Note that all maps on this site are only indicative. You should
never set out without the correct OS map.
It’s not often that the Western Morning News
Hesp Hike column does a long linear coastal walk, preferring instead
to find circular routes that take you back from whence you came.
But every now and again a stretch of the Westcountry’s superb
littoral cries out to be stomped from one end to the other. Such
a beat is to be found between Hope Cove and Salcombe. It is, without
doubt, one of South Devon’s finest bits of coast.
There is a regular bus service between Salcombe and Hope Cove in
summer. Alternately, you’ll have to do what we did, plan for
a car at either end.
Distance and going: seven miles, mostly very easy-going.
At Hope Cove you have Outer Hope and Inner Hope and at the latter
there are a number of ancient cottages looking suitably quaint -
the place was once famed for its crabs, but there probably aren’t
many pots-men living here today.
The coast path climbs out of Inner
Hope to pass through a small stand of trees on its way out to Bolt
Tail. The great headland affords as good a panorama as any cape
in the Westcountry. The whole of Bigbury Bay lies before you - but
you can see far, far beyond Burgh Island, past the Great Mew Stone,
west again beyond the Plymouth ferries to-ing and fro-ing from France
and Spain - and on again until that other great headland, The Dodman,
seals the horizon with its barren flanks.
The writer S.H. Burton, in his book South Devon Coast, mentions
a place called Ramillies somewhere hereabouts. Mr Burton explains
that it’s all to do with a boat of that name being wrecked
here in the hurricane of February 15th, 1790.
“Her captain mistook Bolt Tail for Rame Head and thought
he was being driven into the Sound,” writes Mr Burton. “When
the mistake was realised they let go their anchor and, by cutting
away all the masts, managed to ride safely until evening. Then the
violence of the wind increased and the cable parted. A midshipman
and 25 of the crew made a perilous leap from the stern to the rocks
that fringe Ramillies Hole, a narrow cleft. They were saved, but
the rest, 708 in all, perished.”
The remains of an ancient fort lie
low and cold on Bolt Tail and we spent a while pondering whether
or not the people who built it lived here or merely used the place
in emergencies.
Heading south east, the coast path forgets to do its usual trick
of emulating a roller coaster and adheres, instead, to the level
confines of the high downs. The National Trust has celebrated this
unusually flat bit by installing a wheelchair-friendly path so that
the less-abled can enjoy the stunning sea views.
Eventually though, the path is hurled into the abyss. The abyss
in question being the valley behind Soar Mill Cove, guarded by the
craggy reaches of Cathole Point. It is all very wild and untamed
- the cove itself is an absolute jewel.
Now one of the walk’s few stiff
climbs begins. The map shows that the coast path ascends to the
rear of the higher cliffs, but over the years walkers seem to have
developed a new route which takes the more exciting seaside option
around the base of the rocks and then up to the area known as The
Warren.
Eventually you reach the highlands near the hamlet of Middle Soar.
This area was once dominated by a World War II aerodrome.
Passing the fantastic dry-stone walls
that are a feature of this landscape, we strolled beyond Off Cove
to begin the gentle ascent to Bolt Head. If the tail was magnificent
then the head of the bolt is even more handsome.
The military watch-keepers who kept a look-out here during the
war had one of the finest billets anywhere along England’s
threatened coast. Their watchtower was until recently perched amidst
the high rocks as a reminder of those dark days, but I’m told
it has now been demolished because the structure had ‘concrete
cancer’.
Next you make the breathtaking turn in Starehole Bay where you
can admire the awe-inspiring scenery that is the introduction to
Salcombe Harbour. Years ago some local landowner had a path cut
through these dramatic rocks, which is why we’re able to enjoy
this truly stunning scene.
One last bit of drama as the track hugs the ramparts of the mighty
cliffs known as The Rags, and then it’s a gentle but scenic
descent to South Sands where the walk ends.
Dartmoor
& South West Devon
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