South West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path is England’s longest walking route, covering 630 miles from Minehead in Somerset to Poole in Dorset; it winds its way along the North Devon coast down into Cornwall, around Lands End, back onto the South Devon coast and into Dorset. The route passes through some truly spectacular scenery including several National Nature Reserves, 5 AONBs, a National Park, and two World Heritage Sites.
Of course, it takes some planning to do the whole route and it’s hard going in places, as anyone who’s read The Salt Path by Raynor Winn can testify, so people tend to walk shorter stretches at a time. In our neck of the woods, the 3 mile walk from Beer to Branscombe via Hooken Undercliff is popular, rounded off with well earned refreshments at the Sea Shanty Beach Café.
On a summers evening a stroll down through the fields from Charmouth to Seatown via Golden Cap is a delight; it’s only 2.5 miles so it won’t take too long, although you’ll have to walk back if you don’t plan ahead to have cars at either end. A good finale is fish and chips and a pint at The Anchor Inn and if you go out on the beach and watch the sunset, more’s the better. Slightly longer is the 7 mile Undercliff walk from Axmouth to Lyme Regis, taking in Goat Island and The Chasm caused by a landslip on Christmas Day in 1839, now designated a National Nature Reserve. Lace up your boots!
All information correct at the time of writing