A selection of a few adventures and days out around Devon and beyond.

Jonathon Cauchois 9/16/26 Jonathon Cauchois 9/16/26

Branscombe Village and Coast Path Circular

This circular 4mi/6.9km walk begins in Branscombe Beach Pay and Display Car Park (What3words: ///police.nylon.sprain). It takes you alongside a leat, a working mill, an orchard and a forge, then up through the village until you reach the coast path with stunning views of the sea and cliffs before dropping back down into Branscombe, arriving back at the beach. It can be strenuous in a few places with uneven ground and steep inclines, sturdy footwear is advised. There are two pubs and a cafe in Branscombe as well as the National Trust Old Bakery Tea Rooms which you will pass on the walk. (Check opening times online). Toilets are located at the beginning of the walk, as well as National Trust toilets beside the Old Bakery Tea Rooms. This walk is dog friendly, but be aware they may have to remain on lead for sections of the walk due to grazing livestock, and also stretches of road and coast path.

From the car park walk past the toilets behind The Sea Shanty Cafe, turning right on a path that takes you alongside a stream, shaded by trees. Soon you’ll cross over a bridge with a National Trust sign encouraging you to play pooh sticks here. We heard several blue tits and goldcrests along this route as we continued on, ignoring any signs coming off the main path. We also spotted 3 different species of beetle in the brambles on the left next to the wire fence, one being a very shiny and beautiful bronze beetle, as well as another National Trust sign, this one was for a scavenger hunt game. As we crossed over another bridge, we spotted dragonflies darting about in the field to the left, as well as a noisy jay flying from one tree to another as we continued along the gravel path. When you reach a gate, turn left and walk down the track to National Trust Manor Mill, then taking the gate to the right of the steps, with a sign pointing to ‘the Old Bakery Tea Rooms and The Forge’. Walking along the trodden grass track with the water trickling on your left, you’ll soon pass through gates on a bridge, then through another field before entering into an orchard via a ‘snaking’ bridge.

The snaking bridge leading to the orchard

Soon you’ll pass the Old Bakery Tea Rooms on your left and the National Trust visitor information centre and toilets on your right. The Tea Rooms are open on certain days for a refreshment stop (check online for opening times) as is the working forge on the other side of the road. Turn left and walk up the road passing the yellow thatched cottage as you do so. Soon you’ll also pass the church where you’ll be treated to beautiful views of the valley below on your left. We could hear buzzards calling out and circling in the sky above as we continued on up the hill, eventually passing (and ignoring) a footpath sign leading into fields on our left. Be careful of cars passing you as you walk along this road, soon passing Pitt Farm then arriving at a junction in front of a beautiful house named Beehive Cottage. Turn left up this road then up the hill, but keep an eye out for a public footpath to ‘Berry Cliff Coast Path’ just to the right of ‘Rookeries House’. If required, you can have a drink stop at The Fountain Head Inn, just behind Beehive cottage, near the entrance to the footpath.

We spotted a couple of rabbits along this gravel track as it continued up the hill, up some steps and through a gate into Pit Coppice. Here it can be uneven with rocks and tree roots underfoot, as well as a challenging incline. Luckily the steepness doesn't last long before we leave the woods through a kissing gate and into a field. Continue straight through the field, note that there is evidence that cows graze in here so keep dogs on lead if you do spot any livestock. There will soon be a natural trodden path through the contour of the field, you’ll then arrive at a gravel public footpath. Here you can choose to turn left and take a shortened route back to Branscombe via the coast path, or like us, turn right, adding on an extra stretch of the coast path. We took the track through a metal farm gate, continuing ahead with hedgerows on either side, until you reach a stone walled kissing gate. Pass through the kissing gate on the left (marked as a public footpath), and take the track straight ahead through the field. Soon you’ll be able to see the sea on your left as you follow the track, picking up the South West Coast Path by a signpost. From here, turn left and walk the coast path towards Branscombe Mouth. Here we saw plenty of stonechats on the gorse, and heard a dunnock calling as we passed by.

As you walk along the coast path, be sure to enjoy the views of the East Devon coastline behind you. On a clear day you can see Sidmouth, Ladram Bay and Straight point near Exmouth. As we passed through a kissing gate to Berry Cliff Camp, we saw so many swallows dipping down and flying low over us, probably the most I’ve seen in one place. Once you pass through another kissing gate, the path will become uneven and stony before opening up into ‘Fluff’s Car Park’. From here, turn left, then at the end of the track turn right, following the coast path signs for Branscombe Mouth. This part of the track was so peaceful and quiet, listening to the sound of blackbirds and robins singing. This path will turn more sheltered with trees and ferns as you pass another sign post pointing you towards Branscombe, thankfully not down the steps to the left of the gate you pass through.

Looking back at the East Devon Coastline

The woodland path will soon open up to a beautiful view of Branscombe Village with the perfectly placed bench to rest and enjoy the view. We sat here for a while looking down at the valley and listening to a raven calling out in the tree just behind us. There were also plenty of butterflies around this area, enjoying what was left of the summer sunshine. Continuing on, we passed through a kissing gate, where eventually the stony path opened up to the sea views of Branscombe Beach. Once again, there was a bench placed here to enjoy the views before heading down the hill, through a kissing gate into a field, where it then takes you to where we first started the walk beside the beach and car park. If you like the look of the steep hill on the other side of the beach, then there is a lovely walk from Beer to Branscombe (and back) that I have previously posted here.

A perfect spot to enjoy the view before heading down the hill

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Laura Waddell 6/1/20 Laura Waddell 6/1/20

Noss Mayo Coastal Loop

It felt so good to be back visiting the South Hams again, for anyone who’s never been to this beautiful area of South Devon, it’s so worth a visit! To me, when I think of the South Hams I think of lovely little fishing villages scattered about, the beautiful rugged coastline with the bluest sea, and of course Start Point lighthouse. Sadly we didn’t see my favourite lighthouse on this walk, but we did visit Noss Mayo, a quaint little fishing village that I’ve been meaning to visit for quite some time.

Views of Noss Mayo and boats on the River Yealm.

If anyone is interested in doing this walk it’s handy to know that parking is quite limited in Noss Mayo, as it really is quite a small village. There’s two free car parks in the village itself (Tidal and Tennis court car parks) but we found these to be quite busy so we parked in another free car park along the coast path which was owned by the National Trust. There’s two of these car parks that join the coast path, we parked in Warren car park but there’s also Stoke car park just up the road.

Once parked up, there’s a map in the corner of the car park, by the gate that leads down a path. After having a quick look at the map we followed the path down towards the sea in the distance. Once at the end of the path we reached a gate and stile, from here we joined the coast path and turned right, which a sign post informed us we were 3 miles from Noss Mayo.

The beautiful coastline of the South Hams.

As we followed the path round there were beautiful views over a stone wall to our left of the sea glistening from the sun over head. In the little coves the sea was turquoise in colour and so clear, it really does make you feel like you’re on holiday somewhere else! Once round the corner we saw a lovely little stone house on our right, from here there were two paths we could take. We decided to take the path to our left and through a gate, which then went down a slope and carried on through some smaller lesser trodden paths. In hindsight this was a mistake as we then had to walk back up the very steep cliff carrying a 9 month old baby, I’d recommend instead sticking to the main path at this point, going past Warren Cottage. The path we took was nice though and there was also another path which leads down some steps to a little cove called Searush Cove. We decided against going down there today, as the tide was coming in quite quickly, and as it was already nearly 2pm, we wanted to crack on and get to Noss Mayo.

As we continued along the coast path, I spotted Great Mew Stone ahead, sorry to disappoint, but this island has nothing to do with pokemon. It’s actually an old english name for Herring gull, which are one of the many birds that now live here as it is now a wild nature reserve. This Island made me realise just how close we were to Wembury beach, which is another lovely place worth visiting, they have their own marine conservation centre there, but its also popular for surfing and rock pooling.

As we carried on the path and walked past another dry stone wall to our left, in the distance i spotted Wembury church and bay. We were then treated to stunning views of the mouth of the River Yealm, home to dozens of boats, with people on board enjoying the blue sky .

One sailing boat, you can just about see Wembury church and bay in the distance.

After watching the jet skis and yachts for a few minutes, we then descended down to a shaded path, draped with pretty pink camellias. As we walked along this path, the sweet smell of the flowers filled the air. Through the trees we still had a beautiful view of the boats on the river, as we walked closer inland, we could see paddle boarders and kayakers also enjoying the water.

At the end of this sheltered path, we exited ‘The Warren’ to discover some beautiful cottages; As I was admiring them, I noticed one was a holiday home called ‘Coastguard Cottage’, I can only assume because this is where the coastguard used to be based. We then walked past more beautiful houses before reaching another sheltered path. A map here informed us we were about to take some steps down into Passage Wood which would eventually lead us to Noss Mayo.

Through the woods, we still had the vibrant blue of the river to our left, after a short walk along this path, we were greeted to the Ferryman’s Cottage on our left and a house on our right that had old ferry prices marked up on a sign. We had a quick read of the board before continuing on a country lane that eventually welcomed us into the fishing village of Noss Mayo.

Views of the River from the country lane.

Once we left this country lane, we arrived into the heart of the village, from here we walked past countless cute cottages and a bell topped village Hall before finding a spot by the river called Popes Quay for our picnic. We had great views here of people enjoying the water, paddling, kayaking and paddle boarding, As we finished our lunch, it had become more quiet, as the tide had slowly gone out, so we decided to walk back on the riverbed to continue our walk.

We walked to the right of the Village Hall and round some roads to the left, where we found the tennis court car park. Here was also the entrance to Brookings Down woods, which is where our loop continued. We entered the wood from the right and followed the main path all the way round, we then took the left path when we arrived at a fork. Eventually we heard a river flowing through the woods as we arrived at a gate that exited this woods onto a country road. From here we crossed the road and followed a public footpath sign onto another wooded path. It was a bit of a steep climb up to the top before it opened up onto a road.

Walking the path to the top of the woods.

From here we carried on up the road, ignoring any turnings to the right. Eventually we passed Rowden Court on our right, which looked like a beautiful Barn Conversion, complete with a tennis court! From here we carried on straight ahead, ignoring a public footpath to out left, we eventually reached a crossroads with sea views ahead. We crossed this road and continued on down where we were eventually met with a caravan park.

From Revelstoke Caravan park, we followed the main road that leads through it, ignoring signs for Stroke Beach (somewhere I think would be worth a visit another day) to the left, At the bottom of this road was a red phone box converted into a book library. We had a little look but it was a bit neglected of books and rather full of cobwebs. What interested me more was the rather impressive derelict church. Having a look around, we discovered it was the Church of ‘St Peter the Poor Fisherman’, and is 800 years old. It is in remarkably good structural condition, although it is lacking most of its roof. Information inside told us this church was abandoned when it fell into a state of disrepair and a new one was built in Noss Mayo instead, although they do still hold services here twice a year.

St Peter the Poor Fisherman Church ruins.

After exploring the church, we took the road that continued to the right. From here we followed the coast path arrows through the caravans, then a little wooded area and finally through a gate and onto the coast path again. From here we were greeted with stunning views to the left of Bolt Head in the distance. We now followed a path through some gorse, and an abundance of fox gloves. Little lambs bleeted as their mothers grazed on the land infront of us. As it was starting to get late in the day, I could hear some stonechat birds chirping away in the gorse.

From here we were a mile or two from where we started. As we carried on along this path we spotted an old stone house on the hill to our right. The path widened out into a double width track, originally built by Baron Revelstoke to show off the coast to his guests via horse drawn carriage. As we were then nearing the car park, I spotted the familiar view of Great Mew Stone in the distance. From here we soon reached the footpath we started on where we now turned right, through the gate and back towards the car park. It was a long but satisfying walk. We both definitely want to come back again, possibly taking our kayaks with us to explore Noss Mayo via the water.

Great Mew Stone spotted in the distance, and a old stone house on the hill.