Coastwalk

West Quantoxhead → Minehead

Distance: 11.20 miles
Ascent: 221 metres
Duration: 3 hours 53 minutes

The Great Joining-Up
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It's a big day today: the last walk on the West Somerset Coast Path, and the last walk in the last of our "gaps". Today's the day that we connect Gretna to Whitley Bay in one long walk of three thousand, three hundred miles.

We walked on the road as far as Watchet, and as we descended into the town it was evident how different the land use is here compared with what we've seen on previous days this week. Gone are the farms and pretty hamlets, replaced by caravan parks and beach huts; this tourist country.

On Watchet's quay stands a statue of the Ancient Mariner, commemorating Coleridge's association with the area.

Further ahead the unmistakable bulk of Minehead's North Hill loomed ever closer. We could identify its outline from as far away as Clevedon last Saturday, so it was reassuring to see it in detail as we approached.

All too soon we reached the outskirts of Minehead, marked by the canvas structure of the Butlins where I once attended a Spring Harvest.

A short stroll along the prom and we were at our destination: the map-in-hand sculpture that marks the start of the South West Coast Path, and the rather more modest metal disc in the prom wall that indicates the end of the West Somerset Coast Path.

It's as hard to look ahead and imagine the two thousands miles of walked path in front of us as it is to imagine the thousand miles behind us. This coastal trek certainly feels more like a sequence of short walks rather than one exceedingly lengthy one. And it's not over yet.