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The Westcountry Way crosses the Southwest of England from the English Channel to the Bristol Channel. It travels through the exposed moorland of Dartmoor which is full of steep climbs and famous Tors. Here you should hope the weather God’s are with you as Dartmoor can be a bleak and harrowing place in poor conditions. After leaving Dartmoor behind, the path continues through small West Country lanes until entering the twisting trails of Exmoor where you will climb Dunkery Beacon, the highest point in Somerset. With heavy legs you can now coast down to Bristol Channel.
At the beginning of Summer, Alex and I discussed ideas for a bikepacking trip. Earlier in the year I had failed to complete a 200 km ride around the Quantocks and Exmoor due to hideous amounts of mud, so I was keen to revisit the area. After conducting thorough research at a local tap room, we found a challenging looking route on Bikepacking.org – Link.
The route was the West Country Way from Plymouth to Minehead. There would be numerous climbs, wild camps and pub stops along the way. From Bristol, there is a train to Plymouth, and it is possible to ride from Minehead to Taunton where we could also catch a train back to Bristol. The scene was set, the dates decided, so we finished in the pub (some time later) and headed home.
My bikepacking set up is far from professional. I would categorise myself as an enthusiastic punter with an admiration for Ortlieb. I ride a 2014 Kone Rove AL with an Ortlieb Quick-Rack and 2x Ortlieb pannier bags. My Kona has slowly turned into Frankenstein’s Monster as I have replaced components over the years.
Below is an OS Map of the routes. The Red line is the original course downloaded from Bikepacking.org and the Blue line is the route that we took. The deviations were the result of having the wrong bikes and heavy rain. Read on to hear about the journey.
Day 1 Plymouth to (a bit past) Chagford
We arrived at the train station in the late morning with heavy bikes and fresh legs. This was the last time we would have fresh legs. An espresso later and we were off. To feel like we had completed the Westcountry Way, we rode to The Hoe in Plymouth. The Hoe is home to Smeaton’s Tower lighthouse which overlooks the English Channel and felt like a suitable starting point for our bikepacking adventure.
In the first 16 km from The Hoe we left the city behind, following a path along the River Plym before making quick progress along an railway path. The sun was shining, the cycling was relaxed, and we were grinning away.
The instant we passed a “Dartmoor National Park” sign, the climbing began. With heavy bikes we grinded up our first climb until continuing on excellent roads South of Sheepstor. The visibility was spectacular with the rare British sun gracing our crossing of Dartmoor.
Soon after we left the road and entered the first section of trail. It quickly became apparent that we had brought a knife to a gun fight. The steep single track was deeply rutted in the middle with large rocks to navigate. This terrain was more suitable for mountain bikes with suspension, thick tyres, and wide handlebars. Not our budget gravel bikes.
After a short Hike-a-Bike up a steep climb we were able to bumble along the trail with our bums in the saddle until we reached Princetown.
Princetown is in the Highmoor and close to many beautiful granite Tors as well as the menacing HMP Dartmoor. We stopped in The Plume of Feathers, a gorgeous old pub built in 1689, for a hearty lunch. The Plume of Feathers – Link
After lunch we left the pub and quickly entered the next section of trail. It took us an hour to cycle 7 km. Even though the short stint was on a slight downhill it passed through some of Dartmoor’s notorious bogs (thankfully drier in the summer) which took careful navigation. Once again, we needed MTB’s…
When we reached the road, we needed to reassess our plan. At this pace there would be no way of making it to Dunkery Beacon by tomorrow. We found that we could take B-Roads from Dartsmeet towards Widecombe in the Moor before heading south to re-join the original route near Chagford.
What we didn’t plan for was the unholy climb out of Dartmeet which as it transpired is an iconic hill climb. 1.1 km long with 129 metres of elevation with an average gradient 11.1%. With a bike loaded with camping supplies, I thought my soul would leave my body, but I managed to keep it together until the top. The next kilometres were beautiful but after that climb we were both feeling the fatigue.
Another long and memorable climb culminated in an easy free wheel down to Chagford. We had a rest in Chagford which is a lively little British village with plenty of cozy pubs – Link
The plan had been to camp near Hunter’s Tor which is near the River Teign. This on an OS map looked quite possible but when on the ground, the rocky single track had a steep drop on our right and steep climb on our left. The sun was hanging low in the sky so the prickles of anxiety of failing to find a suitable camp were rising. After cycling for a few more kilometres, we found a suitable, albeit not entirely flat spot to pitch our tents. Unfortunately, the River Teign was not accessible. Without enough water for the night, we intended to cycle to a reservoir on the map but were fortunate enough to come across a cattle trough with running water. Equipped with a Platypus Quickdraw, filtering this was no problem. At last, we could relax.
We pitched our tents and cooked our food, enjoying the final ebbs of sunshine with a cold tin of beer purchased in Chagford. Day 1 was a tough, but it was sunny, our bikes hadn’t broken, and our spirits were high.
Day 2 – Chagford to Dunkery Beacon
We knew we were in for a tougher day; the forecast showed a storm in bound in the late morning but fortunately it would be blowing at our backs. We cooked breakfast, the first of which Alex spilt on the ground, packed up and got riding. No longer on fresh legs, I felt like I was turning blocks of wood against the pedals but soon limbered up. We continued along the pleasant gravel single track we had camped near but soon reached tarmac again. We peddled on quickly to Spreyton where we hoped to get coffee. Popping into a charming village shop we sadly found there was no coffee but there were locally made cakes and sausage rolls. Next onto North Tawton, another pretty village where we could get a couple coffees. The winds had been picking up and we were consciously aware of the impending storm so after a health does of caffeine, we left the Village and entered a section of trail.
Here the storm caught up with us and oh boy did it hit hard. Giant raindrops ricocheting from the ground on impact before drenching it, with the background rumbles of thunder overhead. Waterproofs on and a lot of confidence in Ortlieb panniers, we began to climb up another steep, rocky single track. This proved too much for our bikes with the massive reduction in friction on the now wet ground, so it was back to the old Hike-a-Bike in the pouring rain.
Atop of this hill we were back in the saddle on tarmac when of course, Alex got a puncture. It wouldn’t have happened when the sun was shining, that would have been too convenient.
Fortunately, a passing farmer took pity on us and invited us into a nearby barn to complete the tube change.
From here were made our own path as we did not stand a chance riding off road in the rain on our unsuitable bikes. With no chance of the storm abating, we rode on for a couple hours culminating in a mammoth climb into Chulmleigh. Wet, tired and with unsurprisingly lower spirits than in the morning, we entered The Old Court House – Link.
This small traditional pub was a warm and dry haven for us. A large corner was devoid of people and the barkeep was happy for us to spread out our soaking wet clothing. We got into our delightfully dry clothes and ordered the homemade steak pie. Which was delicious!!
As it turned out the barkeep was a keen cyclist and gave us recommendations to help us plan the next stint. As a result, we avoided a decent and climb when leaving Chulmleigh and instead followed a ridge before picking up the original route. We left the original route and followed the flattest, quickest option for a few hours.
It was not an overly interesting 3 hours riding but we had had enough excitement and wanted to reach Dunkery Beacon before nightfall.
We made a final pitstop in Rest & Be Thankful Inn in Weeden Cross – Link. Here the barkeep was brilliant, and with a wicked sense of humour, mocked us for our silly idea to ride in a storm but did offer to give us a lift in his pickup truck to the top of Dunkery Beacon. We had ridden too far to stop now and from the Inn we could see the high point, only 5 km away. After some bar snacks and a couple packets of crisps given to use by the barkeep, we were on our way. Remarkably, the storm had blown over and we could see glimpses of the evening sun.
Leaving the Inn towards the final destination, a steep gravel kilometre made us work hard until we made it to a gorgeous camp spot near Dunkery Beacon.
We pitched our tents and prepared dinner.
The cloud cleared enough to give us a dramatic sunset view over the Bristol Channel.
The cold wind then forced us into our tents, and quickly fell asleep. Another gruelling almost 100km day but we had been successful in reaching our planned destination.
Day 3 – Dunkery Beacon to Taunton
Waking in the morning we were greeted by a cold sun; the air was fresh and only a few wisps of clouds in the sky. No hint of rain. After breakfast, which Alex didn’t spill this time, we packed up our camp, ensuring to leave no trace and got back on our bikes.
We finished the ascent of Dunkery Beacon before turning around and heading towards Minehead.
The decent was enormous, a small twisting road all the way down to almost sea level. It was a lot of fun, but I came very close to cooking my brakes.
Within less than an hour we were in Minehead, having an obligatory ice cream by the coast.
Next it was the leg to Taunton. Unfortunately, we had to cycle along an A-Road for about 8 km which being busy was not pleasant but at least there was a cycle path on the side for some of it. When we finally left the A-Road we were on quiet pretty Somerset lanes.
The sun was shining, we were dry and albeit tired, the end was in sight. We followed these small pretty lanes until finally exiting onto the straight road to Taunton.
Elated, exhausted and smelly, we bought train tickets for our return journey to Bristol. Over the 3 days we cycled 228 km with 3874 m of ascent. There was sunshine, torrential rain, wild camps, and pints. A brilliant mini adventure.
