I took the train to Exmouth and then the ferry to Starcross, about 25 minutes. It was a typical lovely English summer day, a mixture of cloud, wind, showers, and occasional sunshine. Then I walked along the Exe Valley Way back to Exeter.

The first section is on a road (not very busy, but unfortunately what traffic there is is mostly large 4WDs), past Powderham Castle (the seat of the Earls of Devon) to Powderham church. The railway line was between the road and the estuary. After the church (with a good stand of yews, and a churchyard including everyone from a former proprietor of the castle to a woman who was the daughter of a gentleman “of Melbourne, Australia”), the path crossed the railway and went along the sea wall. The tide was out, and the mud flats which might have had lots of waders could show no more than crows and black-headed gulls, with the occasional swan and cormorant.

Soon I came to the bottom lock of the ship canal (dug because the estuary is so shallow), and the Turf pub, accessible only by a long walk or a ferry ride from Topsham. The canal was in excellent condition, the towpath separate from the cycle path, and lots of vegetation. A few swans were to be seen, and a trio of ducks: one dark, one light, and one spotted.

Soon the rain started in earnest. My glasses got so wet that I had to take them off, so the rest of the walk was a bit of a blur; when I saw the cathedral looming through the rainclouds, I knew I was nearly back, though it was still quite a long way to the university. By then I was saturated with water, but to add insult to injury, when I reached the campus, the rain finally stopped and a weak sun came out.

Not ideal conditions, and not the most exciting part of the walk, but a pleasant afternoon anyway.