|
|
|
|
| Distance : 5 miles | Grading : +++ | OS Sheet : 202 |
This walk starts in the bustling resort of Torquay, at the North of Torbay. Despite going through a built-up area, this walk offers some excellent unspoilt scenery and only a little road walking. The walk climbs out of the harbour over Daddyhole Plain before descending again to the Blue Flag beach at Meadfoot beach. There is another climb out of Meadfoot beach up the spectacular viewpoint over Thatcher Rock, then round to Hopes Nose. Once round Hopes Nose the path continues round Anstey's Cove and Readgate Beach over Babbacombe downs and into Babbacombe itself, where there is a cliff railway down to the beach at Oddicombe Beach.
Torquay is easily reached by road. The A380 dual carriageway joins the A38 near Exeter and goes onto the A3022 into Torquay. There are several car parks in Torquay, but the best one to use for the coast path is the harbour car park. Alternatively any of the shopping centre car parks are a short walk to the harbour.
Being a large resort, Torquay is also easy to reach by public transport. There are frequent local trains from Exeter, Plymouth and Exmouth to Torquay. Longer distance services also operate daily from London Waterloo direct to Torquay. The station is near the coast path, but quite a distance from the town centre, near Corbyn Head. There is an easy footpath round the bay into the town centre.
If you're traveling by bus, Stagecoach Express services operate frequently from Exeter to Torquay. There are also direct buses from Plymouth. Local buses operate from Paignton and Brixham (service 12) and Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Dawlish, Dawlish Warren and Starcross (services 85 and 85A) to Torquay, all of which run frequently. For details on these services see the links below.
Your spoilt for choice for accommodation in Torquay and Babbacombe. There is a large range of hotels available in the area to suit all tastes and budgets. There is also a good range of self catering accommodation in the area, especially towards Paignton. There is a tourist information centre in Torquay, on the harbour side that carries full lists of local accommodation. For more information, see the links below.
The popular resort of Torquay is the starting point for this walk. Torquay has a very attractive harbour side area, a good shopping centre and also a small sandy beach, called Torre Abbey Sands. There is a flat walk around from the harbour past Torre Abbey sands towards Corbyn Head, which also passes the station. The harbour is a good place to start this walk. As you face the sea, walk down the left side of the harbour, where there is a row of shops and take-aways behind and a row of seats along the harbour side. At the end of the road, turn left into Beacon Hill. Don't go straight on, as that road only leads to a few shops, the harbour and a car park. You pass the Living Coasts attraction on the right, part of Paignton Zoo.
Continue on the road until you reach the large Imperial Hotel. The path then goes right here, through the hotel grounds (there is a coastpath sign on the wall). Once round the back of the hotel, there is a pleasant footpath, behind some houses. The path comes out onto Daddyhole Plain. This path of the coast is quite spectacular. Cross the plain and then take the path that descends to Meadfoot beach. Meadfoot beach is a very clean blue flag beach, that has a mixture of shingle, rocks and sand. There are toilets and a cafe at the east end. The coast path is the pavement along the back of the beach. Follow this to the end, where there is a small car park (where there is often an ice cream van). The path climbs up some steps at the back of this car park.
The path joins soon joins the road round the headland. There is a pavement for most of this part of the path, but there are a few places where you will need to walk in the edge of the road. As you round the corner, the path opens up onto a lovely seating area. Here there are several seats on well-kept grass, that descend towards Thatchers Rock, just off the coast. This area is really beautiful, with well kept gardens and flowers, and superb views of the coast around. Thatchers Rock is well used by sea birds and there are often a lot of them flying round the rock. The path continues at the bottom of this area, although it was quite overgrown here when I did the walk. You can choose to walk down to the end of the headland (Hope's Nose), from where there are again excellent views.
The path then follows the edge of the road (mostly on a raised path), before going off to the right, and through a wooded area onto Black Head and to Ansteys Cove. There is a steep path down to the beach at Ansteys Cove, which is well worth taking. The beach is rock and shingle, but the cove is very peaceful and beautiful. The cliffs of Long Quarry point are particularly attractive. Just round Devils Point is Redgate beach, and there is a walkway round the small cliff. Unfortunately, Torbay Council have closed Redgate beach (due to rock falls), so the path round the headland is now also closed. I think this is a great shame, as Redgate is an excellent beach. Hopefully the cliffs can be made safe and the beach re-opened in future.
If you climb down to the beach you have to make the steep climb back up, as the path now goes round the back of the beach, briefly joining the road. before coming out onto the grassy area of Walls Hill. There are excellent views from here of Babbacombe and Oddicombe beaches ahead, and onwards to Teignmouth and Dawlish. The path joins the road down to Babbacombe beach. Be warned, the road is very steep, so take care when walking down it. At the bottom there is a pub next to the beach. The beach consists of coarse sand. Once down onto the beach, there is a low level bath along the base of the cliffs round to nearby Oddicombe Beach. Oddicombe beach is larger than Babbacombe and holds a Blue Flag and Seaside Award. There is a seasonal cafe and toilets down on the beach.
There are a choice of ways to get back up again. For much of the year, there is a cliff railway that will take you back to the cliff top (for a small price). A bell is rung before the last train of the day runs. If the railway is not running, you need to take the path back up, that zig-zags up around the railway line. This is a quite steep path though, so again take care especially in Autumn when there are a lot of leaves on the path. There are pleasant gardens at the top, with many seats.
If you're returning to Torquay, there are very frequent buses. They go from the main road through Babbacombe (the A379) and there are several stops along the road. There are several bus numbers, but the most frequent services are 32, 33, 34 and 85 although between them, there will be a bus around every 5 minutes, so you shouldn't have to wait long.
Very frequent buses operate from St Marychurch and Babbacombe back to Torquay harbour. All the services are operated by Stagecoach Devon, and the most frequent services are 32, 33, 34 and 85. For more information, see the link below.
Here are some photos of the walk. Click a picture for a larger version and description.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ordnance Survey Landranger map 202 covers this area of the coast path and is available from most book shops nationwide. It is also stocked at the tourist information centre in Torquay.
Streetmap is a web site which provides maps of the UK, including around Torquay and Babbacombe. The links below will be of most use to the coast path from Torquay to Babbacombe. These maps join to provide the complete coast path between the two points.