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Minehead to Westward Ho!

From Mighty Moors to Golden Shores

87 Miles from Somerset to the Cornwall Borders walking from the start of the South West Coast Path

Introduction to the Section

If you aim to walk all 630miles of this trail (and once you start believe us you won’t want to leave it unfinished) then the opening section from Minehead is your geographic introduction to the Coast Path......and you could not ask for a more dramatic start or experience more of a contrast in scenery in your first week of walking.

Leaving the tame Somerset levels at Minehead you are immediately thrust straight into another world climbing the dramatic hogback hills of Exmoor National Park where it feels like you walk on the edge of the world.  Lonely moors meet the cliffs here  to tumble  into the mighty Atlantic as stunning waterfalls cascade from rocky heights to impenetrable jagged outcrops far below.  Inspiring to so many this is Lorna Doone Country, home to Kubla Khan and a walk taking you through a blaze of yellow gorse, and purple heather. The mysterious atmosphere is all around, the heath, at times cloaked in mists and punctured by twisted rock towers as you climb towering crags above churning seas and enter ancient coastal woodland that clings to the edge of the trail before it plunges into ravine like coombes and untouched hidden coves. 

At Great Hangman you will ascend from sea level to scale the highest point on the whole 630 miles of coast path your reward relentless panoramic views across the moors of Devon, across the water to the mountains of Wales and ahead to beckoning vistas and seascapes in distant Cornwall, an endless run of cliffs and coves each one looking better than the last.

Hardy weathered sheep, magnificent stag herds, feral goats and Exmoor ponies watch you from one side while on the other you are accompanied by basking seals,  peregrine falcons, razorbill, kittiwake and the ever present swooping buzzards

Then come the contrasts as you leave mighty Exmoor  to enter a new world amongst  expanses of unspoilt sandy beach drawing you into the golden softer dunes of the expansive Taw and Torridge estuaries.  The former habitat of Tarka the Otter this protected area is a remote sanctuary for wildlife, the path here tranquil, meandering along disused railway lines and ancient sand paths. Protected salt marsh estuary ablaze with wild flowers, rich in mammals and wading birds and for walkers compared to other west coast sections an unfound area,  remote, inspirational and far less visited. 

History surrounds you as you tread in the footsteps of hardy moorland clansmen, wreckers, smugglers and the Custom Men that chased them.  Fractured headlands and reefs, jagged and menacing recall this dark smuggling and wrecking past as you encounter Brandy Cove, Breakneck Point, Damage Cliff and the aptly named Desolation. 

In between the walking you will stay overnight in everything from charming coastal villages and fishing ports to the Grand Victorian holiday retreats loved by the poets and the romantics.

And it’s not just walking....opt to arrive in style by steam train or try your hand at taking on Devon’s most sought after waves with a board or kite surfing lesson or try fun fuelled Coasteering the only way to fully engage with the local coastline.  Eat amongst the pickled fish at Damien Hurst’s seaside restaurant, visit the Country's smallest Church and its largest Biosphere dune systems. Finally don’t miss the chance to take a day out on the ultimate island get away with a ferry crossing from the path to leave the modern world behind for the isolated ancient sites and towering cliffs on stunning, car free Lundy Island.

Whatever your plans as you reach Westward Ho after 87 miles of path this opening section of the coast path will have given you a true flavour of the richness and variety to come on the next 630 miles and above all else a definitive “walk in” entrance to the west country to remember forever.

Section 1.         Minehead to Porlock Weir 9.5 miles – Std Route

Grade:  Official Route Moderate / Alternative Route Strenuous

Average Walking Time 4.5 hours not including breaks.

Today’s walk climbs high above the coastline scaling Selworthy Beacon breaching inland Exmoor to give you spells of both coastal and moorland walking. Leaving gentle coombes and woodland behind you climb past the ancient remains of Burgundy Chapel with your first views across the brooding Bristol Channel to Wales. The Alternative “Rugged Coast path” leaves here for the more adventurous climbing and clinging to the cliff sides on a testing traverse down deep bracken covered ravines that drop off the end of the world into the sea below. Those with less of a head for heights head to the interior through dense woodland to emerge on gentle open moorland climbing up to a respectable 308m on Selworthy Beacon rewarded with rare views over Exmoor. A sharp drop back to the coast at Hulstone Point reveals the lengthy and impressive shingle and pebble bar known as the Porlock Ridge which having remained intact for over 8000 years succumbed 12 years ago to a storm which breached the wall and turned the rich farmland into salt marsh. Now a haven for birdlife the flooding required rerouting of the coast path itself which now leads you along the new inland high tide mark. End the day passing through the thatched and timeless  National Trust Village of Bossington where a welcome tea garden breaks up the walk on into Porlock Town one of the North Coast’s most attractive villages and from here it’s a serene later afternoon amble back to the coast and  the tranquil harbour at Porlock Weir.

Section 2.            Porlock Weir to Lynmouth 12 miles – Std Route

Grade:  12 miles Moderate.  Average Walking Time 5.5 hours not including breaks.

Today make the border crossing into North Devon at “County Gate” passing through grand estates, a unique cottage church and some ever more challenging coast path on route to an overnight in the enchanting seaside village of Lynmouth.

Leave Porlock behind with a gentle ramble zig zagging through Yearnor Woods and looking carefully for Lord Lovelace’s follies poking out from the oak, pine and holly.  As you navigate up the slopes above Culbone Rocks you enter the former leper Colony where the afflicted worked the woods by burning charcoal. Pause to enter the colony's diminutive Culbone Church officially the smallest and perhaps most secluded in England, ancient oak pews crammed into a space only 35 feet by 12 feet and holding a maximum of 30 people it’s been here since the doomsday book and had its own Lepers window for those who were not let in. Rounding Sugarloaf hill you move into the beautiful mixed woodlands of the Glenthorne Estate where several choices of path allow you to wander deeper through Victorian rhododendrons and a Pinetum, past stone pillars capped with wild boar heads, trout lakes and even a tunnelled ice house hidden under huge towering 100 feet pines. Take lunch down to hidden Glenthorne Beach past the remains of the estate's jetty and boathouse. There is plenty to see on route including the slate cross marking the cairn & spring known as sisters fountain,  locally said to mark the holy spot that Joseph of Arimathea drank from on his way to Glastonbury whilst another short diversion takes in the Roman Fort high on the open grasslands at Old Burrow Hill

In the afternoon you cross a seemingly endless run of youthful bubbling streams rushing and cascading through gorse, heather and scree slopes before they drop to the ocean far below. The walking and the place names get noticeably wilder as you negotiate the steep coombes and valleys of Dogsworthy and Desolation Point. Woodland recedes for open cliff path passing the lonely lighthouse at Foreland Point - Devon’s most northerly point before you end a satisfying day descending from the cliffs of Butter Hill to cross the bubbling River Lyn chasm to arrive in the Victorian “Gorge resort” of Lynmouth.

Section 3.            Lynmouth to Combe Martin 13.5 miles – Std Route

Grade:  13.5 miles Strenuous.  Average Walking Time 7 hours not including breaks.

Today is spectacular throughout and one of the finest stretches of North Devon Coastline. A steep climb from Lynmouth opens into cliff walking through the infamous valley of the rocks before a contrasting stretch of moorland below Trentishoe and Holdstone Down on route to the long ascent of Great and Little Hangman. Start the day on the 19th Century water powered cliff railway to reach the North Walk (a throwback to the Victorians obsession with promenades) and the entrance to the magnificent Valley of the Rocks. Dumped by the Ice Age “a huge terrifying reeling mass – the very bones and skeleton of the earth” was how Poet Robert Southey described it.  Huge Tortuous Twisted and contorted rock formations, pass the Devils Cheesewring, Ragged Jack the Cave of Mother Meldrum and the White Lady to lead you on past Castle Rock which proudly stands towering over precipitous drops to the sea. In amongst the rock towers and formations the mysterious air is fuelled by the packs of wild goats bounding around the desolate scene. Past Duty Point Tower, Lee Bay Abbey and the Red Deer at Woody Bay before the path enters the steep sided and dramatic ravine of gorse and scree at Heddons Mouth one of the deepest valleys in the UK. Divert to the isolated Hunters Inn at the head of this most dramatic of ravines –( these days the coaching house also has a welcome National Trust Ice Cream Parlour) as  you have now have a challenging 900ft switchback climb to the dramatic rocky scree platform and viewpoint at Peters Rock. Up here raven, buzzard, kestrel, peregrines and sparrow hawks glide and swoop past Bronze Age Hut Circles last used over 2,500 years ago.

You now start the big climb through gorse and heather moorland up to the imposing humpback of Great Hangman its cairn at 318m (1043ft) the highest point on the whole 630 mile coast path and the reward being the best views over Exmoor yet.  Locally said to be named after a sheep thief who strangled himself having tethered his stolen ewe around his neck there is also evidence of a Gallows up here in this desolate spot in Tudor times. Up in the heights you will pass disused mine workings along the old miners track from where the ore was dropped hundreds of feet over the huge cliffs to the shore below to for loading onto Welsh sailing boats. It’s then a long but welcome descent over the lesser lump of Little Hangman all the way back to sea level at Combe Martin.

Section 4.            Combe Martin to Woolacombe 13 miles – Std Route

Grade:  Moderate becoming Strenuous in parts/easy at the end. Average Walking Time 6 hours not including breaks.

Today you finally leave dramatic Exmoor as your walking starts to become gentler on the approach to the golden estuaries of North Devon. A switchback ride of less demanding climbs above cliffs and drops to hidden coves with good chances of spotting seals as well as the welcome town of Illfracombe well located for lunch on route.

This morning head out from the perfect miniature inlet at Water Mouth a fjord like cleft below the Gothic looking Watermouth Castle. Rillage Point gives good sightings of the Caves and tunnels used by past smugglers as well as glimpses of today’s residents the Herring Gulls, Kittiwakes and  Fulmars swooping and soaring away to the old hill fort at Hillsborough with its fine views over Illfracombe  from robust double earth ramparts. Lunch in Illfracombe which can be at artist Damien Hurst’s “No 11” seafood restaurant complete with pickled fish art if you want to push the boat out.  A pleasant fishing port trapped between the hills and the Atlantic with a tiny sandy harbour Ilfracombe sits below its Iconic Chapel of St Nicholas standing proudly on top of the former island now known as Lantern Hill (it also doubled as a much needed lighthouse). On the way out look into Tunnels Beach named after the tunnels hewn out of the cliffs by welsh miners who opened up this inaccessible beach.  You too can relive the Victorian holiday with a dip here in low tide bathing pools in the rocks.

This afternoon join The Tors Walk hewn from the rocks along the cliffs out of Ilfracombe to Lee valley or “Fuchsia Valley” where the flowers grow wild above a stunning sandy beach framed by rock pools. Onwards in and out of steep but perfect little salt marsh valleys at Hilly Mouth and Bennets Water  whilst inland of the path are several prehistoric standing stones guiding you onwards to the lighthouse at Bull Point, built following a petition highlighting not only the terrible storms but the notorious wreckers at work in the area. At Rockham bay some rather precarious steps give access to the little beach often visited by basking grey seals and final resting place of the SS Collier whose boilers and engine can still be seen at low tide.

The final headland is the heather, pink thrift and yellow gorse headland of Morte Point a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its heath and grasslands which juts out to the dreaded Morte Stone or the Rock of Death  a treacherous sunken reef which took 5 ships during the winter of 1852 alone. Magnificent views introduce a changing landscape now of dunes and estuary beyond Woolacombe  At little Barricance beach swim amongst its famous tiny tropical shells washed in by the Atlantic Gulf Stream straight from the Caribbean and the Bay of Mexico Then to Woolacombe past Grunta beach... and you guessed it...named after a shipload of pigs was wrecked here.

Section 5.            Woolacombe to Braunton 15.5 miles – Std. Route  (or 20 miles to continue onto Barnstaple for rail connections out / a shorter today tomorrow to Westward Ho!)

 Grade:  7 miles moderate, 8.5 miles easy.  Average Walking Time 6.5 hours not including breaks.

The gradients are finally gone today as you trek through fine sandy beaches on route to the largest dunes Nature Reserve in the country, full of wildlife and the gateway to the mighty golden Taw and Torridge estuaries that will dominate your final days of walking.

Lose yourself along fabulous Woolacombe Sands this morning or choose to wander inland through the enormous dunes at Woolacombe Warren home to large populations of rabbit and one of the best places for spotting adder. Then a brief return to rocky promontories and grassland at Baggy point whose near vertical cliffs are a hugely popular climbing destination. Look past the herring gull, fulmar, shag, and shearwaters for the closest and best views of basking seals along this stretch.

The pleasant surfing beach at Croyde a picturesque place gives a good lunch stop, now Devon’s most sought after surfing beach where the laidback surfers' lifestyle collides head on with the thatched roofs and tea shops of the pastoral Devon of the past. Those wanting a dip can join the wave riders for an hour or so on your way through and catch some thundering water – wetsuits and boards available for hire here.

This afternoon you reach Saunton Sands and the Braunton Burrows Natural Nature Reserve. Said to be the largest dune and mud flats system in the UK it holds World Biosphere Status from UNESCO for its unusually fine sands created by centuries of crushed shells. Wildlife is everywhere here foxes; hedgehogs, rabbits, moles and other mammals thrive amongst over 400 recorded species of flowering plants. Above you watch for Buzzards, skylarks, stonechats, Kestrels and an array of butterflies swoop above the dunes. The whole area was an important location during rehearsals for D-day by the US Army who used it as an Assault Training Centre depositing thousands of troops from amphibious vehicles here and you walk along a dune track still known as The American Road, skirting a military danger area where Mock landing craft can still be spotted. Rounding Crow Point you finally reach the mighty River Taw and you can follow a well placed boardwalk out to dip your feet into the estuaries waters through low marshy meadows and sand and mud flats amongst flocks of curlew, red shank and even spoonbills The panorama is wonderful, on the opposite bank and tantalisingly close is Appledore only around 1000 feet away but yet a full days walk for you inland via Barnstaple and Bideford until you can ford the estuary to head back out here.   Following the compact River Caen inland you pass the former port at Velator Quay terminal in past days for welsh coal and limestone to reach Braunton.

Section 6.      Braunton to Instow 11.5 miles – Std. Route (or to Westward Ho! 24 miles or Bideford 16 miles)

Grade:  11.5 miles easy.  Average walking time 5 hours not including breaks.

Your walking now is fast and easy as you join the flat disused railway cutting of the old Victorian Barnstaple to Illfracombe Railway.   Distances can be covered very quickly so there are a range of mileage options depending on how far you want to push on. For those not rushing the route is a bird watching delight with egret, oystercatcher, curlew and flocks of other waders on the estuary as you pass the old railway station at Wrafton to reach Barnstaple.  Crossing the Taw at last on the impressive medieval Long Bridge after exploring the area’s premier market town continue along the old railway line to the welcome cafe and museum at the Old Station House on Fremington Quay. Here platforms and station buildings have been restored above a pleasant pill (inlet) on the Taw crossed by an old iron railway bridge. The Quay in its day a major loading point for Devon Ball Clay sent from here all over the world. This is a great spot for finding out more about the prolific birdlife you are passing as you will find a lookout tower complete with binoculars and notes to cover the main feathered visitors. Crossing Isley Marsh Nature Reserve you follow a man made dyke into Instow  a popular sailing centre and a welcome spot for a drink if you are passing through. You rejoin the cycle trail by a restored level crossing complete with gates, signal box and rails before a speedy last 3 miles into Bideford.

Section 7.      Instow/Bideford to Westward Ho 11 miles – Std. Route

Grade:  11 miles easy.  Average walking time 5 hours not including breaks.

After crossing on the historic and expansive Bideford Bridge built back in 1280 your route takes you back up the Torridge river passing disused Quays initially and then along a mix of pleasant riverside woodland, short boardwalks over marshes and hidden tiny beaches.

Enter the picture postcard village of Appledore and finally reach the merging point of the mighty Taw and Torridge rivers and their combined estuary expanse. Away from the charming cottages Appledore was The North Coast’s main shipbuilding centre and has a proud past in maritime - during the Napoleonic Wars over 200 ships were turned out here in 15 years. The huge modern Appledore Shipbuilding Yards are still in evidence and give a strange contrast to the pretty little streets of the old village where rows of tiny cottages, former homes of old sailing captains sit in the heart of this sleepy estuary village. Well worth a look if you are on a short day is the North Devon Maritime Museum housed here and the path skirts round its buildings and past the current lifeboat station. The views from here on over the waters and seemingly never ending sand dunes and mud flats are fantastic as you pass the ruined Hinks boat yard before heading out to the wide spit of land that houses Northam Burrows Country Park. Here 600 acres of protected sand dunes, salt marsh and wild life await you.

The day and this section ends as you follow the sandy beaches on to find the back of the famous landmark pebble ridge at Westward Beach and a final triumphant walk along the beachfront to the bizarrely named section head at Westward Ho!

 

Suggested Holiday Itineraries - Click Here for Short Break Ideas

	Std Walkers Route - 7days & 8 nights	Fast Walkers Route - 6 days & 7 nights
Day 1	Minehead to Porlock Weir - 9.5 miles	Minehead to Porlock Weir - 9.5 miles
Day 2	Porlock Weir to Lynmouth - 12 miles	Porlock Weir to Lynmouth - 12 miles
Day 3	Lynmouth to Combe Martin 13.5 miles	Lynmouth to Combe Martin 13.5 miles
Day 4	Combe Martin to Woolacombe 13 miles	Combe Martin to Woolacombe 13 miles
Day 5	Woolacombe to Braunton 15.5 miles	Woolacombe to Braunton 15.5 miles
Day 6	Braunton to Instow - 11.5 miles	Braunton to Westward Ho! 23.5 miles (v.easy walking) Or 15.5 miles to Bideford and depart by public transport
Day 7	Instow to Westward Ho! 11 miles	n/a
	Average Daily Walking 12.3 miles	Average Daily Walking 14.5 miles

	Relaxed Walkers Route - 10 days & 11 nights
Day 1	Minehead to Porlock Weir - 9.5 miles
Day 2	Porlock Weir to Lynmouth - 12 miles
Day 3	Lynmouth to Heddons Mouth - 6.5 miles
Day 4	Heddons Mouth to Combe Martin - 7 miles
Day 5	Combe Martin to Ilfracombe 6 miles
Day 6	Ilfracombe to Woolacombe - 7 miles
Day 7	Woolacombe to Croyde Bay 6.5 miles
Day 8	Croyde Bay to Braunton 9 miles
Day 9	Braunton to Instow 11.5 miles
Day 10	Instow to Westward Ho! 11 miles
	Average Daily Walking -   8.6 miles

Suggested Rest Days - Lynmouth for exploring the Victorian "Resort" and inland Gorges. Ilfracombe and Bideford for day trips to Lundy. Woolacombe and Croyde for surfing days.

Suggested Short Break Itineraries

Two Days Walking	Three Days Walking
Porlock Weir to Combe Martin 25.5 miles (ave 12.75 daily)	Minehead to Combe Martin 34.5 miles (ave 11.5 daily)
Lynmouth to Woolacombe - 26.5 miles (ave 13 daily)	Lynmouth to Braunton  41.5 miles (ave 13.8 daily)
Minehead to Lynmouth-  21.5 miles (ave 10.75 daily)	Porlock Weir to Woolacombe 38.5 miles (ave 12.8 daily)

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