Day 48: Sampford Peverell to Black Dog

Distance: 16.8 miles
Time: 5 hrs 25 mins
Weather: Cloudy with sunny intervals
Cumulative distance: 810.4 miles

An enjoyable walk across rural Devon in weather conditions more suited to walking.

I walked downstairs to have breakfast, but found no signs of life - the chef had overslept! He arrived apologetically fifteen minutes later, but redeemed himself with a fine breakfast.

I rejoined the canal and finally spotted the first barge. As on a previous towpath (the Montgomery canal), I had to tread cautiously to avoid squashing hundreds of tiny frogs. The towpath ended at the Tiverton canal basin, where I treated myself to my first ice cream of the journey, a delicious blackcurrant and clotted cream cone.

The route passed through Tiverton's main shopping street, before climbing steeply to the west. Before long I was in rural Devon, almost as remote as the mountains of the West Highland Way or the hills of Offa's Dyke. I didn't meet a soul, but was treated to fine views of rolling hills and farmland.

For the first time since Day 28, weather conditions favoured the long distance walker. For much of the day the temperature was around 21 degrees and a refreshing breeze provided comfort. This brought to an end almost three weeks of walking in high temperatures, which has been an endurance test I hadn't planned.

I reached tonight's accommodation, the Black Dog Inn in the village of the same name, just before it closed after lunch. This gave me time to down a pint of iced coke before being shown to my room. A multi directional shower offered a novelty way to refresh, another first for the journey. Afterwards, for the second time today but in different inns, I managed to rescue two butterflies which had flown in through the open window.

Dinner at the inn was amongst the best of my entire journey. I had peppered steak with a variety of vegetables and home cooked chips, followed by plum tart and clotted cream, washed down with Exmoor ale.