ilfracombe to woolacombe

in

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.

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.

back at 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.

capstone parade

I pass Wildersmouth Beach and head out of Ilfracombe.

wildersmouth beach

wildersmouth beach

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.

landmark theatre

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.

torrs walk

torrs walk

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

view over ilfracombe

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.

coast path to lee

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.

damage cliffs

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.

bull point lighthouse

bull point lighthouse

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

woolacombe

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

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.

combesgate valley

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.

woolacombe beach

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 will be available shortly. You can subscribe via Apple Podcasts.

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

ilfracombe

verity

foxglove

common spotted orchid

beach collection