Combe Martin

Combe Martin is a Devon village on the South West Coast Path, reached after a descent to the beach and followed by steep, heat-struck walking. For Ray and Moth, it is less a destination than a practical stop: they search for cash, find food, and consider shelter while the demands of the route keep pressing on them. Its beach briefly resembles an ordinary family holiday, but an upsetting incident there sends them onward; beyond the village, a campsite offers the possibility of rest.

Setting on the route

The path descends into Combe Martin, a village on the beach with a narrow valley running inland. Its street is described as supposedly the country’s longest village street, winding for two miles up the valley. The village’s position makes it both a coastal settlement and a passage into another stretch of steep rises and falls: after leaving, Ray and Moth continue uphill through dust and punishing heat.

The physical effort of reaching and leaving the village is part of how the place is experienced. On the following ground, their packs feel heavier with new supplies, and Ray struggles along behind Moth, whose feet seem barely to lift. The route is not an abstract line on a map; its climbs, heat and weight shape what they can do at each stop.

A search for cash

In the beach area, Ray and Moth look for a cash machine, but find only trinket shops and a café. They turn to the tourist information office, where three older women sit behind the counter. Ray asks Moth to speak to them, joking that he has a way with older women; he responds that the suggestion sounds dubious. They leave their packs by the door and ask the women for directions.

The women shuffle, nudge one another and giggle before directing them to a grocery store up to the left, where they can obtain cashback. They unexpectedly address Moth as Mr Armitage and say they had not been expecting him yet. He looks back in bemusement as the women wave, and the couple shoulder their packs and leave. The brief exchange turns a routine errand into a small, puzzling encounter, while the practical result is clear: they can get cash without finding a machine.

The beach and the decision to move on

With supplies in the rucksack and twenty-five pounds still in the purse, Ray and Moth sit on the beach eating chips. Ray’s nose is badly sunburned. The scene recalls earlier family days by the sea in Wales: children playing in sand, dinghies, tuna sandwiches and rock pools. The memory carries a loss as well as familiarity, and Ray recognizes that dwelling on it could make the summer dismal.

That ordinary beach atmosphere breaks when a boy runs up with water for his sandcastle moat, his sister reaches for the bucket, and their father suddenly grabs and hits him. Moth gets to his feet and dusts sand from his pack; instead of swimming, they decide to leave. The incident gives their pause an abrupt ending, without turning the beach into a place of refuge.

Beyond the village

The day grows hotter as the path climbs and falls beyond Combe Martin. With the added weight of their supplies, Ray drags along behind Moth through the dust. A campsite appears ahead through the haze, with the Coast Path running directly through it. Moth hopes they might learn the price, rest, shower and avoid searching for somewhere to pitch their tent that night; Ray agrees to ask. The account presents the campsite as a possible respite, not a confirmed stay. Combe Martin thus marks a brief interval of errands and beachside memory between demanding stretches of walking, where every comfort has to be weighed against the cost and the distance still ahead.