Other in Devon

Brown Willy is the highest point in Cornwall at 420 metres, a moorland tor on Bodmin Moor that rises above the surrounding peat bog and rough grassland to provide the most elevated viewpoint on the peninsula. Despite its modest altitude by the standards of the Welsh or Scottish hills, Brown Willy has the quality of genuine upland terrain, the exposed granite summit rising from a plateau of waterlogged moorland that can be demanding to cross in wet conditions and that provides a genuine sense of wild country in the heart of the Cornish peninsula. The name Brown Willy derives from the Cornish Bronn Wennili, meaning swallow's hill or breast of swallows, a name that reflects the Celtic language origins of Cornish place names on the moor and the long human history of this upland landscape that extends from the Neolithic period through Bronze Age settlements to the medieval and early modern tin mining and farming communities that worked the moor until relatively recent times. The Bronze Age settlements on Bodmin Moor, including the remarkable village and field system at Rough Tor nearby, are some of the best-preserved in Britain. Rough Tor, which lies close to Brown Willy and is in some ways a more interesting summit, is a great rocky outcrop on the neighbouring hill that provides dramatic viewpoints over the surrounding moor and contains the traces of a Neolithic enclosure and Bronze Age cairns and hut circles that make it one of the most archaeological-rich upland areas in Cornwall. The two summits are usually walked together from the car park at Roughtor Farm, providing a circuit of approximately five kilometres across classic Cornish moorland. Bodmin Moor as a whole provides a very different experience of Cornwall from the coastal attractions for which the county is most famous, its dark, open landscape of granite tors and peat bog offering solitude and natural beauty of an austere, northern character that surprises many visitors to what they expect to be a purely coastal county.

The Bude Sea Pool is one of the largest and most spectacular tidal swimming pools in Britain, a natural rock enclosure on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall near the town of Bude that has been improved and maintained since the 1930s to create a seawater bathing facility of exceptional quality. The pool fills naturally with fresh seawater on each tidal cycle, replenishing the water completely and maintaining the clean, clear Atlantic water quality for which the Bude coast is renowned. At high water the pool merges almost completely with the sea beyond its walls, making it one of the most dramatically exposed coastal bathing environments in England. The pool covers approximately a hectare in area and is large enough for serious lap swimming as well as recreational bathing, a scale that makes it genuinely unusual among British sea pools. The combination of the clean Atlantic water, the dramatic coastal setting with the cliffs of Compass Point and the Bude Canal behind, and the generally reliable surf conditions visible on the beach just beyond the pool wall create a bathing environment that is both practically excellent and aesthetically thrilling. The pool is used year-round by local swimmers and open water swimmers who appreciate the predictability of pool-swimming with the natural water quality and temperature of the sea. Bude itself is a small town on the north Cornish coast that has been a modest seaside resort since the Victorian period, its main attraction being the combination of the sea pool, the excellent surf beaches of Bude Bay, the Bude Canal and the coastal walking available on either side of the town along the South West Coast Path. The Bude marshes behind the town provide a nature reserve of some ecological interest and the contrast between the wild Atlantic coast and the quieter canal and marsh landscape inland gives the town a varied character unusual for a small seaside resort. The Bude Sea Pool is free to use and is one of the genuine pleasures of a coastal character that is maintained and enjoyed by the local community as well as visitors.

Heddon Valley lies within Exmoor National Park on the north Devon coast, sheltered between high wooded hillsides that fall steeply towards the Bristol Channel. It is one of the most beautiful and unspoiled small valleys in southwest England, a place where ancient oak woodland, clear rivers and dramatic coastal scenery combine within a compact landscape that rewards exploration on foot. The valley follows the course of the River Heddon as it descends from the Exmoor plateau through dense sessile oak woodland before meeting the sea at Heddon's Mouth, a secluded rocky cove accessible only on foot. The oak woodland clothing the valley sides is ancient and ecologically rich, a remnant of the native woodland that once covered much of this coastline. The trees support an intricate community of lichens, mosses and ferns that flourish in the valley's moist, sheltered microclimate, and the dappled light through the oak canopy creates an atmosphere of genuine wildness even in high summer. The National Trust manages most of the valley and has developed a network of well-maintained footpaths that allow walkers to explore at their own pace. The main valley walk follows the River Heddon downstream from the car park at Heddon's Gate, passing through old coppiced woodland and across wooden footbridges to reach the shore. The round trip to Heddon's Mouth and back takes around two hours at a comfortable pace and is suitable for most walkers. More ambitious walkers can continue from the valley along sections of the South West Coast Path, which runs along the clifftop above. The coastal section between Heddon's Mouth and Combe Martin to the east, or toward Lynton to the west, is among the most dramatic walking on the entire South West Coast Path. The cliffs here are among the highest on the English coast, and the views across the Bristol Channel towards South Wales can be exceptional on a clear day. The Hunter's Inn, a Victorian hunting lodge converted to a hotel and pub, sits at the valley bottom near the car park and provides welcome refreshments after a walk. A small population of fallow deer can sometimes be spotted in the woodland, and kingfishers have been recorded along the river. The valley also provides habitat for pied flycatchers, wood warblers and other summer migrants that arrive to breed in the oak woodland. Heddon Valley is close to the twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth, which together offer the extraordinary cliff railway, several good cafés and excellent access to the broader Exmoor National Park landscape.

Lundy Island lies in the Bristol Channel approximately 18 kilometres off the North Devon coast and is one of the most distinctive and rewarding island destinations in Britain. Three miles long and about half a mile wide, the island rises to granite cliffs some 120 metres above the sea on its western side while the eastern shore slopes more gently to a small beach and landing beach. Its very remoteness, enforced by the channel crossing and the absence of cars on the island, makes Lundy genuinely unlike anywhere else on the British coast. The island's name comes from the Old Norse for puffin, and seabirds remain one of the principal reasons visitors make the journey. Puffins, razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes and Manx shearwaters all nest on the island's cliffs and ledges, while peregrine falcons hunt along the clifftops. The waters surrounding Lundy were designated as England's first statutory Marine Conservation Zone in 2010, and the exceptional quality of the underwater environment supports populations of grey seals, reef fish, sponges, anemones and cold-water corals that make it one of the finest snorkelling and diving locations in the country. The island's human history is appropriately colourful. It was used as a base for pirates and smugglers throughout the medieval and early modern periods, and the cave-riddled cliffs provided excellent hiding places for contraband. The Marisco family, who held the island during the thirteenth century, were eventually hanged for piracy and treachery against the crown. Later inhabitants included eccentric Victorian squire William Heaven, who managed the island with such absolute authority that he became known as the King of Lundy. The island even issued its own stamps, which are still collected by philatelists worldwide. The island is managed today by the Landmark Trust, which maintains 23 properties available for holiday rental ranging from the Castle to converted lighthouse cottages. Day visitors arrive by ferry from Bideford or Ilfracombe during the summer season and are free to explore the island's farms, footpaths and wildlife habitats. The Marisco Tavern, the island's only pub, provides food, accommodation and the social centre for both residents and visitors.

Salcombe Castle, also known as Fort Charles, is a ruined sixteenth-century blockhouse at the entrance to the Salcombe estuary in Devon, built by Henry VIII as part of the national coastal defence programme that created a chain of artillery forts around the English coastline in the 1540s and 1550s in response to the threat of French and Spanish invasion. The castle was one of the last of the English Civil War fortifications to surrender to Parliamentary forces in 1646, earning the town of Salcombe the distinction of holding out longer than almost any other Royalist stronghold in the country. The ruins are modest, but the estuary setting at the mouth of one of the most beautiful river estuaries in southwest England provides an attractive coastal heritage destination. Salcombe town above the estuary is one of the most fashionable sailing and holiday towns in Devon, celebrated for its exceptional sailing waters, excellent seafood and outstanding natural scenery.

Salcombe is one of the most beautiful and sought-after harbours on the south Devon coast, a sheltered estuary town that combines maritime heritage, superb sailing waters and the kind of compact, well-preserved Victorian seaside character that makes it immediately attractive. The town sits at the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, a drowned river valley or ria that creates a network of sheltered inlets reaching deep into the South Hams countryside, providing some of the finest sailing and small-boat waters in the southwest of England. The estuary's natural shelter from the Atlantic swell and its extensive navigable waters have made Salcombe a centre for pleasure boating, yacht chartering and watersports for well over a century. The approach to the harbour by sea, through the narrow bar at the mouth where the estuary meets the English Channel, has a certain drama: the bar can be treacherous in onshore conditions, and vessels approaching in difficult weather must time their entry carefully. Within the harbour the contrast between the sparkling water, the green hillsides and the colourful buildings of the town is immediately appealing. The town's history is closely bound with the sea. In the nineteenth century Salcombe was a significant centre for the building of fast, light sailing vessels known as Salcombe Fruiters, schooners designed for the rapid transport of fruit from the Mediterranean, Azores and West Indies that needed to reach English ports before their cargo deteriorated. The speed and seakeeping qualities of these vessels earned them a considerable reputation, and the men who sailed them a particular expertise in working the tides and weather of the western approaches. The beaches within and around the estuary are exceptional. North Sands and South Sands beaches provide safe bathing within the estuary, while the more exposed beaches on the coast to either side, including Soar Mill Cove and Bolt Head, are reachable on foot along the South West Coast Path that runs along the stunning cliff scenery of this stretch of the Devon coast. The coastal path between Salcombe and Hope Cove is particularly dramatic, passing along clifftops with views across Bigbury Bay. The town's excellent selection of restaurants, the ferry crossings to sandy beaches on the opposite shore and the general atmosphere of unhurried coastal enjoyment make Salcombe one of the most popular, if increasingly expensive, summer destinations in Devon.

The Eden Project in Cornwall is one of the most ambitious and successful environmental visitor attractions in the world, an extraordinary garden and educational destination built within the enormous pit left by a former china clay quarry near St Austell. Opened in 2001, the project was created by entrepreneur Tim Smit and a team of designers, horticulturalists and engineers to tell the story of the relationship between plants and people and to make the case for environmental sustainability through direct experience rather than abstract argument. The most immediately striking features of the site are the two great Biomes: transparent geodesic dome structures covering approximately 3.9 hectares that create enclosed climate-controlled environments for plant communities from different world regions. The Rainforest Biome, the largest greenhouse in the world, maintains the temperature and humidity of a tropical rainforest and contains a towering collection of trees, climbers, epiphytes and understory plants from the rainforest regions of West Africa, Malaysia and South America. Visitors walk through this space on paths that pass beneath the forest canopy and provide close-up views of the extraordinary diversity of tropical plant life. The Mediterranean Biome replicates the warm, seasonally dry climate found around the Mediterranean basin, in California, South Africa and southern Australia, supporting a collection that includes ancient olive trees, citrus groves, proteas, succulents and the characteristic fragrant shrubs of the Mediterranean garrigue. The contrast between the two environments and the ways in which different plant communities have evolved to manage heat, cold, drought and flooding provides a concentrated lesson in the diversity of plant adaptation strategies. Beyond the Biomes, the outdoor gardens fill the quarry floor with plants and cultivated landscapes representing different farming systems, pollinator gardens, temperate and UK native habitats. Art installations, educational displays and seasonal events make the site rewarding throughout the year and in different weather conditions. The quarry setting itself is part of the appeal: the white clay cliffs surrounding the garden are visible throughout, reminding visitors that this extraordinary place was created on land that had been industrially exhausted and apparently written off as a wasteland.

Tintagel on the north Cornish coast is one of England's most atmospheric and legend-laden locations, a windswept headland village inseparably associated with the mythology of King Arthur and the dramatic ruins of a medieval castle that stands on a rocky promontory above the Atlantic Ocean. Whether or not a historical Arthur ever existed, and whether Tintagel has any genuine connection to the story, the place has been considered his birthplace since the twelfth-century historian Geoffrey of Monmouth placed the conception of the legendary king here, and subsequent centuries of storytelling, poetry and tourism have embedded this connection so deeply in the landscape that it is impossible to experience Tintagel without feeling the weight of the mythological tradition. Tintagel Castle ruins stand on an exposed headland almost cut off from the mainland by coastal erosion, accessed via a dramatic rebuilt bridge that replaced the ancient crossing and descends steeply to the promontory from both sides. The ruins themselves date primarily from the thirteenth century when the castle was built by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of King Henry III, who may have chosen this dramatic location partly for its Arthurian associations. Recent archaeological excavations have revealed evidence of a high-status settlement of the fifth and sixth centuries AD on the headland, roughly contemporary with the period in which a historical Arthur might have lived if such a person existed, and the discovery of a slate slab bearing the Latin inscription Artognov (a personal name related to Arthur) has excited archaeologists and disappointed those hoping for a definitive confirmation in equal measure. The village itself, a pleasant collection of cottages and tourist-oriented shops along the road leading from the main car park to the castle headland, provides the services that the steady flow of visitors requires. The Old Post Office, managed by the National Trust, is a medieval stone-built building of considerable charm that provides a genuine architectural connection to the pre-tourist history of the village. The coastal scenery surrounding Tintagel is spectacular. The cliffs to both north and south are among the highest and most dramatically eroded on the Cornish coast, and the South West Coast Path provides exceptional walking in either direction.

Torquay Harbour sits at the heart of one of the most attractive seaside towns on the south Devon coast, the principal resort of the English Riviera, a string of three Torbay towns whose mild climate, sheltered coastline and abundance of palm trees have justified the Mediterranean comparison since Victorian leisure tourism transformed this stretch of coast in the mid-nineteenth century. The harbour is the social and visual centre of Torquay, its marina surrounded by restaurants, bars and hotels occupying the elegant Victorian and Edwardian buildings that reflect the town's prosperous resort history. The harbour developed from a modest fishing anchorage in the late eighteenth century as the town's fortunes grew. The arrival of the railway in 1848 and the patronage of wealthy Victorian visitors seeking the health benefits of the coastal climate and the scenery drove rapid development that gave Torquay its grand villas, promenading spaces and theatrical seafront architecture. The town's character as a fashionable resort was established in the Victorian period and, though much has changed, something of that character persists in the better-preserved quarters of the town above the harbour. Torquay's most famous daughter is Agatha Christie, who was born in the town in 1890 and retained connections to it throughout her life. The Agatha Christie Mile, a self-guided trail through the town, connects places associated with her life and the locations that inspired her work. The Torquay Museum holds a permanent collection related to Christie and the town hosts an annual Agatha Christie festival that draws visitors from around the world. The harbour waterfront provides pleasant walking, with views across Tor Bay toward Paignton and Brixham and out into the Channel beyond. Boat trips from the harbour include cruises along the coast, fishing trips and seasonal services to Brixham. The natural harbour of Torbay itself provides sheltered water for sailing and water sports, and the beaches immediately north and south of the harbour offer good bathing in the calm summer waters of the bay.

The Valley of the Rocks near Lynton on the North Devon coast is one of the most extraordinary dry valley landscapes in England, a dramatic rocky gorge running parallel to the coastline and separated from the sea by only a narrow ridge of contorted sandstone and slate, its floor strewn with massive frost-shattered boulders and its ridgeline marked by a series of rock towers with names like Castle Rock, Ragged Jack and the Devil's Cheesewring that reflect both the dramatic character of the landscape and the imagination of those who named them. The valley is unusual in geological terms: it runs parallel to the coast rather than perpendicular to it, and it is dry, lacking any stream in its floor despite the obvious work of water erosion in its formation. The current understanding is that the valley was cut by a river during the Pleistocene period when sea level was substantially lower than today, and that the subsequent rise in sea level after the last Ice Age cut off the river's coastal outlet and diverted it away from the valley, leaving the gorge abandoned and dry. The angular, frost-fractured character of the rocks scattered through the valley reflects the periglacial conditions of the Ice Age when repeated freeze-thaw cycles shattered the bedrock into the chaotic boulder fields still visible today. A herd of feral wild goats has inhabited the Valley of the Rocks and the surrounding coastal cliffs for as long as records exist, and their ancestors were probably here considerably longer. The goats, shaggy and long-horned, add an appropriately elemental quality to the landscape and can often be seen picking their way across the rock faces with the casual contempt for exposure that only a goat can project. They are entirely wild and should not be approached, but can often be observed at close range from the paths through the valley. The South West Coast Path passes through the valley and continues along the clifftops in both directions, providing connecting walks to Lynmouth below and Woody Bay to the west. Coleridge and Southey planned an epic poem, The Wanderings of Cain, during a visit to the valley in 1797.

Wistman's Wood on the high moorland of Dartmoor National Park near Two Bridges is one of the most ancient and atmospheric fragments of natural woodland surviving in southern Britain, a grove of stunted, moss-draped pedunculate oaks clinging to a boulder-strewn hillside at an altitude of approximately 380 metres where the harsh conditions of the high moor have produced a woodland of extraordinary character. The trees, which would be sizeable forest specimens in a more sheltered valley setting, have been dwarfed by the wind, poor soil and high rainfall of the moorland to a height of rarely more than seven metres, their gnarled trunks and twisted branches creating a landscape of considerable visual power. The clitter, or boulder field, within which the trees grow provides the conditions for the wood's survival at this altitude. The large Dartmoor granite boulders offer protection for tree seedlings from grazing animals and from the worst of the moorland weather, and the moisture retained between the boulders supports the luxuriant growth of mosses, lichens and ferns that cover every available surface within the wood. The effect is one of absolute verdancy in an otherwise austere moorland setting: the interior of Wistman's Wood is green and dripping even in dry weather, the mosses holding moisture like sponges and creating a micro-climate considerably warmer and more humid than the open moor outside. The antiquity of the wood is difficult to establish precisely, but pollen analysis from nearby peat deposits indicates that oak woodland has been present in this location for at least 7,000 years, connecting the existing trees to a woodland tradition extending back to the period immediately after the last Ice Age. Individual trees within the wood may be several hundred years old. The wood has a powerful atmosphere that has generated folk associations with the supernatural throughout its recorded history. Local tradition associated it with the Wisht Hounds, spectral black dogs said to pursue the souls of the unbaptised across the moor, and Arthur Conan Doyle's Dartmoor research almost certainly encountered this tradition before The Hound of the Baskervilles was published.