Photographer Ray & Dot Culmer, Bournemouth
Nr strete at slapton sands
Google MAp showing sw coast path route
Photographer Jennifer Rowlandson, Tiverton
Torcross
Photographer Julie Collier
Elender Cove and Gammon Head
The South West Coast Path leads you through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from the very striking level landscape at Torcross and Slapton, across wide, lush, open fields to rough, dramatic cliff tops.
START Torcross
FINISH Dartmouth
LENGTH 10.3 miles (16.6 km)
DIFFICULTY Easy
Summary
The sea is very present along the first stretch, in fact there was once a settlement near Strete Gate called Undercliffe but this was lost to the sea in the early 1700s.
From Torcross it is an easy start along the shingle alongside Slapton Ley, leading to more difficult walking around rugged headlands as you approach Dartmouth. The Path is sheltered at times as it meanders through woodland, contrasting with the enormous sense of space and light when it later passes along steep, grassy slopes which lead down to the sea.
Highlights
■ Throwing pebbles in the sea at Torcross. Here you will see two memorials. One is a memorial to all the locals who evacuated their homes to make way for allied troops preparing for the Normandy landings and the American Sherman tank memorial commemorates the US servicemen who died here during Operation Tiger when they were attacked by German boats.
■ Slapton Sands and Slapton Ley: Devon’s largest natural freshwater lake is a National Nature Reserve and home to many rare species of plants and birds.
■ Views from the fields above Forest Cove back to Slapton and Start Point and ahead towards Froward Point.
■ Fantastic views from Warren Point. The offshore rocks are rather oddly named the Dancing Beggars.
■ The wonderfully named coves, including Compass Cove, Shinglehill Cove, Ladies Cove and Deadman’s Cove.
■ Watching the shags and cormorants from Blackstone Point.
In case you want to walk other sections of the Path or maybe all of its 630 miles (the ones featured add up to 34 miles) then you can find similar information (maps and photos etc) by visiting the SWCP’s official website at www.southwestcoastpath.com.
First Published March 2013 By The Dart