|
Above image is a Sculpture marking start of the South West Coast Path at Minehead
Robin Lucas
The South West Coastal Path runs for 630 miles
around the coasts of Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset from Minehead in
Somerset to Poole Harbour in Dorset. If you were to try and tackle the walk in
one go you would need to set aside at least 56 days to achieve this. Therefore
it is more sensible to do what most walkers do and trek the trail in manageable
sections. Of course there is no reason why you cannot visit parts of it via
another means of transport and do pieces of it at your leisure. 65% of its
length is within AONB's (5 areas), 56% of it is Heritage Coast, 5% is in
National Park, and one third of it is managed by the National Trust, as well as
England's first natural World Heritage Site which is between Orcombe point,
Exmouth and Old Harry Rocks, Swanage in Dorset. The coastal path can be
navigated by foot all 100% of it, 8% of it is accessible to horse riders and
cyclists, although only the Tarka Trail Cycleway section offers a continuous
length for cycling at around 13 miles long.
The landscape is varied and ranges from rugged
and remote cliff tops to sheltered estuaries/bays and busy harbours and holiday
resorts. Moorlands, steep coastal valley's coves, pebble or sandy beaches,
landslips and undercliffs in East Devon and Dorset offer focal points to look
out for. The highest point is Great Hangman, Exmoor at 954 feet. Whilst walking
the route you will come across many coastal historic and archaeological features
including Iron Age Hill Forts and World War II defences. As well of course as
coastal flora, where there is a succession of different species from early
spring through to the autumn, and fauna and birds. Of course there are
magnificent coastal views and out to see you may see the occasional seals,
dolphins and basking sharks.
For full details on the Path and what you can
see on various points visit their website
Southwest Coast
Path.
They also have a very useful distance calculator, where you can enter your start
and finish locations and it computes the
distance for your chosen section of the walk.
Highlights on Route Include:
|
Location: Quay Street Green, Minehead,
Somerset |
|
Grid Reference:
SS967462 |
Ceremonial County:
Somerset |
|
Map Link:
Multimap
|
Aerial photo:
Google Aerial Photo
|
|
Getting there: From the M5 take J25, follow
A38 into Taunton and the the A358 to Williton and then turn left onto the
A39 to Minehead. |
|
Website:
http://www.mineheadsomerset.co.uk/
|
|
Other useful
websites: |
|
Notes: A seaside resort but also one end of
the West Somerset Railway (steam railway), which starts at Bishops Lydeard. |
Exmoor National Park
-
Exmoor National Park
Straddles two counties of
Somerset and Devon, total area of the park covering 267 square miles of hilly
open moorland which includes 34 miles of coast, the piece of the park that you
will go through on this path.
Clovelly
Set into a steep hillside, it is probably one of the most famous villages in
England. It has a single cobbled high street which winds its way down to the sea
at the bottom. No vehicles are allowed in the High Street and during the summer
months you will find both people and donkey's transport goods to the shops,
hotels and other local businesses. There is visitor parking at the top adjacent
to the visitor centre and you walk on foot down the high street with 16th
century cottages on either side to the small harbour. There is plenty to see and
do.
|
Location: Clovelly, near Bideford,
Devon |
|
Grid Reference:
SS315247 |
Ceremonial County:
Devon |
|
Map Link:
Multimap
|
Aerial photo:
Google Aerial Map
|
|
Getting there: M5 J27, take the A39 to
Higher Clovelly and then the B3237 to the Clovelly Visitor Centre before
walking down the cobbled street to Clovelly harbour. |
|
Website:
http://www2.clovelly.co.uk
|
|
Other useful
websites: |
|
Notes: The High Street is steep and can be
slippery. It is not suitable for wheelchairs and there is no access for
vehicles. You have to walk. |
|
Hartland Point
Three miles of the walk goes from
Hartland Point to Hartland Quay. There are coves, cliff formations, undulating
landscape which in places is quite steep, and in places ruins. On a clear day
out to see you should be able to see Lundy Island in the distance. At Hartland
Point there is a lighthouse, on the furthest outcrop, but you can get good views
from the headland..
Hartland Point Lighthouse
UK Payphone Directory
|
 |
Boscastle Harbour
A medieval harbour and village
hidden in a steep sided valley. Of course made
famous with the BBC series following the life and times of a local parish and a
little while back when they had some devastating floods, which they have now
recovered from that the tourists are back.
Tintagel Castle
|
Location: Tintagel, Cornwall |
|
Grid Reference:
SX049890 |
Ceremonial County:
Cornwall |
|
Map Link:
Multimap
|
Aerial photo:
Google Aerial Photo
|
|
Getting there: From A39 at Camelford take the
B3266 towards Boscastle, after 2 miles take the B3314 to Delabole and at
fork take right on B3263 to Tintagel. |
|
Notes: See our
featured
location
 page on this |
Land’s End and the Lizard
The most westerly point of mainland England. As well as the tourist
attraction situated at the end of Cornwall, there is also the stunning sea views
across to the Isle of Scilly, the Longships Lighthouse and Wolf Rock as well as
wildlife to catch up on. The RSPB have a Wildlife Discovery Centre on the cliff
top where using powerful telescopes and binoculars you can see sea birds, owls,
grey seals, basking sharks, dolphins and more.
The Cornish national bird, the Choughs had been extinct in Cornwall for 50
years until 2001 when a small number of them appeared on the coast of the
Lizard. They are now breeding successfully and can be often seen on the
peninsulas.
A Chough - The Cornish National Bird, can be seen on the Lizard
The Minack Theatre - an outdoor theatre in a Roman
Amphitheatre style
overlooking the harbour. Theatre productions still take place today, mainly
evening performances, but also some matinees on Wednesday's and Fridays
|
Logan Rock (a rocking tor)
An 80 ton granite boulder perched on the edge of the cliffs on a rocky
headland one mile south of Treen. The rock is finely balanced due to weathering
and overlooks Cripps Cove beneath.
It's the one on the right
which rocks
Jim Champion
|
 |
Harbour town of Fowey
With its ruins of St
Catherine's Castle, and Readymoney Cove supplying it's
local beach.
The World Heritage Coast in Dorset stretches 95 miles and includes the
Jurassic Coastline at Lyme Regis (see grid) and
Charmouth
where you
can see fossils in the cliff faces and under foot.
Chesil Beach Shingle Ridge
(aka Chesil Bank)
A well known 18 mile
shingle beach stretching from Portland to West Bay. It is separated
from the mainland by an area of salen water called Fleet Lagoon. There is also
the Fleet Nature Reserve, and a visitor centre at the Southern End of Fleet
Lagoon between Weymouth and Portland.
Durdle Door
| Durdle Door is a natural
limestone arch on the Jurrasic Coast near Lulworth, between Swanage and
Weymouth. Probably the most photographed and painted landmark on the Dorset
coast. A walk down to the beach is very steep, or walk around the contour of the
hill towards Scratchy Bottom and view it from the high ridge.
Michael Robinson
|
 |
Lulworth Cove
Lulworth Cove is a
natural horse-shoe shaped harbour, has a pebble beach and is very sheltered.
Lulworth has it's very own butterfly the 'Lulworth Skipper'.
Old Harry Rock
stacks
| Chalk stacks located east
of Studland, below the cliffs at Ballard Down. The cliff is chalk with bands of
flint and have been reduced over centuries by the sea. The downland habitat is
home to a variety of chalk flora which is complimented by many species of
butterfly including Chalkhill Blue and Adonis Blue.
Old Harry Rocks
John Tomlinson
|
 |
Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour and quay is 3 miles of golden sands.
A large natural harbour, at it's entrance is Sandbanks where it's chain
ferry takes passengers across to the Isle of Purbeck and in it's centre
Brownsea Island,
a haven
for the British Red Squirrel. It is also a gateway to the Solent with ferries
leaving for the Channel Islands and France.
|
|
See
Also:
World
Heritage Sites
World
Heritage Sites - Further Information
World Heritage Sites in the UK
|
