October 13th 2024 - Sidmouth to Ladram Bay (and back)

Yay, I’ve finally managed to start my walks again after last week’s failure.  Today’s weather was perfect for walking, good cloud cover (I’m not a sun lover) and a nice breeze.  I parked in the free car park I’d found the previous week and off I went, marching with purpose, heading for the promenade to begin my walk, only to realise when I was halfway to the prom that I had left my phone in the car, great start!  Backtracking to get my phone added about half a mile to my day’s mileage tally.  

I thought I’d better do a toilet check before heading off on my walk so I went to the town centre to use the loos there, only to find the local fire brigade had closed them while they rescued some poor chap who had collapsed in a cubicle, so I had to make my way to the loos at the end of the prom near the river Sid, another delay to my walk. 

I couldn’t believe how busy the prom was at 10am on a dull Sunday morning in October, nor could I believe how many people were walking along with takeaway coffees in cardboard cups. It seems to be the thing to do these days.

Anyway, I digress. I started my walk from Jacob’s ladder beach where it was much quieter. The worst bit of this walk was the climb out of Sidmouth at the very start, ascending all the way to the summit of Peak hill.  I must be honest and say I was absolutely knackered by the time I got to a bench just below the summit. I sat there looking back over Sidmouth thinking ‘I can’t do this’ and feeling really unfit. I didn’t even do any filming on the ascent as I would have been unable to talk to camera in my breathless state.  Bloody hell, I thought, shall I just go straight back down again and not bother, no Doug, that is just defeatist, get up and get on with it.

I’m so glad I did carry on as the views from the top of Peak hill were spectacular in every direction and the rest of the walk into Ladram bay was far nicer than I was expecting and very easy walking.

On reaching Ladram and the big caravan site, there were plenty of facilities open, so I bought myself a Pasty and a takeaway coffee in a cardboard cup (I’ve become part of the ‘in’ crowd) and sat at a table on the beach to have my lunch. 

Halfway through eating my pasty I saw a young seagull, who hadn’t quite mastered the skill of landing, approaching my table with the obvious intention of nicking my pasty. He (or she) was making a complete hash of trying to land on the little table and I instinctively put my hand out to shoo it away, forgetting I had my coffee in my hand and spilling hot coffee all over myself and some of my camera gear. I managed to save my pasty though.

The walk back to Sidmouth was as scenic and enjoyable as my outward journey with the added bonus of being downhill into Sidmouth from Peak hill.

Whilst dropping down into Sidmouth I thought I was having a moment of madness when I heard the sound of bagpipes playing but it turned out to be some kind of function going on at the Harbour hotel.

I found a kiosk on the seafront where I bought myself a lovely Mr whippy ice cream.

Highlights of this walk are the superb coastal views the amazing and unexpected inland views and the red Otter sandstone sea stacks and cliffs.

If anybody reading this blog is thinking of doing the walk to Ladram, but doesn’t fancy the climb out of Sidmouth, there is a cheat in that you can park at the side of the road near the top of the hill, therefore missing out most (but not all) of the ascent.

The distance walked to Ladram bay and back was just over five miles but allowing for walking from where I parked my car and forgetting my phone, I probably walked Just over six and a half miles. Total Ascents (and Descents) were just over 1100 feet.