Great South West Walk

Friday August 17

Section 26. HARTLAND QUAY TO BUDE. Miles: 15.4. Grading: Severe

Start time and location
Could you please report for registration at the Hartland Quay Hotel at 8.30am.
The walk will commence at 9am.

Parking
Plenty of parking avaialble at start points.

Bus Services
Buses are very sparse in this area - please see our current Annual Guide for details. Buses do stop in Hartland village, but not the Quay, leaving some 3 miles (5 km) for you to walk. Confirmation of all buses can be obtained from traveline on 0870 608 2608 www.traveline.org.uk

Trains
There are no trains in this area. It is possible to travel by train to Exeter or Plymouth, then catch an infrequent bus from there. For more information, please telephone National Rail Enquiries on 08457 484950.

Maps
Ordnance Survey Landranger series (scale 1:50 000) Number 190, Bude and Clovelly.
Ordnance Survey Explorer series (scale 1:25 000) Numbers 126, Clovelly, Hartland and Bideford and 111, Bude, Boscastle and Tintagel.

General Information
HARTLAND QUAY: hotel (which includes a pub serving food and hot drinks, and a public telephone), car park and toilets.
HARTLAND: (2.5 miles/4 km inland): limited accommodation, shops and pub.
MORWENSTOW (0.5 mile/800 m inland): some accommodation, a pub, seasonal tea rooms (usually open from Easter to October) and public telephone.
SANDY MOUTH: seasonal café.
CROOKLETS: hotels, pubs and public telephone.
BUDE: accommodation, shops (including chemists), pubs, restaurants, cafés, car parks, toilets, and public telephones.

TAXIS
You will probably have to resort to using a ‘pick up and drop’ service if you are not walking the coast path as a continuous operation, as there are no taxis which cover this area as such. The Hartland Quay Hotel and Homeleigh in Stoke, for example, provide a pick up and drop service for guests for prices, please contact the owners direct. For other providers, please see our Annual Guide. You could also try the National Taxi Hotline on 0800 654321.

TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE
The Crescent, Bude, EX23 8LE. Telephone: 01288 354240

The Route
This Path Description will take you over the last length of the North Devon coast path and across the county boundary at Marsland Mouth into Cornwall. The cliff scenery along the route is magnificent, and there is an abundance of wildlife to be seen.

Passing St Catherine’s Tor, you will walk on the old fish ponds belonging to Hartland Abbey and at Speke’s Mouth Milford water cascades over the cliff edge - a truly wonderful sight after heavy rain. Climbing up to Milford Common the walker will enjoy some fine cliff top walking all the way to Welcombe Mouth.

After a steep descent into Marsland Mouth, you arrive in Cornwall and the walking gets much tougher. This is a wonderful wild and deserted place, the rocky beach does not attract the usual beach crowds. The path passes Morwenstow with its association with the eccentric Parson Hawker and the satellite tracking aerials at Cleave Camp, a stark reminder of the age in which we live. Bude is a very popular seaside resort, but a good place to rest for the night, with its good range of accommodation and shops.

This isolation and beauty does however present a problem with public transport. If you are not walking the coast path as a continuous operation, this section is best undertaken by using two cars. If this is not an option for you, you can consider the options in our public transport sections below. We do recommend that you set off with your taxi number to hand – this walk will take some 8.5 hours and mobile phone reception is nil on most of this section – and take plenty of supplies.

HARTLAND QUAY

Hartland Quay is an interesting place in its own right. There was a quay and small harbour here from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I until the 19th century. A severe gale in 1887 partly destroyed the pier and it was completely destroyed in another gale in 1896. Mixed cargoes were brought ashore including glass from Sunderland and lead for the repair of Hartland Church.

There were three lime kilns and a malt house on the quay. The commerce was enough to warrant a small bank which issued £1 and £5 notes until 1833. The inn has had various titles over the years, being known as the Mariners' Rest, the New Inn and The Hoops. Whether it was the lime kilns which caused the thirst is not known, but it is on record that in 1874 the inn was closed for a while because of excessive drinking!

HARTLAND QUAY TO BUDE
Annual Guide Section 12 (15.4 miles: 24.8 km) Grading - Severe

South of Hartland Quay, after climbing some steps, the path goes along a track and through a gate into an area which is managed under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

Immediately on your right is Screda Point, where you are looking at the sea capture of a stream. Wargery Water, which now falls to the sea is the waterfall to the north of St Catherine's Tor; it used to flow northwards along the valley joining the sea near Hartland Quay.

St Catherine's Tor was, in times past, the site of a medieval chapel, hence its name. Until fairly recent times tiles from the chapel floor could be picked up on the beach. There was a scheme afoot at one time to afforest the tor, but luckily it came to nothing.

Close to St. Catherine's Point a new memorial has been erected for the hospital ship Glenart Castle, which was torpedoed in February 1918. There is an interesting website (www.ilfsac.org.uk/glenart/glen_main.htm) which gives a good account of the tragedy.

The path proceeds inland of St Catherine's Tor. Head for the gate in the stone wall and then bear right back to the coast to climb the cliff south of the tor - again it is a case of up and over and down. From the top you begin to see the twin fall of the finest waterfall of all the series along the coast, at Speke's Mill Mouth.

SPEKE’S MILL MOUTH

Milford Water drops into the sea at Speke’s Mill Mouth by a series of falls. The first is over 50 feet (15 m) and can become a twin after heavy rain. Next comes what is called a gutter fall, some 130 feet high (40 m), after this three further falls occur of 20, 9 and 11 feet (6, 3, and 4 m). If you have time go down to the beach and walk into the canyon - you will not be disappointed, this is one of the great sights on the whole of the coast path. However if the weather has been very dry, the waterfall is a disappointment and you may not even realise you have passed it.

After Speke's Mill, the best path goes a little way up the valley then crosses the stream by a wooden bridge. Continue then up the valley (which is a site of Special Scientific Interest and therefore full of wildlife) turn right after Swansford Hill and then continue forward until reaching the coast.

(If the stream is low there is an alternative crossing point at the ford directly above Speke's Mill fall. This route up Swansford Hill is still walkable, but due to erosion is very narrow in places and should not be walked in high winds or very wet weather.) South of Swansford Hill, just beyond Longpeak, both paths join.
There has been a series of wrecks near Longpeak, from the Reine Leonie in 1879 to Goliath in 1969. Perhaps the most dramatic rescue was occasioned by the Green Ranger in December, 1962. She was a Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker under tow, which broke loose and went aground just south of Longpeak. Helicopters, rocket apparatus and lifeboats were all involved in the attempts at rescue – the Appledore Lifeboat and the Hartland Life Saving Apparatus team played important parts in the mission - and eventually all seven members of the crew were safely brought ashore by breeches buoy. Wreckage lay here of the ship for over forty years, but North Devon Coast and Countryside Service has recently removed this eyesore and a commemorative bench has been erected, using part of the materials from the ship.

Passing the turn-off for the Elmscott Youth Hostel now clearly marked, the route unfortunately turns inland to join a lane near Sandhole Cross. After 437 yards (400 m) there is a short permissive path to the right to follow the field boundary to link up with the official path.

The Association has been pressing for an improvement here. We had some success in 1996 when, after much tedious negotiation, the Hartland Heritage Coast Services moved the route from the road between Osland Pits and Nabor Point.

The path crosses the Iron Age fort at Embury Beacon, part of which has fallen into the sea, Knapp Head and then a steep descent down into the idyllic Strawberry Water and Welcombe Mouth.

Despite the distance travelled, the steepest climb is still ahead, so take it steadily on this section southwards from Welcombe Mouth. The stile is a good place to stop and look back at the view up the valley of Strawberry Water - you will probably be glad of the excuse to stop anyway! As you move forward again, on the left on a feeder path leading inland, is a massive stile; the two uprights being old railway sleepers. Remembering that Hartland used to advertise itself as the furthest place from railways, you realise that they must have come a long way. The path goes over to a second stile and proceeds down a steep descent to Marsland Mouth. On the way down you pass the little stone building, once the seaside lookout of Ronald Duncan the author, which is kindly left open for access and shelter.

Water is provided daily and there is a visitors’ book for you to sign. There is also information about the author and the history of the hut. It is a very interesting and evocative place to stop for a break, especially if it is raining.

As you cross the River Marsland you cross an impressive bridge – one side is Devon and the other is Cornwall. You are welcomed into Cornwall with the county emblem and the Cornwall/Kernow sign.

Before starting the walk do find time to go down and look at the waterfall and Marsland beach. Crossing the bridge over the River Marsland there is a steady climb to reach the top of Marsland cliff. The coast path drops down into Litter Mouth, the first of many valleys to cross before Bude is reached. A fine 70 foot (21 m) waterfall drops down over the cliff onto the beach.

Another climb over Cornakey and Yeolmouth cliffs before the descent into Yeolmouth.

There is a long climb up to Henna Cliff, just over 450 feet (137m) high, which is the second highest sheer drop of any English Cliff, only Beachy Head exceeds it.

The true coast path keeps close to the sea but there is a diversion inland passing close to the old vicarage and church. Those who stay on the coast should stop at the stream; there a few yards inland it has changed its course leaving an older, dry bed, in a cut-off loop. Do not spend time looking for St Morwenna's Well which is marked on most maps - it has unfortunately fallen into the sea.

The climb up from the stream keeps close to the cliff edge and provides magnificent views. On reaching the top there is another diversion into Morwenstow where you can stop at the Rectory tea rooms, open from Easter to October. There you can have a light lunch or cream tea. A bit further on there is a pub for those who require alcoholic refreshment, but opening times are unpredictable. This diversion is the best one to take if you do not want to miss any of the coast path.

MORWENSTOW

The diversion inland will take you to Morwenstow by the vicarage which Hawker rebuilt. The chimneys represent an Oxford College, Stratton Whitstone and North Tamerton church towers, both in Cornwall.

The churchyard with its many graves of seafarers, bears sad witness to the severity of the coastline hereabouts and passage can be made right through the churchyard, coming out next to the tea-rooms which in summer dispense pots of tea to thirsty walkers! Note in passing the ship's figurehead, that of the Caledonia wrecked in 1842. Morwenstow's name comes from St Morwenna and note that there are no windows in the west side of the church tower as a protection from the sea.

On rejoining the coast you will soon reach a National Trust slate sign showing the way to Hawker's Hut. Do not hurry by thinking that there is no time for further lengthy diversions, as the hut is not 10 yards (3 m) from the path and it is here that the eccentric parson, the Reverend R S Hawker used to sit and write.

He was a strange man: that he wore a seaman's blue jersey and helped at shipwrecks can do him nothing but credit, but that he invited animals into his church, banishing a cat that caught a mouse during service may seem strange to our ears. He was a poet of sorts but apart from the Cornish anthem ‘Trelawney’, he is not much remembered for that today, but is perhaps better known for his institution of Harvest Festival celebrations. His most fitting epitaph – ‘He loved his church’.

The path zigzags down to Tidna Shute, crosses a wooden bridge to climb Higher Sharpnose Point, with its ruined coastguard hut.

The walk out to Higher Sharpnose Point is highly recommended except in gale force winds - then it should be avoided.

Stanbury Mouth is the next valley to cross - one of the fiercest down and ups of this section.

Climbing out of the valley you pass close to the Composite Signal Satellite Tracking station at Cleave Camp. After Lower Sharpnose Point you enter the National Trust property of Duckpool.

A pause at the top of the descent to look at the view will show the pleasant green valley of Coombe with its meandering stream. In the valley there is a Nature Trail just over half a mile inland, and in summer an ice-cream van by the car park. There are now no toilet facilities, as they have been closed due to cost-cutting. Inland is the tower of Kilkhampton Church and to the south-west, the house of Stowe Barton built on the site of an earlier one.

This was the home of the famous Grenville family. Bevil Grenville fought in the Royalist Cause in the Civil War and was killed at the successful assault, which many said was impossible, of Lansdowne Hill outside Bath. His body was brought back to be buried in Kilkhampton Church.

The earlier, Sir Richard Grenville of the 'Revenge' is immortalised in Tennyson's poem, ‘At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay’. Here his compassion lost him his chance of escape when he stayed behind to pick up his wounded men, to save them from falling into Spanish hands. He was then so courageous that he fought a sea battle with odds against him of fifty-three to one.

The Reverend R S Hawker lived near Duckpool for a while in the cottage with a church spire over the porch and window above in the shape of a cross.

At Duckpool a new path has been created which takes you slightly away from the original path. This is marked with a white arrow where you soon cross a new footbridge and rejoin the original path. After Warren Gutter the succession of ups and downs of the border stretch are left behind and a much easier section is in prospect. There is an unusual little waterfall just before Sandy Mouth and in the car park, during the season, is a National Trust café. It is usually open from April to November and now has electricity which enables it to stay open longer.
On leaving Sandy Mouth there is a view back of two impressive rock columns on the beach. Shortly before Menachurch Point are the butts of a disused rifle range, and just beyond, on Bucket Hill, is a well-preserved bronze-age barrow - a thought-provoking reminder that our ancestors were here 3,500 years ago.

Northcott Mouth is chiefly remarkable for its concrete tank traps like so many giant stepping stones. Maer Cliff will prove of interest to students of geology.

Looking inland can be seen the church of Poughill, which not only has an unusual dedication to St Olaf but the village is surprisingly pronounced ‘Puffil’.
After Northcott Mouth the path passes Northcott House. Keep to the cliffs and you will soon arrive at Crooklets Beach, where there are pubs and a good beach café.

At Crooklets the path passes round the top of the beach and then keeps to the seaward side of Summerleaze Down. After crossing the River Neet, you arrive at the Bude canal. The Heritage Coast Information Centre is across the road in the large car park.

Walk seaward until you reach the canal lock gates.
BUDE CANAL

The most interesting piece of the footpath hereabouts is undoubtedly the crossing of the Bude Canal, and for those who are lucky may see a boat come in from the sea into the lock.

Canals are not common in Cornwall. Financially, the Bude Canal was never a success and from that angle it is a pity that its long protracted gestation ever gave birth; its first enactment was in 1774 and it opened in 1825.

From an enthusiast's angle, it is very interesting. It was built to include no less than six inclined planes. These were the ramps up which the barges were hauled to avoid making a series of locks. The barges on the Bude Canal were almost unique having wheels attached to their outsides so that they could be hauled up or lowered down the slopes. Unfortunately, the engineering was ahead of its time and paid the price with unreliability of operation.

If you have any question on any of the above please do not hesitate to contact one the event organisers found on the Contact us page click here

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