The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
TEN UNMISSABLE HIGHLIGHTS ON THE ROUTE...
HIGHER BOCKHAMPTON –
HARDY COUNTRY
Great books have been conceived and written all over the West Country, from Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn to Winston Graham’s Poldark series. But no author speaks to their landscape like Thomas Hardy, who found in the rolling hills, market towns and ancient byways of Dorset a universe as complete as anything Tolkien could dream up. A pint in the King’s Arms in Dorchester is a must, and then you should drive up to Higher Bockhampton, to see Hardy’s birthplace, and take a short walk through “Hardy Country” to Max Gate, his home from 1885-1928 – now a National Trust property. And yes, I know I’m not strictly on the coast as we set off, but Weymouth is only 20 minutes’ away.
WEST BAY – JURASSIC LARK
Ammonites, with salt and vinegar, please. To be honest, anywhere on the Jurassic Coast is worth a stop. The looming gold-tinted cliffs, the long sweep of the beach and the raw fame of the place make it feel special. Lyme Regis has a literary loveliness, Seaton is a proper seaside town, Sidmouth has its Regency airs and graces. I like West Bay because one minute you’re wandering around dozens of small chippies – fish and chip kiosks that offer such similar fare they could be nationalised and you wouldn’t notice – and the next you’re out there on the remarkable strand, at the far end of Chesil Beach, beneath crumbling walls of sand. Everyone is laughing and wiping chip grease and ice-cream slops on to their swimming cozzies, watched over by cliffs full of prehistoric secrets.
AYRMER COVE – SERENE SWIMS
South Devon is awash with bathing options. From Torbay to Plymouth Sound are long and short stretches of sand and shingle. But most come at a price. Slapton’s pebbles and exposure to the elements impose limitations. Busy Bantham is reached by a narrow lane, involving tedious pulling over and reversing. Ayrmer Cove is found by diverging off the main road to Bigburyon-Sea, with a National Trust car park at the end. It’s then a half-mile walk down a track to the beach, where there’s comfortably room for 30-40 groups. The sea is calm and shallow, and warms up a bit on hot days. At low tide, you can see an island; at high tide, you can swim out to it. Natural, simple, framed by cliffs – it’s a great spot. It has a price, too. No caffs or services, and no loos, but the Journey’s End is a good pub just a short way up from the car park track.
PLYMOUTH – THE HOE
The most underrated city in England? Maybe. The city itself is interesting, as all British cities are, for its eclectic architecture: the post-war concrete of Armada Way, pretty Victorian workmen’s dwellings on Looe Street, the cobbled medieval mish-mash of the Barbican. But Plymouth is even more impressive when you turn your back on it at the Hoe, swapping the Georgian terraces for one of the most attractive bays in Europe: Plymouth Sound, which lies between the verdant headlands of Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury
Point in Devon. Smeaton’s Tower looms over statues of Sir Francis Drake and Nancy Astor; below is the art-deco Tinside Lido and a great terrace bar-café. There’s good food and proper old pubs down around the Barbican.
FOWEY AND GOLANT –
OO-AAR CORNWALL
All the towns and large fishing villages of the Cornish coast have appealing qualities, and throngs of visitors. Fowey is not as quaint as Polperro, but it affords some breathing space and the estuarial location is lovely. The church, harbour and centre are worth an hour and you’ll find plenty of cafés and pasties (Kittows is good) to fuel up. An easy half-mile walk is along the Esplanade to the beach at Readymoney Cove. If you’re up for something a bit more energetic, there’s a well-marked fourmile section of the Saints’ Way (the probable route of Christian pilgrims) along the River Fowey, through woods and sheep-fields, to Golant. The latter is a gorgeous little village that changes its mood with the weather and tides. The Fishermans Arms is a popular pub with and old-school lounge and outdoor benches; incomers or emmets are buying up the flash places but you’ll still here proper accents and might even catch a Morris session here.
FALMOUTH
When Britannia ruled the waves, her seaports were as important as her mercantile cities. Falmouth is pretty much the last significant stop before the Channel opens out in to the Atlantic Ocean. The old quay here evokes memories of cutters and clippers, but this is a working harbour and there’s always a chance of seeing a serious naval vessel or two. By the docks is the outstanding National Maritime Museum, with 12 galleries set over three floors with full-size and model boats, plus displays on weather,
There’s no reason why this road trip can’t be a boost for parts of the South West that don’t already get hordes of tourists
wildlife and maritime history. It’s all interactive and child-friendly. This summer there are special shows about “Monsters of the Deep” and tattoos. Falmouth Art Gallery has a strong collection of local works. But it’s a lovely town just to walk around, taking in the lush gardens and grand terraces.
PENZANCE – PIRATES AND PINTS
Another cracking town, with that edgy energy you get where a diverse bunch of locals and outsiders wash up. But Penzance is no Stroud or Hebden Bridge. It’s a last fling at urbanisation before Land’s End and has chain shops and traffic and supermarkets, but also lively local pubs with salty names – Dolphin Tavern, Navy Inn, Turks Head, Admiral Benbow – and good company, as well as a decent splash of places to eat. Chapel Street has fine architecture and antique stores, and Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens and Tanglewood Wild Garden are an enticing yin and yang of green spaces. Penzance is a perfect base for tripping out to see Mousehole, Newlyn, for its art gallery, and Porthcurno Beach.
STEPPER POINT: WILD WALKS
AND SEA BREEZES
I was torn between recommending this and Start Point, South Devon’s lovely lighthouse and headland. But I did the seven-mile walk from Harlyn Bay to Padstow via Stepper Point in 2020, in a bid to get away from the masses of families cluttering the Harlyn Bay and Trevone Bay beaches. The numbers were inflated because of the pandemic, but I expect they are always busy when the sun’s out. Still, once you leave Trevone Beach behind, things really improve, with a stunning cliff-top walk at eye-level with fulmars and kittiwakes.
Padstow is always heaving, but you can get a good bag of fish and chips from Chip Ahoy and hide from the crowds in the bosky park at the top of Mill Road or on the benches north of town, overlooking the River Camel. If you want something special, Michelin-starred Paul Ainsworth at No 6 is in Padstow, and a certain Mr Stein has three venues and a chippy.
CROYDE – WORLD-CLASS
ROLLERS
In early April, North Devon became only the 12th World Surfing Reserve in the world, placing Croyde, Saunton Sands and Woolacombe alongside the likes of Santa Cruz, California, and Australia’s Gold Coast. The Save the Waves coalition chose the region because of the “high quality and diversity of surf breaks” and because it represents the “quintessential UK surf ecosystem” – which, translated into landlubber, means mirrored sunglasses, bleached hair, ripped bodies and dirty suntans. But it really is quite a thing to park up here and watch the rollers. Beach walks, the hike up to Baggy Point via Bloodhills Cliff, and nature trails into the North Devon AONB mean it’s not all about the waves.
MINEHEAD – THE ULTIMATE
NUCLEAR-FAMILY HOLIDAY
For the last stop I was torn between Lynton and Minehead, but since you’re driving 600 miles you’ll see the former anyway – and it’s not always easy finding parking there. Minehead still has the Butlin’s holiday camp that opened in 1962, and the resort exudes a fun, unpretentious spirit – and plenty of parking. It has a broad beach that shimmers under the sun, and Exmoor rises up behind the town. A train ride on the West Somerset Heritage Railway to Watchet takes you to the end of the official SW660 map – and there is no finer way to conclude an epic journey – but I can also recommend the walk from there to Hinkley Point.