Mostly my week in Devon was to shadow company owner Martin and help out here and there and to lead a complete walk for one day. 16 people following my lead. Wow. But more on that later.
Drove down to Devon on Friday April 29, picked up some farm cider on the way down and arrived at the lovely converted barn of Bickleigh Farm near Halwell half six to settle in, chat with the cook who I've met a few times before and two people of the group who had arrived on their own as well.
The rest arrived quite late due to heavy traffic on the M5. I'm tempted to say "as usual" people were very nice, relaxed and interesting. Funny though, that I instinctively knew, that this was going to be a week of very relaxed walking. Somehow - with enough experience - you can judge someone's level of fitness and skill in walking.
The first day was spent in Dartmoor on a nice circular walk including Hound Tor and Hay Tor. With just 11 kilometres I was merely stretching my legs, but enjoyed the nice weather and climbing every rock and tor I came across which gave me quite some reputation early on, haha.
Loved getting to know everyone a bit better and having quite a few laughs.
Sunday we did a linear walk from Hope Cove to Salcombe. I had done it last September and enjoyed it very much the second time around. Had a chance to have a bit of a talk with Martin about tour guiding and everything around it at the end of the walk while the group was headed into Salcombe.
Did a cider tasting with the group that night which was great fun and well received. I had brought a variety from sweet to dry and even a Perry. Needless to say I ended up with some left overs which I immediately started to tackle, haha.
With some rain on Monday we split the day in two and walked for a couple of hours near Loddiswell and then headed to the coast near Dartmouth. I had just enough time to stuff my face with some salt and pepper calamaris from that little chip shop Rich and me had found i town off the beaten track last September. One of group joined me and was equally delighted about how gorgeous it tasted.
Tuesday was the day of truth. I was going to lead the group all day long from Torcross to Start Point and then to East Prawle. Martin was driving the bus to East Prawle while we were walking and would meet us on a beach just after the light house. I was on my own.
I found it a bit difficult to be the leader all of a sudden after having been a "normal" member of the group for the first few days. But I knew the path so I could concentrate on keeping the group together and pointing out interesting bits here and there. I had read about the story of the tank at Torcross and the storm that destroyed Hallsands in 1917 and people seemed very interested in both stories.
The weather was stunning with lots and lots of sun and before I knew it, we had reached the beach for our lunch break and met Martin again. I had still everyone with me and it had been fairly easy so far. We had a quick chat and lunch and I ventured off to enjoy some bouldering on the countless sea beaten rocks that littered the beach.
Kept on leading the group all the way to East Prawle with Martin watching from behind. Had some lovely Devon ice cream in the sun at the end of the walk and by then I knew I felt good being a walking guide. Feedback was very good as well, so yeah! I'm going to be a tour guide!!! Whoopwhoop!!!
Wednesday and Thursday the weather finally turned from cold and sunny to warm and sunny. We walked from the house to Totness and did another circular in Dartmoor near Holne. Fantastic days and good fun people. I tracked all the walks with my GPS watch so I can look them up with a map at home and have some safety net when walking them again with a group.
There is a lot more to being a tour guide than "just" leading the walks. This is almost the easy bit. But I'm ready to do it and very much looking forward to my first appointed tour next year. Although I'm probably gonna be proper nervous, ha!
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