Hidden Gem in Devon

Crackington Haven on the north Cornish coast is one of the finest small coves in Cornwall, a sheltered beach of dark sand and rock backed by the dramatic Carboniferous rock strata of the surrounding cliffs whose combination of the beach, the coastal walking and the extraordinary geological formations visible in the cliff faces creates one of the most geologically distinctive beach destinations on the north Cornish coast. The cliff geology here is among the most complex and most visually dramatic on the entire Cornish coast, the ancient Carboniferous rocks folded and contorted into spectacular patterns. The cliffs at Crackington Haven expose a sequence of alternating shales and sandstones known as the Crackington Formation, a geological unit that takes its name from this specific location and represents the defining rock type of the high coastal cliffs of north Cornwall and north Devon. The folding and faulting of this formation, clearly visible in the cliff faces on either side of the cove, provides one of the most instructive and most accessible examples of complex geological deformation in the southwest and the dramatic visual patterns of the folded strata have made Crackington a destination for geology students and enthusiasts. The coastal path from Crackington Haven traverses some of the finest cliff scenery on the north Cornish coast, the High Cliff to the south being the highest sea cliff in Cornwall at approximately 223 metres and the views along the coast in both directions being exceptional. The beach itself provides good bathing in summer and excellent rock pooling at low tide.

Wistman's Wood on the west side of the River Dart in the heart of Dartmoor is one of the most extraordinary and most atmospheric fragments of ancient woodland in Britain, a relic of the original high-level oak woodland that covered Dartmoor after the last Ice Age, the stunted and contorted pedunculate oak trees growing in the shelter of the granite clitter boulders at an altitude where woodland would normally be impossible. The combination of the gnarled trees draped in moss and lichen, the massive granite boulders between which the roots wind and grip and the isolation of the high moor creates a woodland experience unlike any other available in England. The trees of Wistman's Wood are among the oldest in the British uplands, many estimated to be several hundred years old despite their small size, the combination of altitude, wind exposure and the thin soils between the boulders limiting their growth to a twisted and ancient-seeming form quite unlike the upright oaks of the lowland woodland. The moss and lichen communities on the trees and boulders are among the most diverse and most ancient in the southwest, reflecting the very high atmospheric humidity and clean air of this remote moorland location. The wood features prominently in Dartmoor folklore as a place of dark character, associated with the Wild Hunt and with supernatural occurrences in a way that reflects the human response to a woodland of genuinely unusual and rather sinister aspect. The walk across the open moor from the Two Bridges road to the wood takes approximately thirty minutes and the sense of arrival at this unexpected and otherworldly place after the open moorland crossing is one of the finest natural heritage experiences on Dartmoor.

Badgworthy Water in the Exmoor National Park, the location of the fictional Doone Valley of R D Blackmore's celebrated novel Lorna Doone published in 1869, provides one of the most rewarding walking destinations in Exmoor, a long valley walk through heather moorland and ancient oak woodland beside a stream of considerable beauty whose association with one of the most popular novels of the Victorian period has made it a place of literary pilgrimage since the book's publication. The walk from Malmsmead through Badgworthy Wood and up the valley to the medieval village site on the moor provides the complete Doone Country experience. Blackmore's novel, set in the seventeenth century and involving the outlawed Doone clan who terrorised the Exmoor moorland from their hidden valley, drew on the landscape of this specific valley while considerably embellishing its historical basis. The novel created an enduring Exmoor mythology that has made this remote section of the national park one of the most visited, and the combination of the literary association and the genuine beauty of the valley justifies that reputation. The medieval deserted settlement visible as earthworks in the upper valley is sometimes identified as the site of the Doone village of the novel, though the historical Doones are far less substantial than Blackmore's fiction suggests. The watersmeet of Badgworthy Water with the Lankcombe Brook, set among ancient sessile oaks of great character, is the finest single landscape feature of the valley walk and one of the most beautiful woodland stream settings on Exmoor.

Gorran Haven is one of the most perfectly scaled and most authentic small fishing coves on the south Cornish coast, a community of granite and slate cottages around a small harbour on the bay between Dodman Point and the Roseland Peninsula whose combination of the working character, the excellent beach on the north side of the harbour and the relative lack of large-scale tourist development compared with more celebrated Cornish villages preserves a quality of genuine coastal community life that more visited places have lost. The village has been home to a fishing community since at least the medieval period and the boats that still work the bay for crab and lobster maintain a connection to this tradition. The beach at Gorran Haven on the north side of the harbour, a sheltered arc of sand enclosed between the rocky headlands, provides excellent bathing in clean water and the combination of the beach and the harbour creates a compact coastal experience that contains everything that visitors seek from a Cornish coastal village without the scale that transforms charm into congestion. The harbour wall, from which crabbing is a popular activity for children, provides the social centre of the village on summer days. The coastal path from Gorran Haven in both directions provides excellent walking on the south Cornish coast, the Dodman Point headland to the south providing one of the finest clifftop experiences on the south coast path and the route north toward the Roseland Peninsula passing through some of the most beautiful and least visited sections of the Cornish coast.

Hope Cove on the South Hams coast of Devon is a small and exceptionally beautiful fishing village of two communities, Inner Hope and Outer Hope, set in a sheltered bay beneath the great headland of Bolt Tail whose combination of the thatched cottages, the small harbour, the excellent beaches on both sides of the headland and the coastal walking on the South West Coast Path creates one of the most completely satisfying small coastal destinations in south Devon. The village has been a fishing settlement since at least the medieval period and the boats working from the harbour maintain this tradition. The two coves of Hope Cove, separated by the harbour headland, provide different beach characters. The Inner Hope cove, sheltered and small, provides the most intimate beach experience and the best view of the thatched village cottages. The Outer Hope beach, exposed to the southwest, provides excellent sand and swimming in calmer conditions with the dramatic cliff of Bolt Tail visible to the south. The combination of the two coves in a single visit provides a varied beach experience in a setting of considerable natural beauty. The South West Coast Path running from Bolt Tail to Bolberry Down and beyond provides some of the finest coastal walking in the South Hams, the great sweep of Bigbury Bay visible from the headlands and the continuous cliff scenery of the Devon coast providing walking of exceptional quality in both directions from the village.

Watersmeet in the East Lyn Valley near Lynmouth in Exmoor National Park is the meeting point of the East Lyn River and Hoar Oak Water, a confluence of two fast-flowing streams in a deep wooded gorge of exceptional beauty managed by the National Trust. The combination of the wooded gorge, the rushing streams and the Victorian fishing lodge at the confluence, now serving as a National Trust café, creates one of the most rewarding and most consistently visited short walks on Exmoor. The gorge of the East Lyn is one of the finest examples of Atlantic oakwood in the national park, its sessile oak woodland thriving in the humid, sheltered conditions of the valley and creating the layered, moss-covered character of a genuinely ancient woodland. The valley sides above the path are steep and wooded throughout, and the combination of the rushing water, the mature oak trees and the narrow rocky path provides an experience of enclosed natural drama characteristic of the Exmoor gorge woodlands. The 1952 Lynmouth flood, in which the East Lyn River rose catastrophically following exceptional rainfall on Exmoor and destroyed much of the village of Lynmouth below, was one of the most destructive natural disasters in post-war Britain. The power of the river that now runs peacefully below the Watersmeet path is fully comprehensible after understanding what this valley can contain in extreme conditions. The walk from Lynmouth up the East Lyn valley to Watersmeet and return provides one of the most rewarding short walks on Exmoor, the combination of the woodland, the water and the gorge scenery providing a complete valley experience.