Harpford Woods to Fire Beacon Hill Circular Walk
This 5mi/8km circular walk starts and ends in Newton Poppleford. There’s usually plenty of parking on Back Lane by the play park (what3words: ///bumping.shelf.unloaded) or alternatively, there is a free car park off the main road behind the church. This walk takes you alongside the River Otter, crossing a bridge into the village of Harpford where you’ll soon enter Harpford Woods. It then takes you uphill with beautiful panoramic views of the heaths, hills and coast at Fire Beacon Hill before taking another route down (past a pub) into Harpford Woods and Newton Poppleford. Walking boots are advised for this walk as the terrain is uneven in places and there are hills to walk up. The woodland can also get muddy after wet weather. The Bowd Inn is half way along this walk for refreshments, they do a good carvery and have a play park in the beer garden. There is also a bench perfectly placed at the top of Fire Beacon Hill for the best East Devon views whilst enjoying a picnic. This is a dog friendly walk, just be aware there is a busy road you will need to cross twice on this walk.
Enjoying the views and wildlife from Fire Beacon Hill
Harpford Woods
From Back Lane, continue along the road with the play park on your left, until you see a kissing gate wth a public footpath sign on your right. Pass through the gates and follow the footpath where you’ll soon pass through another kissing gate alongside the river. If you do this walk in the summer, there’s usually house martins and swallows skimming the water on this stretch of the river. Today we heard goldfinches and a mistle thrush singing in the trees as we crossed the red bridge over the river and into the village of Harpford. When you arrive at a road (Lower Way), turn left passing the village hall on your right. At the give way sign, turn left up the hill, passing the church on your left. Turn right onto Knapp Lane, passing a beautiful thatched cottage as you do so, then continue straight ahead, ignoring the public footpath sign on the left. This track will soon turn into a leafy lane decorated with ferns and nettles on either side. We heard a great spotted woodpecker calling out over all the other bird songs (nuthatch, long tailed tits, great tits) along this path, be sure to keep an eye out for mushrooms too, we saw the first few popping up along here in early October.
Walking alongside the River Otter
Crossing the bridge into Harpford
When you arrive at a choice of two gates, take the kissing gate on the left, and continue up a trodden path encroached by trees. We heard lots of jays calling out here, autumn is a busy time for them, and I find it’s an easier time to spot them too, as they’ll be flying around collecting acorns to save for winter. When you reach a gate on your left, pass through it and turn right, then take the more hidden path to the left of the main track, passing over a stile at the end of it and into the woods. (You can also avoid the stile by turning left a tiny bit further up the main track and up a slope). There were lots of squirrels along this stretch of woodland, most probably making the most of the fallen acorns we saw on the ground as we continued ahead through the woods. The moss covered trees looked beautiful here with the autumn sun shining low and glistening on the leaves. The path will soon become narrow again through a trodden grass track, continuing through the woods, listen out for all the different birds, especially the goldcrests usually found in the pine trees. Eventually the track will go down hill passing some steps and then a gate on your left, continue on in the woods until you arrive at a post for the East Devon Way, turn left, taking this route across a busy road, then picking up the footpath for Fire Beacon Hill directly ahead.
Don’t walk up these steps, that lead to a car park
Walking a track in Harpford Woods
This footpath will take you through kissing gates, alongside the fields for Wood’s Farm, sometimes with donkeys in them (from Sidmouth’s Donkey Sanctuary). It’s not uncommon to see buzzards circling the sky in this area, we saw a couple here calling out as we continued up the hill. It’s a workout for the legs as you walk through the field but the views from the kissing gate at the top make it worthwhile. Pass through this kissing gate and up the steps, then turn left and walk up Fire Beacon Lane, passing a gate with more beautiful views of East Devon countryside behind it. Take the signposted footpath on the right, walking a sheltered path under the trees. We spotted more fungi along this stretch, some were hidden quite well under leaves or nestled into tree roots. We heard firecrests and chaffinches continuously calling out in the trees as we eventually passed a house on the left. Ignore the public footpath next to this house, instead walk up the hill, keeping right and ignoring the gate at the top on your left. When you arrive at a crossroads, turn right, then at a fork in the path take the track with the arrowed signs for the East Devon Way. This will take you along a footpath with lots of old moss-covered trees on either side, some with their roots stretching out across the banks. There was a lot of birds calling out along this path too, especially goldcrests and nuthatches as we passed through a gate and took the track to the left, past an information sign.
Countryside views from the top of the field
One of the moss covered trees on the way to Fire Beacon Hill
Continue ahead at the crossroads, listening out for dartford warblers in the gorse, then if you would like a detour for a picnic spot with a view, take the next left where you’ll soon spot a bench looking out at a panoramic view of the East Devon countryside. Here you can see Sidmouth and the sea to the left, Mutters Moor and Peak hill directly ahead, then Newton Poppleford to the right, nestled into the valley with the heaths behind it. We sat and had lunch here for a while, and heard and saw plenty of wildlife as we did so; a green woodpecker with its ‘laughing’ call, linnets flying over in a group, two ravens ‘cronking’ nearby and a buzzard flying over the landscape in front of us. We also spotted a couple of deer in the fields below. After our lunch break, we headed back to the main path on the right and headed down the hill which soon turns into a stony track. Turn left down this hill when you reach an arrowed post with a big beautiful beech tree ahead of you. When you arrive at an information sign about the reserve, continue on the gravelled track, down the hill and through a gate, where you’ll arrive at Fire Beacon Lane. Turn left and walk down this lane, then at the bottom turn right, passing houses along the way. At the stop sign, you have the choice to turn left and stop off for refreshments at The Bowd Inn, then pick up a footpath (signposted for Harpford Woods) on the other side of the road next to ‘Bowd Court’.
A large old beech tree
Views over a gate near Woods Farm
Walk down this gravel track and into Harpford Woods once more, keep to the main track until you reach an old railway bridge. From here, turn right down some steps and walk underneath the bridge and round to the right. It’s easy to feel small here in the woods, with tall trees towering over you. Keep to the path ahead, soon you should hear the sound of trickling water, look left and you’ll see a little waterfall, and you’ll pass a long brick tunnel on your right. Robins and wrens were darting about as we walked the path ahead, as well as several dor beetles trying to safely cross to the other side. Once you reach the end of the track, you’ll pass through a kissing gate and pick up the track we took at the beginning of the walk into the woods. Retrace your steps now along Knapps Lane into Harpford, passing the church on your right then finding the footpath that takes you over the bridge and back into Newton Poppleford. As we walked alongside the water and back to the car, we heard meadow pipits in the fields as well as a cetti’s warbler calling loudly in the reeds beside the river, one of my favourite bird sounds. If you enjoyed this walk, I have other walks on here, that branch off from Newton Poppleford, as well as other woodland walks to explore.
Walking under the old railway bridge in Harpford Woods
The old brick tunnel