East Budleigh Common via Squabmoor Reservoir

Laura Waddell July 20, 2020

I’ll start off by saying Woodbury Common and the surrounding area is great for exploring. Anyone who hasn’t walked up there before, it’s worth going, especially if you have a dog. The area is full of wildlife but also has a lot of history hidden behind it from World War II, just on today’s walk I spotted several old brick buildings that would have housed the Royal Marines during the war. The Marines still currently use the common for their training and if you’re out walking certain areas you may one day come across them either on land or above in one of their helicopters. This walk I specifically did today involves walking along East Budleigh Common, through to Hayes Wood, Yettington and East Budleigh before coming back through Dalditch and Squabmoor. It’s all dog friendly; there is one road I had to walk along in Yettington, but even so, its wide enough to walk safely, and doesn’t get majorly busy anyway.

East Budleigh Common, the pebblebed heath.

This walk starts in Wheat Hill car park (free), just up from Squabmoor Reservoir. From here I took the main path just to the left of the informatIon sign, which gives more information about the area and the history surrounding it during World War II. From this main path I soon see views of the Sid Valley to my left as well as remains of an old brick building that would have been a ‘Nissen Hut’ housing some of the Royal Marines (Dalditch Camp) in the Second World War. I soon come to a pile of logs on my left, from here I continue on the path ahead (not down the hill), but as I walk past the logs I spot the curved brick wall at the bottom of a hill to my left, this would have been the Marines’ firing range wall, but now it’s hidden away a fair bit by the natural surroundings of trees and gorse. I get a better view of the firing range as I continue on the path and turn right. From here I have a choice of two paths but I continue to follow the clearly marked footpath arrows.

The old Dalditch Camp Firing range wall (This photo was taken at the bottom of the hill but isn’t the path I took on this walk)

I now walk a path where there are trees on my left and more remains of an old brick building on my right, leading through a shaded path under trees. At the bottom of this slope I take the path straight ahead of me, where soon I spot a public footpath sign on my left and a field to my right with a stile. Although the field on the other side of the stile looks rather inviting from this shadowed path, I instead continue ahead, passing some gates on my right. I’m now leaving East Budleigh common behind as I continue to walk along Hayes Wood Lane. This path has so many interesting old trees with roots that stretch far along the bank, it reminded me that the area has quite a few caches, for those geocachers out there!

I soon meet a Public Footpath sign, pointing left into some woods. I take this path and walk the clear path now directly ahead of me, this is Hayes Woods. It’s important to add, anyone doing this walk will need to stay on this footpath through the woods, as the rest of the area in this wood is private land and out of bounds. This path soon leads down a slope where eventually I spot a white house in the distance. This is Hayes Wood Cottage. It’s not long before I’m walking past this house, on my left, as I then continue on down a track which has views of East Budleigh village and rolling hills ahead of me and High Peak and Peak Hill to my right.

As I continue walking down this track I soon spot a white house next to a farm, over the hedges to my left. This is Hayes Barton, the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh. The house itself is not open to the public, but you’re able to get a closer look of it if you turn left at the bottom of this track, its just a short walk up the road. Today I chose not to take a detour to Hayes Barton, instead I cross the road and enter the public footpath directly infront of me. This path soon leads up a hill, and through some fields of corn. I make sure I stick to the path on the right of the field, and stop for a moment to take in the views of Hayes Barton behind me, Hayes Wood where I had just come from, East Budleigh Village to my right, and Yettington where I’m heading to. I then continue down this path, past yellow footpath signs ensuring I’m on the right track. I soon pass through a wooden kissing gate, turning right towards Yettington. Here I walk a short distance along a road and cross over a bridge, where the stream leads to Sawmill Reservoir. I now turn right, where I see a sign telling me East Budleigh is 1 mile away.

A view of Hayes Barton from the footpath.

Views of Hayes Wood from the top of the footpath in a field.

I follow the sign pointing me towards East Budleigh, which takes me through the village of Yettington. Here I walk past several beautiful cottages, a Brook on my right which children were playing in, and eventually the Village Hall up the road. Once I pass the village hall, I ignore a road on my right, instead I continue straight ahead where I now pass fields on my right with views down to East Budleigh. For anyone doing this walk, this is the road which you’ll have to be cautious of if you’re walking with children or dogs. It doesn’t get too busy, but several cars and a tractor did pass me today, so be aware and keep dogs on short leads and under control.

Some of the pretty cottages in Yettington.

It’s not long before I pass Bicton Arena (an equestrian venue) and a turning towards Ladram Bay and Otterton on my left. I ignore this turning and continue up the road where soon I spot the church of East Budleigh in the distance as I walk further towards the village. Soon I come to the East Budleigh sign welcoming me into the village, where I turn round the corner, walking past the church on my right and the Sir Walter Raleigh statue on my left. Here there is some benches to sit on and look down towards the village. I normally take a break here, but it had just started to rain as I entered the village so I decided to press on with the walk.

It’s worth a little detour to wonder around the village if you’ve not been before. It doesn’t have much to offer in regards to shops, but it does make up for it with character and history. Budleigh brook passes through the village, which leads to the River Otter, there’s a lovely pub called Sir Walter Raleigh, a community stores and a little woodland and recreation ground. As I continue on this walk, I turn right onto Hayes Lane once I passed the local pub on my left. From here I followed the road round to the left, passing several beautiful cottages and a public car park on my right before crossing a footbridge over a stream and Vicar’s Mead (where Sir Walter Raleigh was educated) on my left. I love spotting the little thatched animals that sit upon some of the thatched cottages in the village, including Vicar’s Mead’s courtyard wall.

The thatched animals on the courtyard wall of Vicar’s Mead.

Once I pass Vicar’s Mead I see fields to my right by a Weir (you won’t be able to see the Weir, just hear it), these are the fields I could see previously when walking out of Yettington by Bicton Arena, meaning I’m now at the bottom end of the fields looking up at where I had just been. From here I continue on where soon I see an electrical substation on my right and a track on my left. I take this track up where soon I spot a public footpath sign, I cross the stile here and walk up this hill where I’m rewarded with stunning views of East Devon, including Otterton, East Budleigh, Bicton Obelisk, High Peak and Mutter’s Moor as well as the sea. I eventually leave these views behind when I leave this path through a gate and enter a field immediately in front of me through another gate.

Views of the sea and rolling hills. Can you spot Bicton Obelisk to the left?

I keep to the left of this field and work my way up, today passing some cows grazing, and over a stile in the top left corner. From here I enter into Short Wood Common. I keep left on this path, ignoring a turning to my right, and again when I come to a little crossroads in the path I continue straight ahead. This area soon leads under tree coverage and into some woodland where I soon pass a rope swing on my left, tied to one of the many old rooted trees here. After a short walk through this woodland I arrive at the end of this path where I see a public footpath sign pointing towards where I’ve just walked. Here I turn right then turn left up a path where I spot a buzzard flying overhead.

Leaving the field and entering Shortwood Common.

At the bottom of this dusty track I see a farm gate to my right, and then another one just round the corner to my left, which has views of Budleigh and the sea in the distance. Here I have a choice of two paths, I take the one on my right which takes me down a sheltered path past more large rooted trees. As this path comes out of the tree cover, I spot a house up ahead, this is Dalditch Farm. It’s not long before I walk past some houses on my right which have some rather interesting and quirky displays on their gates and outside their house, including a rather impressive metal robot. As I walk past this house I turn right up Dalditch Lane, passing a stream on my right. I soon come to a crossroads with a green space in the middle, here I turn right, up a stony path just left of Dalditch Farm.

The impressive drainpipe display and metal robot.

After a short walk up this path, I soon come to a wooded area where I take a path to my left, clearly signposted as a footpath, I continue along this path, being careful of the tree roots underfoot. This path is beautiful during the spring and summer months, bursting with colour from the pinks, purples and yellows of the heather and gorse, reminding me I've now arrived back into the pebblebed heaths. The path soon becomes sheltered again, where I soon spot some bees flying around some apiaries (man made beehives) to my left in a field. I continue on for a while, ignoring an option to turn right I carry on ahead where it eventually opens out into a meadow. Just at the top of this meadow is Squabmoor Reservoir so be aware if you have children or dogs with you, as this is very deep water, and also a busy fishing spot.

Taking the clearly marked footpath to the left towards Squabmoor.

The beautiful colours on the pebblebed heaths.

As I walk further up the meadow I now see Squabmoor Reservoir in front of me, here I cross the small car park and walk a path with the reservoir now on my left. This area is popular for fishing, but it’s also home to a lot of wildlife. Today I saw a family of ducks and a few swans enjoying the water amongst the lily pads. I continue walking along this path where soon I leave Squabmoor behind and enter onto a stony path. When I arrive at a fork in the path, I turn right and then at the end of this path, I turn left where it then opens up onto East Budleigh Common again. This path soon widens, where eventually at the top of the hill I turn right. I carry on along this path, ignoring the first turning on my left, until I arrive at a clearer path on my left. I walk up this track where soon I see the familiar remains of an old brick Nissen hut in front of me that I saw at the beginning of my walk. I now turn left up this track where I’m soon back at Wheat Hill car park where I started. This walk took me around 2 hours to do and wasn’t too strenuous. As I said before, its very dog and child friendly, but you do have to be careful walking on the road through Yettington. If you want to extend your walk slightly, you can visit Bystock Pools Nature Reserve which is just down the road from Wheat Hill Car Park and Squabmoor Reservoir. Here you’ll find a beautiful pond filled with lily pads and alive with all kinds of wildlife.

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River Otter walk to Bicton Obelisk and Church.

Laura Waddell July 7, 2020

I discovered this walk a few years ago when out geocaching around East Budleigh, which led me to the old Bicton Church ruins. This made me explore the area a little more (on maps and looking at local footpaths), where I then found a circular walk from the River Otter to East Budleigh and Bicton. I sometimes make this walk a little bit longer, but the one I’m writing about today is just under 5 miles long. It’s important to add that this walk crosses the main road through East Budleigh (B3178) twice, so if you plan on doing this walk with dogs or young children, be aware when crossing this road. This walk starts out on White Bridge by the River Otter in Budleigh Salterton. There is plenty of free parking here, along South Farm Road.

From here, I walked up towards White Bridge and turned left through the gate, joining the public footpath that informs me East Budleigh is 1 mile away. It’s not long before I spot a heron in the field to my left; this area is well known for the abundance of wildlife, so many species are thriving along the River and surrounding areas at the moment (including beavers which have been recently reintroduced!). After watching the heron for a while, I continued on the path, where eventually I pass a kissing gate. Here you can see the small Aqueduct which takes Budleigh Brook into the River Otter (preventing the fields from flooding), and today I could see water gushing into the river to my right. As I proceed there are two gates in front of me, I take the one to the left which now takes me on a raised path through the fields, which they sometimes have cows grazing in them, so take extra care with dogs..

The aqueduct that takes East Budleigh Brook to the River Otter.

This path is a lot quieter than the main riverside walk. I only saw two other people on this route today, perfect for a socially distanced walk! I follow this path as it bends to the left and briefly turns into a concrete walkway where it now takes me away from the river and closer towards East Budleigh. Soon I pass through a kissing gate and over a couple of footbridges, where the path then narrows and becomes partially shaded by trees. I then spot some houses to my right, which I’ll soon be walking past.

The houses to my right, which I’ll soon be passing.

I carry on through two gates, continuing straight ahead, and then follow the path with the South West water plant on my right. This path soon joins a road where I turn right and pass the yellow house I spotted earlier (in the photo above) on my left. On a clear day like today, I can see beautiful views of Mutters Moor and Peak Hill over the farm gates to my right. From here I pass the yellow thatched cottage (Rose Cottage) I also spotted earlier on the walk. After passing this cottage, there’s a public footpath on the left, slightly hidden by the overgrown ferns, so keep an eye out for it! I climb over this stile, being careful of the stinging nettles growing nearby. The thatched cottage is now on my left, with a meadow in the foreground, as I walk through two metal gates and up a hill.

Views of Otterton Church and High Peak in the distance.

Soon I meet another metal gate, where I now enter a field and follow the (slightly overgrown!) path all the way round to the top, where today I spotted several butterflies landing on the path in front of me. It wasn’t long before I could hear the traffic on the main road that we’ll soon cross, but first I looked back and enjoy the views from the top of this field. Here I can clearly see Mutters Moor, Otterton Village and Church, Peak Hill and High Peak. I can even clearly see the path leading up to High Peak! Once I reach the stile at the top of this field, we have to cross the main East Devon road, so anyone doing this walk with children or dogs, make sure they’re safe and under control before climbing over the stile and crossing this road. Ignoring the metal gate straight ahead, I go through the wooden one clearly marked with a public footpath sign, just to the right. From this path I walk straight ahead through the field, spotting the Bicton Obelisk to my right, before passing through two wooden gates under a slightly sheltered path, which then leads out onto Middletown Lane in East Budleigh. I turn right down this lane, then cross the road and enter East Budleigh’s recreation ground. From here I make my way past the wooden hut and tennis courts in the far corner, and enter the woodland through a clear path ahead. If you are interested in exploring the village, you can take a slight detour by turning left (instead of right) down Middletown Lane, following the road all the way round, then turn right again where you’ll soon walk up past the local village stores, pub, church and Sir Walter Raleigh statue. From here keep walking round and eventually you’ll see a public footpath on your left leading you into the recreation ground where you can continue the rest of this walk.

The clear path through East Budleigh’s wild wood.

This is East Budleigh’s Wild Wood, there are a couple of information signs in this woodland, which show a lot of the wildlife and different species of trees that are found here. There are more great views on offer here of the East Devon Countryside to the right. I then pass through the metal gate in the far right corner, and enter a field, where I follow the path towards a kissing gate, here I spot the Obelisk just ahead of me.

Farmland and countryside views to my right before leaving the field through a kissing gate.

As I leave this field I am now on a country road which can sometime get fairly busy. From here I walk on the grass verge on the other side of the road and turn left when I find a stile to pass over into another field. Here I walk alongside the field that is home to Bicton Obelisk. As i follow the path around and through a metal gate at the bottom, I keep the Obelisk to my right the whole time. This path is slightly overgrown with stinging nettles and weeds, although a bit of an inconvenience to me, the local wildlife seem to be thriving along this stretch of the footpath, with plenty of butterflies, damselflies and swifts dipping into the fields to my right.

Views of Bicton Obelisk from the slightly overgrown footpath.

Soon this path opens up where I then pass an old barn to the left. Now I leave the views of the Obelisk behind as I enter into a little woodland path ahead. This path soon leads towards Bicton Church ruins, and I can hear the busy traffic on the main road ahead. From here I turn left walking between two high walls, where it leads me to a little car park with the Old Church ruins of a medieval gothic church in front of me (within Bicton grounds). I soon spot St Mary’s Church to the right of the ruins too, which was built to replace the older church. Both are impressive buildings to look at, although with the high walls and the lack of sunlight due to the shading trees, this area can become quite eerie after a while. From here I walk along a path between two walls again (to the right of the lych gate) which leads to the main road, so please again be careful if you have dogs or children, as cars drive fairly fast along this road.

I carefully cross this main road, and then slightly down the road to the left I join a public footpath. Here I ignore the footbridge to the left, instead I follow the path straight ahead, where soon I spot the stream flowing on my left hand side. I’ll be following this stream all the way until it meets with the River Otter. I continue on this path, where I eventually pass through two metal gates and spot the familiar views of Otterton Church to my left. Soon I cross over the stream (via two stepping stones) and now walk with it flowing on my right hand side. I then come to a kissing gate with a sign informing me about the Beavers now living in this stretch of the River.

Pass through the kissing gate to the left.

After passing through this gate, I soon cross over a footbridge where I can now hear the cars passing by on the main road into Otterton. When I come to a choice of two paths, I take the one to my left, as this path will bring me out closer to the footpath on the other side of the road. It’s not long before I spot the famous Otterton bridge (five bridges), where I leave this footpath through the gate, cross the road and join the next stretch of the footpath with the river and Otterton Mill on my left, which is a lovely place for a coffee break (they also do a great cream tea).

Once on this path, it’s fairly straight forward to get back to where I began my walk, I just have to follow the path straight ahead, where eventually it will bring me back to White Bridge. If you wish to do a bit more of a circular walk, you can cross the metal bridge (Clamour Bridge) half way along this part of the footpath on your left, from here you walk up the steps, turn right and follow the path all the way down, which leads you to the top end of White Bridge. This walk is fairly shaded and tends to be quieter than the main riverside walk, although there is no access to the river from this path. I love walking along the main path with the river to my left, as there’s plenty of access to the water where it’s nice to sit on the river bank here and watch the wildlife. Just walking along this path today, I spotted plenty of fish in the water, a kingfisher and wagtail flying across the river, as well as some ducks and swans with their young on the water. There’s also a few benches along the path to sit on which have nice views of the river below.

Despite this walk crossing the main road twice, it is still fairly dog and child friendly, with plenty of open spaces where both can safely run around. There’s also nearby pubs in East Budleigh (Sir Walter Raleigh) and Otterton (The King’s Arms) as well as Otterton Mill cafe right by the river on your way back. This walk took me just under 2 hours, and I was walking at a leisurely pace. It’s not at all strenuous but be aware there were some overgrown footpaths in places where stinging nettles were growing.

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