Kingston lies shut away in a tangle of high-banked lanes, a South Hams village that retains a vigorous social life in and out of the holiday season.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window
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Crockers and Terrys lie companionably in the churchyard of St James the Less, our starting point for a walk along the coast of this isolated region of south Devon. In the ferny banks an astonishing treasury of flowers had responded to the mildness of this winter – herb robert, celandines, primroses, red campion and snowdrops all blooming together.
Between the leafless, wind-streamed trees of Furzedown Wood we caught glimpses of the tide-ribbed, dull gold sandflats and milky turquoise water of the Erme estuary, a snaking channel that reached its mouth between wooded headlands of black rock. Out on the coast a low wind brought a breath of winter in from the sea. The water lay slate-coloured under a grey sky streaked with pearly patches. Contorted cliff faces fell hundreds of feet to secret beaches and coves floored with tight-packed parallel lines of rock scars. A little back from the edge ran the path, swooping a couple of hundred feet into the green grassy dips, then soaring back up and over a succession of headlands.
It was heady walking, with the sea-monster shape of tidal Burgh Island as an aiming point ahead. The island’s Art Deco hotel gleamed in the muted winter light, an exotic morsel much picked over by guests both actual and apocryphal – Noel Coward, Winston Churchill, The Beatles and M. Hercule Poirot among them. We descended to the shore in Bigbury-on-Sea opposite Burgh Island’s other hostelry, the tiny old Pilchard Inn. Jane opted to cross the sandy causeway for a bowl of soup and a bit of a sit-down there, while I set off back to Kingston through the switchback fields and stream valleys of the hinterland.
By the time I’d fetched the car and negotiated the narrow lanes back to Bigbury-on-Sea, the tide had risen to cover the causeway. I watched as Jane came ashore on Burgh Island’s tall blue sea tractor, riding in state like Queen Suriyothai on her war elephant.
The Dolphin in Kingston is one of those pubs that draws you in on a cold winter’s night – a combination of lamp-lit windows, the promise of a pint and a plate of food, a cosy setting and the flicker of a real good fire. It was great to get the weight off our muddy feet and settle down there with the wind and rain shut out, the map spread on the table and a great day’s walking to chew over at leisure.
Start & finish: Dolphin Inn, Kingston, Bigbury, Devon TQ7 4QE (OS ref SX 636478)
Getting there: M5, A38 to Ivybridge turn; minor road to Ermington; A3121, A379 to Modbury; minor road to Kingston.
Walk (9 miles, strenuous, OS Explorer OL20): From Dolphin Inn, left past church. At crossroads, right (‘Wonwell Beach’). In ¼ mile, just past dogleg, left (632481; ‘Wonwell Beach’); follow fingerposts and yellow arrows/YAs over fields for ¾ mile, down through Furzedown Wood to road by Erme estuary (620478). Left for 150m; left up steps (‘Coast Path, Bigbury-on-Sea’). Follow coast path for 5 miles to Bigbury-on-Sea (if tide allows, cross sands causeway – 651442 – to Pilchard Inn – 648440).
Climb Parker Road; at top, through gate (653446; arrow, fingerpost/FP). On across fields; at end of 3rd field (658448), left downhill with fence on right (FP, ‘Ringmore’). Follow YAs, crossing lane at 656453, to Ringmore. At road, ahead to T-junction by church (653460). Right, then left up side of church. In 150m, left through kissing gate (653461; ‘Kingston’ FP). Diagonally right across field and through gate; follow YAs through gates and fields, turning left (650463) to descend to stream in valley. Bear right (648463) along stream, crossing it at ruined Noddonmill (649465); on (YA) along left bank of stream, into wood (very muddy!). In ¼ mile, steeply uphill out of trees; anti-clockwise round field to far right corner (645471; FP). Right along farm track. Round left bend, and turn right (644473; FP) across field to lane (643474). Left (YA) for 50m; right (FP) and follow YAs along field edges and through woodland to road (637476). Right to T-junction in Kingston (636477); right, then left to Dolphin Inn.
NB – Online map, more walks: www.christophersomerville.co.uk. Click on Facebook “Like” link to share this walk with Facebook friends.
Lunch: Pilchard Inn, Burgh Island (01548-810514; soup and baguettes only; if marooned by high tide, return ashore on Sea Tractor – £2– check times/tides in advance); Journey’s End Inn, Ringmore (01548-810205).
Accommodation: Dolphin Inn, Kingston (01548-810314); low beams, fires, good cheer – a community hub.
More info: Totnes TIC (01803-863168); www.visitdevon.co.uk
www.ramblers.org.uk www.satmap.com www.LogMyTrip.co.uk