SUE Applegate from Sticklepath has just completed a management survey of the 613 mile South West Coastal Path by walking the length of it over a nine month period.

The path developments officer for the South West Coast Path team has trekked in scorching heat and freezing temperatures but to her surprise only experienced four days of rain in 102 days of walking.

Three days a week have been spent walking and the remaining two work days have been spent back at base in Exeter collating the information.

Mrs Applegate was carrying the latest GPS equipment (Global Positioning System) which she said looked like a big yellow bum bag with a giant broomstick sticking out of it and a margarine tub on the end.

'It was quite difficult to keep going on some occasions because every ten minutes someone would stop and ask me if I was carrying a mobile shower or selling ice creams,' she said.

The path stretches from Minehead in Somerset around the coast of Devon and Cornwall to Poole in Dorset — an average of seven miles a day were covered by Mrs Applegate.

She was joined by National Trust wardens and County Council rangers responsible for the path through the various sections of the route.

'It was a big operation to get the right people there at the right time so we could get all the information for the survey,' she said.

The equipment is able to take points from satellites which can tell you your exact position on the earth. These points were recorded throughout the walk to give a complete picture of the whole path.

Mrs Applegate said for the first time the team were able to compare parts of the coastal path and see the areas which were vulnerable and needed improvement from looking at the survey.

'The whole experience was brilliant and a real privilege,' added Mrs Applegate. 'It was a fantastic opportunity to get paid for walking the coastal path.'

She said she would love to do it again but the other way around and without the GPS equipment.

As she walked the route, Mrs Applegate's husband Matthew, who is the custodian of the National Trust's Finch Foundry in Sticklepath, gave the villagers an update on her progress.

'I would thoroughly recommend walking the coastal path to anyone — it is quite challenging and for the first two weeks I was exhausted but it is a superb route,' she said.