woolacombe to braunton

June 23, 2026 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

monday, 15TH june 2026

Start location: Woolacombe (SS 45779 43799)

End point: Braunton (SS 46300 34939)

Map: Explorer 139

It looks like today is going to be dry and warm but maybe a bit on the cloudy side.

Barnstaple low tide 11:11

Barnstaple high tide 19:01

A lot of today's walk will be spent trudging along sandy beaches, starting with Woolacombe Sands, followed by Putsborough Sands, then Croyde Beach and finally, a shortish trudge along Saunton Sands.

I start the day at Woolacombe where, except for a few dog walkers and joggers, I have the whole beach to myself. It's rather a nice start to the morning.

I head towards the sea before trudging along the beach for a good two miles.

The far end of Woolacombe Sands leads directly into Putsborough Sands.

At the end of the beach I leave the sand behind me and pass the refreshment hut before turning right onto a track over Napps Cliff. The views looking back over Putsborough Sands to Woolacombe Sands are lovely.

A grassy path goes through several stiles and onwards towards Baggy Point.

I come across a memorial bench which has a magnificent view and a fitting sentiment.

“Nanna + Grampie
Here is a good place to sit and chat
About love and dreams and stuff like that”

The path becomes a lot rockier around Baggy Point before heading back in the opposite direction towards Croyde Bay.

I pass Baggy Point Coastguard Pole. It’s a replica from 2016 but would once have been twice the height with a zip wire and was used by coastguards to practice rescuing passengers and crew from stricken vessels.

10,000 American soldiers lived and trained on the North Devon coast during World War Two and Baggy Point was used for practising cliff assaults from the sea using grenades and live fire on dummy pillboxes.

I have one last view back over Putsborough Sands and Woolacombe Sands.

I round Baggy Point and pass a man on the cliffs, rock climbing.

I now have views over Croyde.

I pass a restored pond, built by the Hyde family who were keen conservationists.

The path passes a preserved whalebone of a large whale that was washed up on Croyde beach in 1915. They were preserved by the Hyde family who gave Baggy Point to the National Trust in May 1939.

The path joins the road around Croyde Bay and at the National Trust car park I duck down on to Croyde Beach and head out across the sandy beach. Although it's still early it's quite busy and there are plenty of surfers enjoying the waves here.

At the far end of the beach I climb a flight of steps and head along the road for a bit before some steps on the other side of the road take me up to what looks like a new section of the coast path above the road.

I pass a Grand Designs disaster.

I walk along the overgrown path above the road heading for Saunton Sands.

I now have lovely views overlooking the large expanse of Saunton Sands before climbing down to the road at the Saunton Sands Hotel.

I manage to find the path behind the hotel and pass a tennis court, adventure playground and putting greens before dropping down to the beach cafe and car park.

There are colourful beach huts at the start of Saunton Sands.

The general plan is to walk along the beach for a bit and then climb over the dunes to reach Braunton Burrows. I make several failed attempts to climb the dunes but I’m met by a barbed wire fence each time and have to retrace my steps.

Finally I climb a dune and am met by a gate over the other side and enter in Braunton Burrows.

There are orchids everywhere and mostly seem to be southern marsh orchids and pyramidal orchids.

Eleven different species of orchids have been found throughout the dune systems.

Braunton Burrows was declared Britain's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in November 2002. It's a rather lovely place especially when the sun is out.

I pass the remains of a rusty old tank and come across an American assault training center which was used in World War Two for the Normandy Landings in 1944.

I amble along the sandy paths trying to find my way to the Sandy Lane car park but all of the paths just seem to double back on themselves and there are no distinguishing features to work out which way to go.

Suddenly I find that I have been walking aimlessly in the burrows for hours without making any progress.

As a last resort I finally whip out my phone and fire up the OS app which should help me to work out which direction to go in. It helps a little bit but not as much as I would like.

I’m in a panic now. In the end I cross some scrubby ground and reach a locked gate. I vault over the gate and a nice, young lady with a child on her back and a dog in tow rescues me and we walk together back to the car park. It turns out I wasn’t that far away in the end. PHEW!!

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

cat’s-ear
foxgloves
hogweed
red campion
honeysuckle
navelwort
wild carrot
ribwort plantain
bird’s-foot trefoil
six-spot burnet
bladder campion
sea thrift
devil’s-bit scabious
kidney vetch
dog rose
hebe
knapweed
red valerian
scarlet pimpernel
mesembryanthemum
toadflax
viper’s bugloss
herb robert
rape
southern marsh orchid
pyramidal orchid
large-flowered evening primrose

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk will be available shortly. You can subscribe via Apple Podcasts.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 14.8 miles which amounts to 36059 steps. It has taken me way too long at almost 6 hours. I had a panicky end to what is a very nice stretch of coast. Seven out of ten!

WALK DETAILS

MAP

ilfracombe to woolacombe

June 23, 2026 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

sunday, 14TH june 2026

Start location: Ilfracombe (SS 55429 47698)

End point: Woolacombe (SS 45697 43836)

Map: Explorer 139

It looks like I’m going to get some pretty decent weather today, warm, no rain and very little wind.

Ilfracombe low tide: 11:48

Ilfracombe high tide: 18:09

I start the day in the car park next to Ilfracombe lifeboat station and drop down to the sheltered sandy beach and trudge along it before climbing steps onto the harbour wall.

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I continue around the other side of the harbour to visit Verity, standing at 20.25 metres and weighing 25 tonnes. She is on long term loan to North Devon Council as a gift from the London and Devon based artist Damien Hirst.

I'm quoting the pretentious blurb on the sign now :-

“‘The sculpture is an allegory for truth and justice. Her stance is taken from Edgar Degas’s Little Dancer of Fourteen Years (c.1881). An anatomical cross-section of her head and torso reveal her skull and the developing foetus inside her womb.’”

Now I'm all for public art and sculpture but, come on Ilfracombe, Damien Hirst?

I head out on a headland which just takes me back next to Verity.

I retrace my steps and head out along Capstone Road where I pass the former home of Henry Williamson, the author of Tarka the Otter. A path takes me around Capstone Parade and on to Capstone Point.

I pass Wildersmouth Beach and head out of Ilfracombe.

I pass the odd looking Landmark Theatre and climb up steps next to it. A path leads up to a road where I follow Torrs Park Avenue and at Avoncourt I turn right to leave Ilfracombe behind me.

I'm now on Torrs Walk, a path hacked out of the bedrock when Ilfracombe became a popular 19th century seaside resort, which zig zags uphill.

I have one last magnificent view back over Ilfracombe before heading off along grassy slopes.

I come across a clump of common spotted orchids next to the path.

I follow the utterly peaceful grassy path before it descends to a gate and a minor road which I follow to Lee Bay, where I enjoy the small rocky cove.

On the way down to the cove I come across loads of painted lady and red admiral butterflies feeding on hebe.

It's lovely around here but it used to be dominated by the derelict eyesore of Lee Bay Hotel. The hotel had been empty for something approaching 20 years but it is finally being redeveloped.

I amble down to the beach and enjoy it for a little while.

I continue along the road which climbs uphill away from Lee Bay and climb onto Damage Cliffs and the path becomes a rollercoaster ride climbing up and down steps and across footbridges through a couple of valleys. On the way I come across some more common spotted orchids.

I come across a lovely beach, unnamed on my map, but possibly Bennett's Mouth.

I come across Bull Point Lighthouse, built by Trinity House in 1975 replacing an earlier 1879 lighthouse.

Woolacombe now comes into view and it’s really not that far away now.

The path climbs steeply up to a road between Mortehoe and Woolacombe where I have magnificent views back over Morte Point.

Hang on a sec though! Woolacombe is so close now but the coast path signs are pointing in the wrong direction and claiming that I head to Woolacombe via Combesgate Valley. The coast path must have been re-routed since the last time I was here.

I climb even steeper away from Woolacombe to reach a road which I cross and follow signs to Combesgate Valley.

I’m now miles above Woolacombe and quite a long way inland but the path finally swings back down towards Woolacombe where I have magnificent views over Woolacombe Beach.

I drop steeply down through the valley and then follow a path next to the road to reach my destination for the day, Woolacombe, where my lift awaits in a parking spot on the road opposite Bar Electric.

That was a long detour away from Woolacombe that I wasn’t expecting!

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

mesembryanthemum
wrens
chaffinches
stone chats
red valerian
fennel
bird’s-foot trefoil
white valerian
bladder campion
hydrangea
scarlet pimpernel
poppies
roses
elderflower
oxeye daisy
red campion
foxgloves
ribwort plantain
cat’s-ear
common spotted orchid
hebe
painted lady butterflies
red admiral butterflies
speckled wood butterflies
day lillies
meadowsweet
honeysuckle
herb robert
fuchsias
field scabious
sea thrift

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via Apple Podcasts or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 10.8 miles which amounts to 27543 steps. It has taken me 5 hours. Despite a bizarre final detour it has been lovely walking today. Nine out of ten!

WALK DETAILS

MAP

braunton to instow

June 23, 2026 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

SATURDAY, 13TH JUNE 2026

Start location: Braunton (SS 48397 35438)

End point: Instow (SS 47285 30190)

Map: Explorer 139

It looks like I’m in for a quite nice day weather wise today. It won’t be baking but it should be a warm and dry day.

Barnstaple low tide 09:09

Barnstaple high tide 17:20

Today’s walk is a walk which, on paper, looks a bit on the boring side, walking largely on old railway tracks. But hey! The birds are singing and the wild flowers are looking lovely.

I start the day at the car park at Velator Quay and walk up to the roundabout at Velator on the way in to Braunton.

A sign here points to Barnstaple along a tarmac cycleway and there are plenty of signs around showing that the cycleway used to be a railway.

The path is surprisingly busy this early in the morning with walkers, dog walkers, cyclists and joggers all over the place.

I pass a sign threatening that I could be arrested and prosecuted under the National Security Act.

The Barnstaple to Ilfracombe Railway was built in 1874 by the London and South Western Railway as an extension of a rail network that stretched right back to Waterloo Station in London but closed in 1970. The line between Braunton and Barnstaple was subsequently bought by North Devon District Council and made into a footpath and in the late 1980s was upgraded to a cycleway and is now part of National Cycleway Network number 27.

The flowers are out in all their glory and I see plenty of ribwort plantains, knapweeds, buddleia, elderflower, buttercups, ox-eye daisies and hogweed.

The walking is easy and I pass RMB Chivenor, home to Commando Logistic Regiment Royal Marines and 24 Commando Regiment Royal Engineers.

I manage to capture a speckled wood butterfly on camera.

I pass under bridges and pass by the Waterside Cafe.

I pass a wrecked boat and the wooded path gives way to views across the River Taw over towards Fremington Quay. I have plenty of cyclists and runners for company as I approach Barnstaple.

I pass behind Heanton Court Pub and Restaurant.

The route continues by an industrial estate where a flock of geese rises up from the River Taw.

I continue along the path heading towards the A361.

The route continues along the tarmac path underneath the Taw Bridge carrying the A361.

I cross Yeo Bridge to reach Barnstaple.

It’s now time for my only (major!) ascent of the day. I climb up the 14 steps onto Long Bridge. I walk across the ancient bridge putting up with the traffic as best I can. It won’t last long.

I leave Barnstaple behind me via a tarmac path which seems to be new and walk underneath the other side of the bridge carrying the A361.

I pass Taw Wharf, a new housing development, that wasn’t here the last time I passed through.

I join a path along old railway tracks along the south side of the estuary of the River Taw and I’m now back on National Cycle Network 27.

The Taw Vale Railway and Dock Company laid the track between Fremington and Barnstaple in 1846 and was originally a goods line operated by horses. The company repackaged itself as the North Devon Railway who then extended the railway through Instow to the original station at Cross Parks at East-the-Water at Bideford. The Bideford Railway Heritage Centre website contains a full history of the railway.

The path is used by plenty of cyclists, joggers and dog walkers.

The path moves away from the river and goes through Fremington Cuttings.

I reach the old Fremington station which now houses the Fremington Quay Cafe and the Fremington Quay Heritage Centre. Fremington Quay was once a bustling port, importing and exporting goods all around the world.

I cross a bridge over a tidal inlet and continue along the trackbed away from the river.

I pass a Gaia Trust Nature Reserve at Home Farm Marsh.

I then pass Yelland Stone Row, a Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age double row of paired stones where I chat with a couple walking their dog and share my Ordnance Survey map so that they can work out how to get back onto the road.

I then pass Tarka Trail Camping.

The coast path turns right and heads across the salt marsh but I’m quite happy to keep going along the Traka Trail.

I come across the site of the former Yelland Power Station, once a vast, coal fired power station, built in 1955 and now I can’t see any remains.

I come across foxgloves and flag iris right at the end of their flowering season and then pass Instow Pond.

I visit the North Devon Cricket Club tucked away behind the path. The thatched pavilion is a grade 2 listed building dating back to the late 1700s. There’s a game in play today so I stop for a bit to take in the action.

I go through a car park and drop down onto Instow Sands. The tide is miles out and there are surprisingly few people on the beach for a rather nice Saturday.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

blackcaps
chiffchaffs
wrens
chaffinch
curlew
hogweed
buddleia
goats-beard
elderflower
knapweed
perforate st john’s-wort
ragwort
oystercatchers
song thrush
small tortoiseshell
pheasant
swallows
little egret
speckled wood butterfly
red campion
herb robert
oxeye daisy
bird’s-foot trefoil
stinking iris
ribwort plantain
rabbit
whitethroat
skylarks
tufted vetch
rosebay willowherb
scarlet pimpernel
tansy
meadow crane’s bill
sheep’s sorrel
cat’s-ear
rape
ribbed melilot
field scabious
red clover
honeysuckle
oak
meadowsweet
yellow flag iris
poppies
viper’s-bugloss

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via Apple Podcasts or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 12.1 miles which amounts to 28917 steps. It has taken me 4 and a half hours. The weather has been pretty decent for a change and although the walk looks rather boring on paper I’ve rather enjoyed it. Nine out of ten!

WALK DETAILS

MAP

kynance cove to poldhu cove

May 26, 2026 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

thursday, 21st MAY 2026

Start location: Kynance Cove (SW 68714 13285)

End point: Poldhu Cove (SW 66779 19793)

Map: Explorer 103

Yesterday, my weather forecast app was promising me some pretty decent weather for today but when I got up this morning I was faced with very thick fog.

Lizard Point high tide: 09:05

Lizard Point low tide: 15:39

We drive the short distance to Kynance Cove but the heavy fog persists and I can’t see a thing.

I start the day at the National Trust car park at Kynance Cove where I come across some of the native bloody cranesbills.

I’m pretty much bang on high tide so I’m going to go over the top of the cove. I descend steeply down towards the cove before taking the high water path which takes me around the top of the cove.

I continue along the path which takes me down to the beach at the far side of the cove, passing below the Kynance Cove Cafe.

As I climb out of Kynance Cove I pass more of the native bloody cranesbills. The views back overlooking Kynance Cove should be magnificent but I can barely see a thing.

At the top of the cliffs there are loads of rooks and I can hear choughs but I can barely make them out.

It is an unexpected surprize to find loads of heath spotted orchids as I thought I would be a bit too early this year.

Three choughs fly past me and I can make them out despite the fog.

I amble along the top of the cliffs, enjoying the wildflowers.

I continue along the cliffs, enjoying the views to reach Predannack, passing conservation grazing cattle on the way, although they are shrouded in fog.

The fog is so thick that I can’t make out any of the cliff edges or any of the correct paths so I accidentally follow a path inland and get lost. I don’t mind as I’m not in any rush but I struggle to find a path back out to the coast. The sea thrift, however, is at it’s best and there are plenty of other wildflowers to enjoy.

I know I must have strayed inland as I can no longer hear the sea but I can hear a cuckoo. Eventually I resort to my OS Maps app and find a footpath which takes me back out to the coast at Lower Predannock.

It is now a pleasant walk to Mullion Cove, which comes into view.

I amble along the cliff top and then start descending down to Mullion Cove.

I ascend the other side of Mullion Cove and pass the Mullion Cove Hotel. I’m now on Polurrian Cliff.

I head along the cliffs enjoying more of the wild flowers and pass Carrag-Luz or ‘Love Rock’.

I amble down a path towards Polurrian Cove, admiring the flowers on either side of the path.

I reach sandy Polurrian Cove. I waste more time pottering along the sandy beach before climbing back out of Polurrian Cove and heading along the cliffs.

I’m now towards the end of the walk and the fog is starting to lift.

I stop briefly at a memorial bench, in memory of Liz Rudd, which has magnificent views, to let some walkers pass me. As I’m admiring the views some more choughs fly past me, making their delightful racket.

“If ever our souls part to say goodbye
meet me there, where the sea meets the sky;
lost, but finally free.”

I pass the Marconi monument, a granite monument commemorating the first transatlantic radio transmission on the 12th of December 1901. I continue along the cliffs enjoying the masses of pink sea thrifts.

I reach Poldhu Cove where the Poldhu Beach Cafe can be found and waste more time on the sandy beach. The beach is covered in seaweed.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

bloody cranesbill
choughs
rooks
stonechats
swallow
cuckoo
cormorant
heath spotted orchids
foxgloves
ragged robin
sea thrift
bluebells
kidney vetch
oxeye daisy
red campion
scabious
flag iris
common dog-violet
wild carrot
ribwort plantain
bladder campion
cats-ear
hogweed
gladioli
red valerian
aeonium
mint
echium

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via Apple Podcasts or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 8.4 miles which amounts to 22153 steps. It has taken me 4 hours. The weather has been extremely foggy and I’ve barely seen a thing. Seven out of ten!

WALK DETAILS

MAP

kennack sands to coverack

May 26, 2026 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

wednesday, 20TH MAY 2026

Start location: Kennack Sands (SW 72662 16415)

End point: Coverack (SW 78326 18739)

Map: Explorer 103

It’s not a particularly warm day today and is fairly blustery.

Coverack high tide: 08:31

Coverack low tide: 15:08

I wander down from our apartment for the week towards Kennack Sands.

I pass the Mora Beach Cafe on the way down to the beach here and wander down on to the beach to waste a bit of time. It’s close to high tide so I’m going to have to climb over the dune systems rather than walk all the way along the beach.

I walk across the beach and climb back up on to the cliffs, enjoying all of the wildflowers and wildlife on the low cliffs.

I'm pretty much on my own now until I reach Coverack! I walk along easy paths over Eastern Cliff through gorse and heather passing Spernic Cove, Lankidden Cove, Butter Cove and Downas Cove to reach Beagles Point.

I pass a memorial to the crew of Sea King XV702 who perished close to here on the night of the 21st March 1974. They were so young.

On Beagles Point I admire the view back to Lizard Point which will soon disappear from view.

I climb over the cliffs to reach Black Head where a butterfly finally settles enough for me to take a photograph, this time a pearl-bordered fritillary.

I reach the old coastguard lookout at Black Head and then turn in a northerly direction and enjoy the flora and fauna here.

Easy walking takes me on towards Coverack but before reaching the small fishing village, I have an awkward descent down to Porthbeer Cove which twists and turns all over the place, is strewn with rocks and very overgrown. I’m afraid I don’t make a very elegant descent, spending a large part of the time sliding down rocks on my arse. It doesn’t help that my backpack is so heavy.

I leave the delightful Porthbeer Cove and another easier path takes me into Coverack where I enter the village along a path covered in flowers.

I pass the small harbour full of fishing boats. A long stretch of the road is closed here while repairs are being made to the sea wall.

Coverack is looking lovely on this spring day. I pass St Peter's, the parish church here and continue through Coverack to reach the car park at the end of the village, my destination for the day.

“Coverack - Fishing village on the shore of a rocky bay which has a sandy bottom and looks as translucent as a swimming pool. Stone pier and lifeboat station at the southern end of the village. Boats run fishing trips for visitors.”

— AA Book of the Seaside, 1972

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

chaffinch
wren
pheasant
cuckoo
swallow
skylarks
whitethroat
pearl-bordered fritillary
speckled wood butterfly
wild carrot
foxgloves
ribwort plantain
red campion
rape
herb robert
forget-me-not
bladder campion
common dog-violet
bluebells
sea thrift
flag iris
red valerian
birds-foot trefoil
kidney vetch
gorse
bloody cranesbill
three-cornered garlic
scabious
ox-eye daisy
mexican fleabane
aeonium
gladioli
echium
red hot poker
iris
roses
pelargoniums

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via Apple Podcasts or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 6.1 miles which amounts to 18244 steps. It has taken me 3 and three quarter hours. The weather has been cold and windy and that last descent down to Porthbeer Cove was horrible. Six out of ten!