On my birthday earlier this month, a day out to the South hams was planned and when a colleague suggested Aveton Gifford, I thought why not? He described the Avon estuary as a lovely place to walk and I was intrigued by the Tidal Road.
He said there would be a lot of birds and there were plenty of swans and this solitary egret, but he saw us coming and legged it. 
As we approached the Tidal road this beauty went haring past, I wondered if he knew something we didn’t, but remembered I had checked the tide tables the day before.
The wild flowers were lovely, the gentle palette of red campion, sea thrift, and honeysuckle, were a treat on a grey, misty morning.
This is the section of the road that gets covered, I really wouldn’t want to get caught in that mud. 
We took a high path that some locals recommended for the view, which would have been better had the sun shone, and this is where we turned back because the rain was setting in.
After lunch and a chat with my favourite local artist, at an exhibition of her work in Kingsbridge, http://emmacarter.com/main.php?g2_itemId=202&g2_enterAlbum=0 (I want this one so badly!), we called at Beesands where the weather was even worse.
Next was Torcross, where a World War 2 Sherman Tank resides as part of a memorial. Torcross was used as a practice ground for 30,000 American troops, because of its resemblance to the beaches of the D Day landings in Normandy.
Parallel to Torcross beach lies Slapton Ley, a wetland with a diverse (and hiding) wildlife. Although it is only separated from the sea by a narrow strip of shingle, it is freshwater, the biggest natural lake in the South West.
The last stop of the day was at Blackpool sands, which were neither Blackpool, thank goodness, or sand, but at there was a little colour.
Finally home via the Higher Ferry at Dartmouth. 
The weather may have been miserable but I had a lovely birthday and a lovely month. This is a long post for me, I hope I haven’t bored you senseless, but I do love the South Hams area of Devon!
