seaton to portwrinkle

September 12, 2023 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

south west coast path

thursday, 7TH september 2023

Start location: Seaton (SX 30424 54394)

End point: Portwrinkle (SX 35730 53867)

Map: Explorer 108

It looks like I'll be in for another day of beautiful weather with sun forecast for all day long and practically nothing in the way of a breeze. This is getting monotonous. Those temperatures look way too hot though.

Whitsand Bay high tide 11:15

Whitsand Bay low tide 17:40

I start the day next to The Smugglers Inn in Seaton. We tried to park here on Sunday and Monday but the place was heaving even though the kids should have been back at school and the car parks were rammed full. It is much quieter this morning but it is early yet.

The beach at Seaton is a spacious grey sand beach popular with families and you can find the Seaton Beach Cafe here. Despite the good weather forecast the day has started grey and overcast.

I drop down to the beach and amble along the sand. The tide is far enough out for me to continue a long way along the beach before I have to climb up onto the sea wall.

I walk along the sea wall photographing some of the wild flowers before dropping down to Downderry Beach.

Downderry Beach is a sheltered beach made of grey sand and shingle with rock pools at low tide.

The wreck of ‘Gypsy’, the sister ship to the ‘Cutty Sark,’ is hidden under a kelp bed not far from the shore line. I pass underneath the Inn on the Shore at the far end of Downderry Beach.

I come inshore next to St Nicolas Primary School which is just about to start its school day so there are parents and kids everywhere.

I turn right and head along the imaginatively named Main Road heading towards Battern Cliffs.

I climb out of Downderry and then leave the road at a signpost telling me that Portwrinkle is two and a half miles away.

I continue to climb upwards along Battern Cliffs, photographing some of the wild flowers around here.

I pass some apple trees no doubt grown from pips from a coast path walker’s cast aside core.

I come across several species of butterflies including red admirals, speckled woods, wall brown, meadow browns and small coppers but they all prove to be elusive to photograph except a lone wall butterfly.

The photographs for the entire day turn out to not be very good with a mixture of under and over exposed photographs so when I get home I’m going to have to experiment with the newish camera again to see what settings I haven’t got set up quite right.

I come across a green woodpecker which I don’t see very often and a lone pheasant which I see all the time.

I continue along the cliff tops and have lovely views over the harbour at Portwrinkle. It’s a shame that my camera isn’t able to capture the views.

The path reaches the village of Portwrinkle passing the tiny harbour. I explore the sand and shingle beaches here inside and outside the harbour.

It's time for a few not very good flower photographs and then my walking is done for the day and it's time to get my lift back to our home from home for the week.

The weather has remained largely overcast but the sun is now out and I’m hot and sweaty and my foot has been playing up again so I’ve hobbled my way most of the way around.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

red valerian
white valerian
red admiral butterflies
speckled wood butterflies
wall brown butterflies
meadow brown butterflies
small copper butterflies
wild carrot
ribwort plantain
oxeye daisies
red campion
periwinkle
knapweed
buddleia
hydrangea
blackberries
apples
scarlet pimpernel
yarrow
toadflax
red hot poker
fleabane
roses
tansy
aster
green woodpecker
pheasant

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 a pathetic 4.7 miles which amounts to 12191 steps. It has taken me two hours 35 minutes. The weather started off overcast but turned magnificent and has been way too hot and it has been painful trying to walk on my injured foot. Eight out of ten!

WALK DETAILS

MAP

portwrinkle to plymouth

June 12, 2016 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

wednesday, 8TH june 2016

It looks like I'm in for a fourth day of great walking weather with sun forecast for all day long, light winds and it'll probably be a hot day yet again. What's not to like?!

Fowey high tide 08:46

Fowey low tide 15:00

I've no idea why Plymouth isn't showing up in my tide times app.

I start the day back in the village of Portwrinkle where there are some lovely flowerbeds so I take a few photographs.

Before I set off I wander down the slipway and on to Finnygook Beach where I enjoy the deserted, sandy beach.

It's time to set off so I head along the road to leave Portwrinkle and then head onto the coast path which goes past the Whitsand Bay Hotel, and wends its way across the Whitsand Bay Golf Club and towards Tregantle Fort. Skylarks are already singing their hearts out.

I thought it was supposed to be firing day today but there aren't any flying flags and the gate heading into Tregantle Fort isn't locked so I go through the gate and follow the coast path signs through the fort.

I manage to walk my way all through the fort without getting rained on by shells!

I've never visited Tregantle Beach before but I'm in no hurry so I divert down to the beach and enjoy the fine sand. Although it's still early there are a couple of other people on the beach enjoying the early morning sun.

I retrace my steps and an overgrown path continues next to the road to Sharrow Point and then up towards the holiday cabins at Freathy and Whitsand Bay Holiday Park. The path used to follow a circuitous route through the cabins clinging to the cliff but a permanent diversion seems to be in place along the road at the top of the cliff.

Whitsand Bay Beach, a series of beaches stretching to around four miles, can be found here but the tide is too far in to see much of the sandy beach today. The views high above the beach are fantastic though, if a little hazy.

A narrow, fiddly, overgrown path goes up and down through cabins before a better path leads me on to Rame Head.

The path then circles around Rame Head with a view to St Michael's Chapel on the headland. Also visible is the National Coastwatch Rame Head Station. The coast path is about to change direction and head towards Plymouth so I am about to lose my view back over to Looe, Seaton, Downderry and Portwrinkle.

The path descends to Penlee Point where I pass families of ponies feeding on the vegetation.

I pass a sign which tells me all about the wreck of The Coronation in 1691 and an easy path takes me through woods before reaching the village of Cawsand.

I head on down to the beach and waste some time enjoying the sand and shingle.

It is proper hot now so on leaving the beach I head to the Shop in the Square and grab an orange Fruit Shoot ice lolly which I stick in my side pocket ready for when I leave Kingsand.

I pass the Cross Keys Inn on The Square at Cawsand and the path leads to the adjoining village of Kingsand, passing the Halfway House Inn. Kingsand has another small sand and shingle beach so I drop down to enjoy it.

The Devonport Inn, on The Cleave, can be found a bit further on from the beach but the coast path ducks in behind the beach before the pub is reached. I've missed the sign that points through the village before, but not today! I'm not going to make the mistake of walking past the pub and then failing to find any coast path signs ever again.

I climb up through the village passing The Rising Sun pub.

On leaving Kingsand the path enters the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park.

I fish my ice lolly out from my pocket and greedily suck on it as I walk along an easy path through the park. I pass rhododendrons and wild flowers as I walk along the path.

A MASSIVE sign points to the left through a gate and I've always gone wrong here in the past which has led to a long and tortuous walk through woodland with an almost complete lack of signs. I concentrate and find a teeny sign immediately pointing to the right which is completely dwarfed by the left pointing sign.

Yes! I've finally got this section of the path correct and an uneventful path leads through woods with enough coast path signs to let me know that I'm going in the right direction.

I leave the woods next to Milton's Temple, which is covered in scaffolding, and next to a pond full of friendly ducks and geese.

I leave the park to reach the Edgcumbe Arms which is heaving with people and the slipway for the Cremyll ferry. There are Germans everywhere!

The next ferry is at 13:30 so I've just got time to grab a blackcurrant and apple Fruit Shoot ice lolly from a little shop on the edge of the park which gets thirstily devoured

The ferry turns up to take me across to Plymouth and immediately fills up with masses of Germans. The fare is £1.50. Eight minutes later I step off the ferry at Admirals Hard, Stonehouse, having moved over from Cornwall to Devon.

I've never walked through Plymouth before, finding it too big, brash and noisy for my liking and prefer to rejoin the coast path over the other side of the harbour but today I'm going to walk a little bit in to Plymouth.

A sign tells me that Jenny Cliff is 10 miles away. Maybe one day I'll return to Plymouth to do the 10 mile walk through it. I check the train times when I get home but it seems to take forever to get from Bristol to Plymouth so who knows.

I immediately come across a pub called The Vine, the first pub in Devon.

I wander along Cremyl Street following handily placed coast path signs on lamp posts and have occasional views of the marina. I pass the Victualling Office Tavern (the doors are closed and it's very quiet but it does look like it might be open) and The Butcher's Arms (which looks run down and closed for business) before entering the Royal William Yard.

It's rather pleasant around here and there are plenty of places to eat and drink. I wander around the yard and climb a staircase designed by Gillespie Yunnie Architects, linking Royal William Yard to the public park above. The staircase is dedicated to the memory of Eric Wallis who was secretary of the South West Coast Path Association for 24 years.

I head off through Devil's Point Park and then take to the streets which lead me towards the centre of Plymouth passing the Royal Marine Barracks on the way.

It's very noisy but I eventually reach Boston Tea Party on Vauxhall Street where my walking for the day, as well as the week, ends. It's now time to catch the park and ride bus back to Home Park where the car awaits to take me back to our holiday cottage.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

sea thrift
foxgloves
skylarks
red campion
buttercups
small tortoiseshells
bracken
gorse
pheasants
swifts
chaffinches
chiffchaffs
birds-foot trefoil
goldfinches
ponies
speckled wood butterflies
elderflower
sweet chestnuts
black caps

PODCAST

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

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 17.5 miles today which amounts to 37672 steps. It has been a lovely day's walking on the South West Coast Path, has been hot and there have only been light breezes. On top of that, for the fourth day in a row I've avoided being stung by stinging nettles. Eight out of ten!

My total ascent today has been 484.50 metres or 1589 feet.

video

portwrinkle to plymouth from Mark Seymour on Vimeo.

map

polperro to portwrinkle

June 12, 2016 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

tuesday, 7th june 2016

It looks like I'll be in for another day of beautiful weather with sun forecast for all day long. This is getting monotonous. Woop! Those temperatures don't look too hot though.

Fowey high tide 08:00

Fowey low tide 14:18

It's my birthday today so what better way to spend it than walking the charming walk from Polperro to Portwrinkle.

“happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me”

I start the day back at the car park above Polperro and wander down through the village back to the harbour.

Along the way I pass The Ship Inn and The Three Pilchards, the oldest pub in Polperro.

I explore around the harbour for a while but the sun is out and the skies are blue. It's time to get going.

polperro

I turn on to the coast path next to the House on the Props.

The path goes along The Warren and I have fine views back over the harbour before climbing back up on the cliffs towards Downend Point.

The path is smothered in wild flowers so I amble along taking photographs.

The path should round Downend Point and pass a granite war memorial but a diversion is in place and I head inland next to a field of wheat. I join a tiny road which takes me steeply down towards Talland Bay where I have misty views.

I come across a couple of tame rabbits. They eye me up and then continue munching on the grass. I continue along the path and drop down to Talland Bay where I enjoy the deserted beaches.

Talland Bay has two sand and shingle beaches - Talland Sand and Rotterdam Beach. The Talland Bay Beach Cafe is passed followed by the Smuggler's Rest Cafe. The low cliffs here are covered in dreaded Japanese Knotweed.

The path reaches Hendersick and then passes the Hore Stone, just offshore, and there is a misty view over Portnadler Bay to St George's Island, sometimes known as Looe Island. The island is now managed by the Cornwal Wildlife Trust.

The path passes by Samphire Beach and Wallace Beach where I come across some lovely flower borders.

The path continues around Hannafore Point and I come across loads of painted lady butterflies feeding on sea thrift and I manage to photograph one or two of them.

Hannafore Beach can be found here which is mostly rocky but does contain some sand and shingle. Not today though as the tide is too far in. I do have fine views over to Looe though.

The path continues down a road and then drops down to the harbourside at Looe.

You can catch a ferry over from West Looe to East Looe allegedly but I've never seen it. Instead, I head along the harbourside where I pass a bronze statue of Nelson, a distinctive one eyed scarred bull grey seal who was a familiar sight in the harbours of South Cornwall for over 25 years.

I continue along the harbourside and use the roadbridge to cross the River Looe where I have lovely views back along the harbour, on the way passing the Harbour Moon Inn.

I continue walking down the harbourside at East Looe, passing the Ship Inn and The Bullers Arms and take one last look at the harbour before climbing out of Looe high above East Looe Beach, sitting quite literally in front of the old town.

The path climbs steeply out of Looe and passes Chough Rock - I don't see any Choughs. I come across more japanese knotweed as I walk down the slipway to reach Plaidy Beach, a small, grey sand beach popular with dog walkers.

A steep path goes upwards before heading back down to Millendreath Beach, a sandy beach with numerous rock pools to explore at low tide. The beach is just starting to get busy with a few families arriving as I explore the beach.

Due to a series of landslips the coast path has been re-routed but it seems to be much more open than I recall from my last visit as I seem to remember trudging along roads for a few miles.

The path climbs up Bodigga Cliff and then goes through woods for a while. The shady path is very welcome on what has now become a hot day. The path rejoins the road where I pass by the Monkey Sanctuary.

I continue along a minor road festooned with flowers for a little bit and then am pleasantly surprised to see a coast path sign pointing back on to the cliffs at Struddicks. I head through fields to re-join the coast path and it's a thoroughly pleasant walk.

The path drops back down to the road above Seaton but it's not very far down and I soon have fine views over Seaton.

The beach at Seaton is a spacious grey sand beach popular with families and you can find the Seaton Beach Cafe and The Smugglers Inn here.

I amble along Seaton Beach and the tide is far enough out for me to continue along Downderry Beach, a sheltered beach made of grey sand and shingle with rock pools at low tide.

The wreck of ‘Gypsy’, the sister ship to the ‘Cutty Sark,’ is hidden under a kelp bed not far from the shore line. I passed underneath the Inn on the Shore at the far end of Downderry Beach.

After leaving Downderry the path passes The Church of St Nicolas and Downderry Lodge and climbs up to Battern Cliffs. The path here is narrow, overgrown and full of nettles so I have to concentrate on walking rather than looking at the views.

The path improves and the views are magnificent, if a little hazy.

I continue along the cliff tops and have lovely views over Portwrinkle.

The path reaches the village of Portwrinkle passing the tiny harbour. There are two sand and shingle beaches here with numerous rock pools.

It's time for a couple more flower photographs and then my walking is done for the day and it's time to get my lift back to our home from home for the week.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

agapanthus
gladioli
red campion
creeping broomrape
roses
fuchsias
red valerian
white valerian
herb robert
elderflower
pheasants
skylarks
field poppies
rabbits
chiffchaffs
painted lady butterflies
japanese knotweed
oystercatchers
blue tits
wrens
a bronze seal
MONKEYS!!
scots pine
red admirals
the last of the bluebells

PODCAST

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

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 15 miles today which amounts to 33850 steps. It has been sunny and hot and a thoroughly pleasant day's walking. For a third day on the trot I haven't been stung by stinging nettles. What better way to spend a birthday? Ten out of ten!

My total ascent today has been 762.60 metres or 2501 feet.

video

polperro to portwrinkle from Mark Seymour on Vimeo.