Ramblers Association - Derbyshire Dales Group

The South West Coast Path

Janet Byrne

The South West Coast Path is over six hundred miles of glorious coastal walking from Minehead in Somerset to Poole Harbour in Dorset.   To walk the whole of this distance in one go would clearly be a massive undertaking; our approach could best be described as “pick and mix”.

We started to tackle the coast path in 1984 when we were living in Southampton.  We set off with our lightweight tent and backpacks, and having deposited our children with friends in Exeter, we made for Lyme Regis, with the intention of spending the next seven days walking through to Poole Harbour.

What I best remember about that holiday is the feeling of total liberation, with for a week at least, no responsibilities and no deadlines. Feeling euphoric, we dined well with a bottle of wine then set off as twilight fell to find a camping spot. What we had not reckoned with was pitching the tent in semi darkness only to find that a vital piece of the tent was missing. My husband Tony, resourceful as ever, diverted cutlery and string to alternative use to fix the structure and eventually we were ready to collapse into our sleeping bags. Despite this inauspicious start the walk was a great success. The weather was wonderful and the scenery superb, although we noted that some of the most scenic parts are in military hands.  It was certainly strenuous at times, but we were twenty years younger then.

It was some years after that before we were able to tackle another chunk of the coast path.  This time we opted for Somerset and North Devon, and backpacked from Minehead to Bude.  We chose to go in early summer and this time we were very careful to check that we had all the necessary parts of the tent with us before setting out.  There were some magical moments during this walk.  Seeing Countisbury Down covered in a purple sea of rhododendron under a cloudless blue sky produced the response “wow!” Later we camped near Heddon’s Mouth, near a strange circular brick construction that aroused our curiosity. Later on we discovered that this was a lime kiln and that in the late 19th century my great grandfather, who was at the time a coast guard based in Clovelly, had sheltered in this kiln when his boat had taken refuge at Heddon’s Mouth because of a storm.

The next section of the path that we walked was from Mevagissey in Cornwall to Salcombe in Devon. By this time we had decided that we were not up for backpacking any more so we booked a succession of B&Bs. This is a walk of great variety encompassing some classic Cornish fishing villages such as Polperro as well as the resorts of Looe and Fowey.

As anyone knows who has holidayed in South Cornwall and Devon, the coastline is deeply indented with rivers and estuaries, all of which have to be crossed by bridge, ferry or on foot.  The River Erme can only be crossed by wading within one hour of low tide. The alternative is a 9-mile detour inland, no problem in a car but out of the question if you are on foot.

We returned to the coast path a year or two later, having decided to use a more systematic approach to completion.  The aim this time was to complete the section from Bude to Padstow, which we had previously left off in 1990. The culmination of the walk was to meet up with friends in Padstow and celebrate with a meal at Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant. This proved to be the most tricky to organize (they need at least three months notice for a table) so we had to be satisfied with his Bistro.  And we were ------- very well satisfied!

Our most recent chunk of coast path was from Padstow to Penzance in September 2005.  We have now completed all of the north coast section and the knuckle of Land’s End. The northern coast is much wilder and more open than the south; we were impressed by the wide beaches facing the Atlantic and the efforts of the surfers to ride the breakers.  It can seem bleak in comparison with the lush green creeks and estuaries of the south coast.  We were lucky to enjoy an Indian Summer for this part of the walk.  We were not the only ones relishing the late summer sunshine; we were delighted to observe basking seals on the beach and even an adder on the dunes north of Hayle.

 The walk from St Ives through to Porthcurno, around Lands End is simply marvellous. So far it has included some of the toughest walking of the whole path.  The rocky scenery around Lands End is very dramatic and although the cliff tops there are now something of a tourist circus, it is easy to see why everyone is there.

The scenery throughout this section is tremendous with immense variety, but as well as its natural beauties man has also shaped the landscape. It is impossible to walk the coast path in Cornwall and not be aware of the importance of the mining industry to the local community. Remains of old engine houses and other buildings are found everywhere along this coast and contribute greatly to the general interest of the walk.  In fact Cornish Mining has become a World Heritage Site in recognition of its cultural significance globally.  This decision was taken by Unesco’s World Heritage Committee in July 2006.  As a result, these industrial archaeological remains join the ranks of such sites as the Taj Mahal and Great Wall of China.

So what does that leave us still to do? We have two more chunks of 95 miles or so each, from Penzance to Mevagissey and from Salcombe to Lyme Regis. We hope to accomplish these in bite-sized pieces over the next few years. No doubt when it is all completed we will look back with a mixture of satisfaction and sadness that there is no more of this amazing and beautiful path left to tackle.