lake across the road from the ocean and Slapton Sands. By then, bright blue sky and a sunny day.

At Prawle Point