Newton Poppleford to Aylesbeare Common Circular
This walk starts out in Newton Poppleford’s free car park on School Lane (What3words: ///rummage.bends.cherished). It’s just under 5 miles/7.6km and does have some hilly pebbled tracks in places, the views definitely make up for them though! Sturdy footwear is required especially in the wetter months, but it’s completely doable in trainers or walking sandals in dry conditions. There are no toilets or cafes on route, but there is a pub (The Canon Inn) and a tearoom (Southern Cross Tearooms) in Newton Poppleford, check opening times online.
Taking Littledown Lane up towards Hawkerland
The leafy path leading to the heaths
From Newton Poppleford’s car park, leave through the main entrance and walk up School Lane, passing the local primary school on your left. When you reach a footpath on your right, take this shaded path up the steps and continue on ahead, crossing the road at the end of the footpath to rejoin it again, until you reach a quiet residential road at the end of the path. Follow this road down past a house selling eggs on the left where you’ll come to the main road next to ‘Ye olde Tolle House’, Devon’s longest surviving toll house and also the UK’s shortest house. On this main road, turn left and keep to the pavement as you pass the mini roundabout and walk up the road. When it’s safe to do so, cross this busy road and walk up Littledown Lane, passing houses on your right, as you go up the hill where you’ll eventually spot a track to take on your right (opposite some farm gates). This lane is where I usually hear robins and blackbirds singing and flitting about between both sides of the road, there’s also plenty of sloe berries growing along this lane. I did this walk in late summer, so along this track there were still plenty of swallows flying over the fields on either side, chattering away.
Passing through the gate onto Hawkerland Common
Walking through the woods
This track will soon turn stony as it turns round a bend then downhill, now shaded by trees and ferns. It soon opens up again as you pass some beautiful houses on your right. Continue on this track, listening out for birds, I heard a great spotted woodpecker drumming on one of the trees here, as well as great tits calling out their distinctive ‘teacher, teacher’ two-note song. You’ll soon reach a gate informing you of livestock grazing in this area, enter through the gate and take the path to the right. This area is great for hearing the high pitched squeals of a goldcrest or jays loudly squawking in the trees above. Follow the yellow footpath signs as you walk through the woodland, passing a boggy area and then crossing over one boardwalk then another, smaller one, soon after.
Following the very leafy path
Passing over a boardwalk
This path soon opens up onto heathland, this is Hawkerland Common; try and catch a glimpse of the beautiful East Devon rolling hills through the trees on your right, but don’t worry if you didn't, you’ll have plenty more opportunities to view it again later. This part of the walk starts to become quite hilly as you navigate the pebbled track, ignore any paths on either side as you continue on ahead. The heather and gorse here were in full colour when I did this walk at the end of summer, with cloudy yellow butterflies taking full advantage of them. Walk between the pine trees to a clearing, then take the stony path, following a yellow footpath arrow again. Keeping on this path you’ll eventually enter through a gate, arriving at a car park. This is Joney’s Cross car park for Aylesbeare Common. Leave this car park and cross over the busy Sidmouth road, where you’ll enter Aylesbeare Common Nature Reserve. Feel free to look at the information board here as you pass through the main gate, but don’t forget to enjoy the beautiful views yet again of the East Devon Countryside on your right.
Looking back down the hill
Following the track through Aylesbeare Common
From here, keep to the main track, following the pink-arrowed ‘East Devon Way’ posts along the way. Listen out for the scratchy sounds of the dartford warbler, that you may be lucky to see perched high on top of the gorse. Stonechat are also more easily spotted and heard around this area. You can clearly see Peak Hill now to the far right with a glimpse of the sea too, see if you can work out which towns and villages you can spot nestled into the countryside as you continue along this track. Ignore any paths that take you away from this main route, although it is worth exploring Aylesbeare Common another day, it’s a beautiful haven for wildlife with the ponds on the far right of the reserve always a popular spot for dragonflies and damselflies in the summer.
The path through Aylesbeare
Arriving at the stream
When you arrive at a cattle grid, pass through the gate and carry on down the hill which will soon become shaded by trees as you lose the view on your right. Pass through the second gate and continue to follow the East Devon Way arrows. The path will now turn stony again, make sure you keep an eye out for nibbled fungi if you’re doing this walk in late summer or autumn and listen out for coal tits calling out to each other. You’ll soon come to a little stream at the bottom of the track, cross the bridge and ignore the arrow signs, instead take the path to the right that goes up a hill and then opens up onto heathland again. Look out for rabbits here, I saw a couple run off into the gorse as I walked up this track. Don’t forget to also look back as you climb the hill, taking in the views of the beautiful heaths.
Cross over the bridge
Back on the heaths again
Those rolling hills will be closer in view now as you reach the top of the hill, continue on this path and when you arrive at a crossroads, carry on straight ahead, but keep an eye on the sky for buzzards circling above in this area. When you come to an option of three paths, take the middle path following the East Devon Way post as you now walk down a pebbled track under tree canopy, before leaving through a gate. Here I heard long tailed tits calling out as I continued on the path straight ahead, ignoring public footpath signs on my left. There’s a bench here you can rest on before turning left and walking down the hill past some houses also on your left. This lane will take you back towards Newton Poppleford, take a moment to enjoy the views over the gates on your left as you walk down this lane. At the crossroads, continue on ahead onto ‘Back Lane’ (with the finger post saying ‘Harpford’), you’ll pass a house on the left with a beautiful carved sign at the entrance. Ignore the footpath you first pass on your right, instead keep walking until you reach a gate on your left and a path on your right, Take this right turn and continue along this footpath, picking it up again when you cross through a residential street. Turn left at the end of this path and up some steps where you’ll arrive in Meadow Drive. From here, walk up the hill to the main road and cross at the pedestrian crossing to your left. Once across the road, take the public footpath behind the red telephone box library (to the right of the church), where you’ll then arrive back at the car park again.
Leaving the heaths
One last view of the rolling hills