Independent Trails: Fact File.SDEV
Total distance:
67 miles (107km)
Duration: 7 nights, 6 days walking (hiking)
Minimum/maximum daily distances: 7 miles (11km)/13½
miles (21.5km)
Average daily distance: 11 miles (17.5km)
Waymarking: The route is very clearly waymarked with South
West Coast Path National Trail acorn waymarks and is very easy to follow
Season: All year
Starting point of holiday: Plymouth
End of holiday: Brixham
Code: SDEV
Itinerary
Day 1:
Travel to Plymouth, where your first nights accommodation has been booked.
For more than 700 years, Plymouth's fortunes have been linked to the sea. The
Elizabethan sailors and adventurers Hawkins, Raleigh and Frobisher began their
voyages from here and Sir Francis Drake is said to have finished his game of
bowls on The Hoe before setting sail to defeat the Spanish Armada. The Pilgrim
Fathers sailed from Plymouth in 1620, as did the explorer James Cook in 1772.
Places of interest include Plymouth Hoe, a vast esplanade dotted with reminders
of the great events in the city's history; Smeaton's Tower; the Royal Citadel,
built in 1666 to intimidate the people of the only town in the southwest to
support the Parliamentarians during the Civil War; Sutton Harbour, the old town's
quay; and the Elizabethan House, a captain's house with a beautiful pole staircase.
Day 2: Plymouth
to Noss Mayo. 7 miles (11km)
The tour begins with a short, easy days walk so that the historic port of Plymouth
can be explored before catching the ferry from Sutton Harbour to Turnchapel
and the start of the trail. From the waterfront in Turnchapel the coast path
winds round Mount Batten Point, with fine views across The Sound to Plymouth
and Drakes Island. Soon the breakwater is seen and the path continues along
low cliffs to Warren Point and the ferry across the River Yealm to Noss Mayo.
Noss Mayo is a pleasing riverside village with a maritime history stretching
back to the 14th century when ships from the Yealm took part in the siege of
Calais.
Day 3:
Noss Mayo to Bigbury-on-Sea. 13½ miles (21.5km)
Leaving Noss Mayo the path climbs through oak woodland then follows the 'Revelstoke
Drive' around the coast to Beacon Hill past the ruined church of St Peter the
Poor Fishermen. The Revelstoke Drive is a delightful old carriageway round the
cliffs, constructed by unemployed fishermen. Originally intended as a scenic
footpath to impress his guests, history relates that when Lord Revelstoke inspected
the almost completed work the men looked distraught as there was no work in
the area. “Right”, he said, “make it three feet wider”, and so the path became
a carriageway. From Beacon Hill the path winds round a succession of little
coves to the hamlet of Mothercombe overlooking the River Erme. The estuary is
noted for its birdlife. Redshank, dunlin, oystercatchers, curlew and turnstones
can be seen on the sandflats and stonechats, whitethroats and linnets on the
cliffs. After crossing the estuary the path continues along the rocky coastline
to Bigbury-on-Sea. If time permits it is worthwhile strolling across the sands
to Burgh Island to visit the Pilchard Inn. Dating back to 1336, the simple interior
of this quaint inn is in keeping with its great age. The island also boasts
a wonderfully restored Art-Deco hotel, frequented at one time by Noel Coward
and Agatha Christie.
Day 4:
Bigbury-on-Sea to Salcombe. 12½ miles (20km).
After taking a ferry across the River Avon to the attractive fishing hamlet
of Bantham, clifftop paths lead past a string of sandy bays to the twin fishing
villages of Outer and Inner Hope, that shelter under deep red sandstone cliffs.
Inner Hope is a delightful square of cottages with wiggly thatched roofs. The
path then climbs onto the rocky promontory of Bolt Tail, crowned by a superb
Iron Age fort. Soon after, the path passes Ramilles Cove, the site of one of
the most terrible shipwrecks in maritime history when, in 1760, the troop ship
Ramilles ran ashore with the loss of 700 lives. Continuing along the clifftops,
the path arrives at Bolt Head, which provides breathtaking seaviews, and then
turns inland to follow the edge of the cliffs to Salcombe at the mouth of the
many-tentacled Kingsbridge Estuary. Until the late 1800's Salcombe was an important
fishing and shipbuilding port producing fast schooners that raced back from
the Azores, West Indies and the Mediterranean with fruit. With the arrival of
steamships, shipbuilding along the waterfront died. Today the picturesque harbour
is full of yachts and the occasional crabber.
Day 5: Salcombe
to Torcross. 13 miles (21km)
After taking the ferry across the Kingsbridge Estuary to East Portlemouth, the
path returns to the clifftops and winds along a wild and unfrequented coastline
round Prawle Point, Devon's most southerly tip, and past deserted beaches to
Start Point, a dramatic headland, with fine views of the wide sweep of Start
Bay. This stretch of coastline was notorious for the number of shipwrecks it
claimed, but a mariner's loss was a villager's gain. One local tale relates
how a vicar, on hearing of a wreck while preaching to his flock, leapt from
the pulpit shouting to his congregation “There's a ship aground at Prawle, but
let's all start fair”, as he led the dash out of the church. Soon after rounding
Start Point, the path passes the fascinating ruins of old Hallsands village,
destroyed by the sea during the last century, and then descends to the seafront
at Torcross.
Day 6:
Torcross to Dartmouth. 10 miles (16km)
From the seafront the path runs along the shingle bar of Slapton Sands that
separates the sea from the huge freshwater lake of Slapton Ley. The Ley is noted
for its birdlife. There are breeding colonies of reed warblers, sedge warblers,
great crested grebe, whitethroats, stonechats and Cetti's warbler. Buzzards,
ravens and black terns are not infrequent visitors. In winter the lake is the
roosting ground for thousands of greater black-backed gulls. Returning to the
cliffs at Warren Point, the path winds round a series of little coves past Dartmouth
Castle before descending to the historic port of Dartmouth. Spectacularly set
on the water's edge, Dartmouth Castle, together with Kingswear Castle on the
opposite bank of the river were built in the 15th century to defend the town
from attack by the French, and were able to block the channel with a great chain
winched between them.
The beautiful old town of Dartmouth with its sheltered deep-water harbour has
witnessed some historic events - the Crusaders, led by Richard the Lionheart
set sail from here; the Pilgrim Fathers' ships anchored here before sailing
to America, and more recently, an armada of ships carrying troops left to take
part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Today the harbour is filled with yachts,
but the towns naval associations continue with the Britannia Naval College.
The town is full of fine buildings including the 17th century Butterwalk with
its richly decorated timber-framed façade; the Cherub Inn dating from
1380, and Agincourt House, built by a rich merchant after the battle for which
it was named.
Day 7:
Dartmouth to Brixham. 11 miles (17.5km)
After taking a ferry across the River Dart to Kingswear the path climbs up above
the River Dart with glimpses of Dartmouth Castle through the trees, the path
meanders through clifftop woodland around Inner Froward Point to Pudcombe Cove.
Above the cove stands Coleton Fishacre House, built in 1925 by Rupert D'Oyly
Carte, son of the Gilbert and Sullivan impresario. Emerging from the woodland
a switchback path continues along the cliffs around Bury Head to Brixham. Fishing
was for centuries Brixham's lifeblood, and it still continues to this day. Among
the trawlers on the quayside is moored a full-size reconstruction of the Golden
Hind, the surprisingly tiny vessel in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated
the world.
Day 8: Depart from Brixham after breakfast.
Extra nights/Rest days
If you would like to explore Burgh Island, then consider taking an extra night in Bigbury-on-Sea. Salcombe is a pleasant place to spend an extra day and there is a lot to see in the historic port of Dartmouth.
What's included
Travel Information
Detailed instructions on
how to get to the start of the holiday and back from the end of it are sent
to you on booking. A summary is given below.
Most convenient International airport: London
Outward journey from London to Plymouth: There is a fast and
regular train service to Plymouth from London Paddington (3 ½ hours)
Return journey to London at the end of the holiday: A short
bus or taxi journey to Paignton from Brixham, then trains run regularly to London
Paddington via Exeter, with a journey time of 3 ½ hours