Bigbury on Sea

We meandered down to the car park where I was presented with a moral dilemma. We had decided that two hours parking would do us and as I approached the machine, another parker hailed me and offered me their ticket which still had an hour and fifty five minutes remaining. I took the ticket which said, clearly and boldly, ‘Not Transferable’. Now I’ll lay odds on, most people would say thanks very much and not have a second thought about using it. But how would you feel if the next nearest person to you, within easy hearing distance and right by the ticket machine, was the parking attendant. I covered myself by talking to the parking lady who told me I’d be fine using the ticket. We allowed the locals to make some money in other ways later.

This was the wide expanse of sand at Bigbury. We are looking towards Plymouth and Cornwall.

The beach is used as a roadway. This time we are looking due east (ish) so you can see there is beach facing two ways.

And straight across the beach is the Pilchard Inn which is on Burgh Island.

Close by the Pilchard is the fabulous art deco styled Burgh Island Hotel.

Had we been in the Shetland Islands this beach would have been called a tombolo – a tidal one. The beach is covered by the sea at high tide.

We were there at low tide and the causeway across was quite busy with walkers and traffic servicing the hotel and pub. Let’s just take a look on a map.

There we have Bigbury on Sea and Burgh Island, just off the Avon estuary.

This is the view across the estuary towards Thurlestone.

And there we have waves breaking over Murray’s Rocks.

We were walking across to Burgh Island taking care not to stub our feet or trip on the stones.

As at Salcombe North Sands, we found we were walking in boat lanes – a sure indication that the tide comes well up.

But boats aren’t usually used to take people across when the tide is in. There is a device known as the sea tractor.

This is a diesel with hydraulic transmission. How it survives its salt water washed journeys, I really don’t know but this tractor, the third that has been used, is of 1960s vintage, so survive it clearly does.

It is quite a substantial vehicle.

Those wheels are getting on for five feet in diameter. Everyone who walks across seems to pose by the tractor.

If you want to see a horribly rough and dangerous looking crossing on the tractor, there is a film of one (not by me) on YouTube. Click here.

If you watch that, you might think twice about ever using the tractor, but I daresay it is usually smooth and calm.

As for us, we had walked across on dry land and could now look over the tables outside ‘The Pilchard’ and back to Bigbury on Sea.

Next time we’ll explore the island.