Woodbury Castle to Stowford Woods Circular

This walk starts at Woodbury Castle car park (what3words ///icon.insulated.product) on the Pebblebed Heaths. Parking is free, and there is additional parking across the road if needed. It’s a fairly easy going 3.5mile/5.6km walk which is very dog friendly. There are lots of places for dogs and children to play in streams and enjoy the nature and wildlife that the Pebblebed Heaths has to offer. Sturdy footwear is advised, but in the drier months it’s easily doable in trainers or walking sandals. There aren’t any toilets or cafes along the walk, but Clyst Coffee do park their coffee van up in either car park each week (check their social media to find out which days they are there).

The first set of steps leading to Woodbury Castle Fort

Taking the path to the right

From the car park, take the path to the left, past the Woodbury Castle information sign and walk down (and then up!) the steps in front of you which leads to the old castle fort. From here, take the path to the right and continue on ahead until you spot some more steps over a small bank. Once over these steps, turn right and walk down along the leafy path signposted as the East Devon Way.

The steps out of the castle fort

The leafy path that opens up onto the heaths

When the end of this path opens up onto the heathland, take the pebbled track to the left and enjoy the views of East Devon as you continue on ahead. On a clear day it’s easy to spot Peak Hill, Fire Beacon Hill, as well as the sea. I last did this walk in late August when the heather and gorse had really popped with colour. It was also very dry at the time, so the boardwalks you’ll soon walk over weren't necessary that day, but in the wetter months they’re definitely needed to safely cross without getting wet feet! Following this track you’ll soon go down a hill then past a large puddle, again in winter this is much more impressive. Listen out for goldcrests in the trees here, we saw a couple on the right hand side, very well camouflaged in the trees.

Crossing the boardwalk

Beautiful views across the heaths

When you get to a hill, take the path to the right where you’re treated to more views of Peak Hill ahead of you now. Don’t forget to look up too, we saw house martins flying over, still here before making their impressive journey back to Africa soon. There were also plenty of stonechats flying around and landing on the gorse around us. We always hear them before we see them, making their iconic ‘stone scratching’ calls. When you arrive at a crossroads on the track, go straight ahead up the hill. Turn left at the end of the path then turn right, Keep a look out for blank bullet cartridges on the ground, used by the Royal Marines when training on the heaths, we usually find some on this walk. Soon you’ll get an option of a path to the left or straight on, here we turned left, spotting a meadow pipit foraging in the long grass as we walked down the hill.

A blank bullet found on the heaths from Royal Marine training

A meadow pipit foraging beside us

Up ahead you should spot the Royal Marine Grenade Range as you carry on straight ahead, then passing a sign warning you about the Military training site. We stopped at one point to have a look in the stream on the right where we spotted plenty of pond skaters and water boatmen. Turn left at the end of this path and walk up the hill towards some pine trees. When you spot an opening in the trees on the right, find a path amongst them and take this route through the woodland of tall trees and towering bracken. Listen out for birds in here, we heard lots of coal tits calling out to each other and a buzzard continuously calling for food from its parents. At the end of this path you’ll meet a gate, turn right down the track, where you’ll soon spot a wooden bridge over a stream. Walk over this bridge then immediately turn right, taking the path into the woods alongside the stream. Here we heard a green woodpecker as we walked up the small bank on the left and continued following the leafy path straight on until it opened up onto a pebbled track. Turn right over some wooden boards then take the path on the right up the hill, continue along this track, where soon you can choose to take a quick detour down an opening on your right, (opposite a bench). Here there is a great stream hidden away, great for dogs and children to play in. After this detour, continue back along the path following the blue arrow sign pointing at the track straight ahead.

The stream we found water boatmen and pondskaters in

The tall trees and bracken in the woods

When you spot a small opening in the woods on your right, take this path between ferns and very old trees with roots wrapped around their trunks. The stream will once again be on your right now as you walk through this woodland. The path will become a little more uneven with tree roots underfoot, so be careful as you navigate along this route. Follow the path around, walking over branches on the ground used to help cross in wet, muddy weather. Look out for fungi as you turn another corner and walk between trees which then opens up again onto a pebbled track. Leaving the woods behind, turn right and walk up this pebbled track where you’ll pass a ‘pool’ on your right, a popular swimming spot for dogs. We heard long-tailed tits in this area as we continued on ahead, ignoring any paths that branch off of this main track.

The bridge crossing a stream at Stowford

Take a detour down to the stream amongst the trees

You might be able to spot the path we took earlier, on the right hand side of the heather and gorse where the grenade range is. This is a steady track you’re now walking, back to Woodbury Castle Fort, (the trees up ahead surround the fort). When you get a choice of paths to take by a blue arrow post, turn left and continue along this path, ignoring any paths on your right unless you want to walk back through the fort again. We’re taking the track around the outside of the hill fort where soon you’ll complete the walk, ending back at the car park we started in. If you liked this walk, keep an eye out on my instagram page for more walks going up soon in this area.

A popular swimming spot for dogs

Nearing the end of the walk, looking back on the path we walked

Beer to Branscombe Coast Path Loop

I first published this walk 6 years ago, but have recently enjoyed walking it again. This is an updated version of the original walk, with changes put in place where necessary, as the under cliffs are currently closed off due to a landslip.

This walk along the East Devon stretch of the South West Coast Path from Beer to Branscombe is quite easy to follow as there are very clear signposts and paths leading you in the right direction. We love this stretch of the South West Coast Path, Beer and Branscombe are both beautiful, small villages, with fishing boats moored on the pebble beaches. I’ve written a post before about Branscombe (here) and I’ll do another post in the near future about Beer as it deserves its own post. It’s such a lovely little village to stroll round, visiting the independent shops and sitting in one of the deck chairs having an ice cream or chips on the beach, watching the fishing boats go out to sea.

Views of Beer’s white cliffs.

We started this walk by parking in the main car park (Clapp’s Lane) in Beer as we first went down to the beach to have some lunch, but we resisted the urge to get an ice cream, instead promising ourselves we would have one once we reached Branscombe. If you aren’t planning on visiting the village or if there’s no space in the main car park, then there’s a larger one right by the start of the coast path called Cliff Top car park. To reach the coast path from Beer Beach, we walked past our favourite pub in the village, ‘The Anchor Inn’ and walked up Common Lane. From here we had beautiful views of Beer Beach, its white cliffs and the coastline over the well kept gardens, belonging to the beautiful terraced houses on the other side of this road. Once half way up this hill we then turned down a lane on our left called Little Lane. From here it leads us past the bigger car park I mentioned earlier, and a caravan park on our right. Going through a gate, and into a field, this lane joins onto the coast path.

For those of you who enjoy geocaching, there are some great ones along this route all the way to Branscombe. We actually ended up finding some of the ones we couldn’t find last time we walked this route, though it can be hard sometimes as this path can get fairly popular, so you need to have a lot of stealth!

Views of Beer and Seaton from the coast path.

As we carried on along the coast path the views just kept getting better, we did this walk on a hot, sunny day, but a word of warning, be prepared that there’s a steep hill on the way back from Branscombe, which can be made a lot more strenuous in the heat. There’s also a section of rather steep steps if you descend the cliff path, but the rest of the walk is rather easy going and the views make it even more enjoyable.

A lovely spot to sit and take in the views.

Views of Branscombe beach from the coast path.

The lower path takes you through twists and turns with the white cliffs on your right, and there’s a short cut to the Eastern side of the beach when you reach the end of this path. However, there are quite a few steps on this path, whereas if you choose the high path it’s just through several fields then down one set of steps and then down East Cliff hill.

Some of the steps you’ll encounter along the lower path.

Both paths offer the beautiful views of the coastline and are clearly marked on how to get to the beach. Once we reached the end of the lower path, we could have walked further which would take us out to the bottom of the hill before the car park at Branscombe, instead we chose to enter the beach by a path on our left. This took us to the Eastern end of the beach. Note: The under cliffs section is currently closed due to a landslip, there is a sign on the kissing gate stating a closure until October 2026. The section that is closed is Hooken Undercliff, through the holiday park that arrives at the car park. There is a clear sign and barrier at the point where you cannot currently access. Taking the lower path to exit at Branscombe beach is possible but be aware you cannot access the beach at high tide.

The Eastern end of Branscombe beach.

This part of the pebble beach is a lot quieter than the main stretch close to the car park. We decided to sit here for a bit and watch a few dogs enjoying the water as the waves crashed against the pebbles. After a while, we carried on our walk towards ‘The Sea Shanty beach cafe’ by the car park and the entrance to the beach, it’s a short walk along the beach to get here. This is the only cafe by the beach, but it has a good variety of food and drink options, including a good choice of ice creams which is what we came for!

The Eastern end of Branscombe beach is always a lot quieter.

We sat and watched the waves crashing against the pebbles.

The busier part of the beach, with The Sea Shanty Beach cafe to the right.

After having an ice cream and relaxing in the sun, we decided we had better start climbing the hill back onto the coast path, to return to Beer. From the Sea Shanty cafe, there’s an entrance to the hill ahead through a gate by the mouth of the river that’s just to the side of the car park. Look for the massive hill, it is hard to miss!

We sat and had an ice cream, while looking at the hill we were about to climb.

The hill does have some benches you can rest on if need be, we sat and looked at the views of the beach below before continuing on our walk, up some steps then through more fields which eventually took us back to Beer. Along the way we spotted what used to be Beer’s old historic lookout building, which has since been updated and turned into a rather impressive three-storey holiday let. From here, we ignored the gate and cattle grid ahead, and instead turned right and walked down towards some hedges, (full of blackberries!) and through a gate to continue along the coast path.

The views of Branscombe village, beach and coastline from the top of the hill.

This walk took us about 3 hours to do, but we did it at a leisurely pace. It’s best to give yourself plenty of time, as I’ve said before the hill and steps can be quite strenuous! The stunning coastal views really do make up for the hard work involved on some parts of the coast path though. Both beaches are dog friendly, Beer does have restrictions in place for certain areas (clearly marked) during peak season, but the whole of Branscombe beach is dog friendly all year round. If you are taking a dog on this walk, please bear in mind that there are steep drops from the cliff side so be very careful dogs don’t run off the edge, and as always, keep dogs under strict control around any livestock you may encounter (we walked through fields with sheep and cattle in them).

Views of Seaton from the coast path on the way back to Beer.