{"id":1201,"date":"2018-03-17T00:01:20","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T13:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/julesforth.com\/walkingtheblackdog\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2018-03-18T09:39:12","modified_gmt":"2018-03-17T22:39:12","slug":"day-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/julesforth.com\/walkingtheblackdog\/day-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

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From: <\/strong>Westward Ho! to Barnstaple
\nDistance: <\/strong>17m \/ 27.2km
\nCumulated distance: <\/strong>185.2m \/ 298km
\nPercentage completed: <\/strong>18<\/p>\n

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Fantastic to be able to walk a day with Jules. I wasn\u2019t sure that I could make the trip and so I thought I would surprise her by not telling her, rather than promising to come and then having to pull out.<\/p>\n

British Rail (I know they don\u2019t exist anymore but somehow it feels like the right place to focus traveller woes) played their part by showing that two wrongs can make a right: on arriving at the station to head west with my carefully chosen route and train times, I was told (a) those trains are cancelled today and (b) however, you can take the 11.58 to Plymouth (it was 12.25)\u2026 because it was delayed.<\/p>\n

So the plan was to surprise Jules by being in the bar at her overnight rest place when she came down for a drink after her day\u2019s perambulation. Plan thwarted by (a) no bar\u2026 she had booked a B&B and (b) she had one of her more \u201csolid\u201d days, walking in muddy, hilly terrain in driving rain, so hadn\u2019t checked in by dusk. No worries; mein host Dave (and wife Sally; great B&B if ever you are in Westward Ho! http:\/\/www.mayfieldbandb.co.uk\/<\/span><\/a> ) and I figured out where she must be, so I walked to meet her. It was one of the better surprises: Jules, plucky and somehow still radiant despite having walked all day in torrential rain, is confronted by this bloke who says \u201cHere, do you know the way to John O\u2019Groats?\u201d and ululates in the street like a Zimbabwean mfazi. So after a warm shower, I treated her to a sweet wine and prawn cocktail; no expense spared.<\/p>\n

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Day 15 started in bright sunlight, but with an aggressive Beast-from-the-East wind. Our walk took us on the Tarka Trail on the Taw-Torridge estuary, so named after the journey of Tarka the otter in the classic tale written by Henry Williamson. The trail is mainly a disused railway line, so flat and easy going. And to our amazement, we were soon walking in a snowstorm. Nevertheless, it was a cruisy day, with lots of local interest, including the largest covered shipbuilder in Europe, a veritable graveyard for boats on the Taw (why?), a much appreciated coffee and mint meringue, wind farms (loving The Beast) and much bird life in the marshlands\u2026 a day when the Zimbabwean description of the UK as \u201cthe sinking mudbank\u201d appeared apt.<\/p>\n

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On the estuary<\/p><\/div>\n

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Spring snow<\/p><\/div>\n

Another highlight was stumbling upon (well OK I was surveying the liquor in a fine delicatessen in Instow http:\/\/www.johnsofinstow.co.uk\/<\/span><\/a>) The Black Dog, an aromatic gin produced in Devon (see http:\/\/www.dartmoordistilleryltd.com\/<\/span><\/a> ).<\/p>\n

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Sweet temptations at Johns of Instow<\/p><\/div>\n

Your guest writer finishes his account of the day as he settles into his second G&T with his wife and has only the finest things to say about black dogs of all persuasions.<\/p>\n

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Black Dog gin from Devon. We like Devon.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Black Dog Tails<\/strong>
\nDaschund Zoe cleverly stopped her owner from slipping into an insulin coma.
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Fantastic to be able to walk a day with Jules.<\/p>\n

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