Pebblebed Heaths Circular Walk

This walk starts at Squabmoor (free) car park on the Pebblebed Heaths, just on the outskirts of Exmouth. (What3Words: ///blushes.renting.optimists) It’s just under 3 miles long and dog friendly with dog bins at the beginning of the walk and half way along. My 6 year old daughter has no trouble doing this walk but the cafe stop at the stables definitely helps! I would advise wearing trousers for this walk due to a couple of narrow paths with gorse and the chance of ticks, especially in the Summer. Walking boots are a good idea, although I do this walk in trainers in the drier months. There is a little stream you need to cross, so be aware you may get wet shoes. This walk is hilly in places and unfortunately not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs.

The start of the walk, Squabmoor Car Park

First glimpse of Squabmoor Reservoir

From the car park, follow the path with the blue arrow pointing down through the trees. This path is little uneven in places due to the tree roots underfoot. Continue following this path where soon you’ll pass a sign saying ‘Squabmoor Reservoir Course Fishery’. You’ll eventually arrive at a wooden fence informing you that you’re now walking alongside Squabmoor reservoir.

Checking for fish, Squabmoor Reservoir

The Lilypads in Spring

Carry on straight along this path, keeping the water on your right, if you do this walk in Autumn you’ll be treated to a range of different mushroom species along the way. In the Spring and Summer months there are beautiful lillies on the water, along with Mallard and Tufted Ducks and Canada Geese. Once you get to the ‘reservoir fishing car park’ follow the trodden path down through the middle of the meadow towards some trees (not the path to the left of the meadow). In the Summer this meadow is alive with a range of butterflies and moths feeding on the wildflowers, when we did this walk recently we saw so many Painted Lady butterflies here as well as the summer sound of grasshoppers around us.

The path through the meadow

Arriving at the stream

You’ll know if you’ve taken the correct path as you’ll arrive at a stream amongst the trees, this is the bit where you might get wet feet! Cross this stream directly opposite the kissing gate on the other side of the water where you’ll see a brick path under the water and some (unsteady) stones that can help you across. Once through the gate, you’ll now be walking onto Dalditch Plantation, from here, turn left and follow this stony path towards the trees in the distance. Both sides of this path will have water trickling alongside it, meaning it can get a little muddy on the path in certain times of year. In the Summer months, cattle are sometimes put on this land to graze the heaths so be aware if you have dogs off lead at this point.

Time to cross the stream!

The gate to the wooded area

When you reach the gates to the wooded area, enter through here and follow the path between the trees. This area comes alive with birdsong especially in Spring when you can hear Blackcaps singing, the repetitive call of Chiffchaffs and the high pitched calls of the Goldcrests and Firecrests. At the end of this woodland, you’ll come to a quiet lane (Dalditch Lane), turn right and walk up it, past some houses, including one named ‘Clover Cottage’. In the Spring this lane has beautiful bluebells and flowering Rhododendrons brighting up the roadside, continue on past the ‘horses and children’ road sign and you’ll soon reach a gate to Budleigh Riding School on the left. Feel free to have a cafe stop here, entering past the stables and arena to the beautiful building at the back named ‘Oak lodge Cafe’ (Note: Opening times vary but they usually open Wed - Saturday, be sure to check times on their website).

The path through the woods leading to Dalditch Lane

Cafe Stop, Budleigh Riding School

Past the riding school, continue up Dalditch Lane until you reach a little path on the right (after a lay-by) leading to a gate which opens up onto Dalditch Plantation again. Once through the gate, turn left and walk up the hill where you’ll have beautiful views of the common on your right. Ignore the gate at the top, instead turn right and carry on along the path. See if you can spot Squabmoor Reservoir where we first began this walk, and if it’s a clear day you may be treated to a sea view in the distance. When you spot a metal gate on your left, pass through it and immediately turn right where you’ll arrive at some steps and a kissing gate.

The path that leads back onto Dalditch Common

Views of the common, on a grey day

You’ve now arrived at Withycombe Common which is a haven for wildlife. Please be aware of any signs on the gate that alert you to keep your dogs on leads if its nesting season for ground nesting birds (typically March - August). This area of the common is home to a lot of wildlife. I’ve spotted Adders, Deer, Foxes, Common Lizards, Dartford Warblers, Yellowhammers and Stonechat along these paths. Turn right and follow the clear path down the hill. This part of the walk can feel long but be sure to listen to the different bird calls. On a Spring day I heard a Mistle Thrush, Willow Warbler and Tree pipit and saw Buzzards circling above being harassed by crows.

Withycombe Common

Arriving at Bystock Pools

When you reach the bottom of this hill, ignore the path on your left and continue on where you’ll soon turn round a corner and walk up a stony path. Sometimes I hear green woodpeckers in this area so be sure to listen out of their laughing call. Carry on walking until you reach a grassy patch on your right that takes you down a narrow path between gorse and heather where you’ll soon meet a kissing gate that leads to a road. Crossing this road will take you to a sign informing you that you’ve arrived at Bystock Pools.

The boardwalk along Bystock Pools

The lilypads at Bystock

Follow this path alongside the pond, as you cross the bridge you’ll notice Beavers have made a dam here, the path then turns into a boardwalk with benches inviting you to sit and enjoy the peaceful view. At the end of the viewing platform, pass through the kissing gate and walk over the little bridge and up some steps which opens up onto heathland. Follow the path to the left where you’ll soon be walking alongside a metal fence on your right. In the Summer I usually hear Spotted Flycatchers in this area, sometimes seeing them fly down catching insects before returning to their tree branches above. As you walk this path, you may notice wood ants in the Summer months crossing the path to their nests on the right. Soon you’ll arrive at a tall kissing gate, exit the reserve here and follow the path ahead through the trees where soon it will open up onto the heaths again.

The bridge at Bystock Pools

Walking the Heathland at Bystock

Continue straight up a slight incline until you arrive at a crossroads on the path. Turn right and follow the path down, keep an eye out for those sea views again. Soon you’ll be given an option of two paths, take the one on your right with the yellow arrow pointing in the direction we’re going. It won’t be long before you reach the end of this path, where you should soon recognise Squabmoor Car Park on the other side of the road where we first began.

The Map in Squabmoor Car Park

Squabmoor Car Park in sight

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Beer to Branscombe Coast Path (and back again)

This walk along the East Devon coast path from Beer to Branscombe and back is quite easy to follow as there are very clear signposts and paths leading you in the right direction so I won’t go into too much detail with this walk. We love this stretch of the South West Coast Path because Beer and Branscombe are two of our favourite beaches to visit. Both are 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 and 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. On the way to Branscombe we took the lower path (called Hooken undercliff) when we were given a choice of two options, and on the way back we took the high path along East Cliff.

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. One thing to add, at the moment the path will be getting more and more popular as its peak holiday season, the lower path also gets quite narrow in places, meaning it will be difficult to socially distance from others at times.

Some of the steps you’ll encounter along Hooken Undercliff.

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.

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 decided to 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 more quiet.

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 a great 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 saw the remains of an old lookout building as we walked past a flock of sheep and down a path that took us through some gates and back to the fields we first started walking in.

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 and stopped to do some geocaching. 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 this 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.