Shaldon

(S/E) From the northern end of Labrador Bay car park, join the footpath beyond the benches. Follow the path through a hand-gate and round to the right (listen/lookout for Cirl Buntings).

(1) At the end of the hedged section, turn left through a kissing gate next to a metal farm-gate. Follow the left-hand hedge with the sea on your right. Swing left towards the main road, then bear right around the top of the field.

Go through a kissing gate into woodland and turn left up steps to reach the main road (A379). Turn right along the pavement past a house entrance then turn right onto a path among some trees which shortly returns to the road.

(2) Turn right through a kissing gate and follow the field edge above the wooded cliffs. Descend then climb some wooden steps to a gate and bench. Continue through trees and then along the bottom of a golf course, before returning to the trees and descending to a sunken path.

(3) Turn right and descend towards the sea. To visit Ness Beach via the Smugglers’ Tunnel, turn left at the end of the car park on your left and bear right to find the tunnel entrance behind the public toilets; return the same way.

Continue along the coast path through the trees to a viewpoint surrounded by railings and overlooking Teignmouth. Bear left and follow a chain-link fence downhill before joining a surfaced path that runs in front of the Ness pub. Turn right and follow Marine Parade into Shaldon village.

(4) Just beyond the Clipper Café, turn right into Riverside and follow the road overlooking the estuary. Follow the road sharp left as it leaves the water, then turn right along Albion Street past St Peter’s Church to the end of the bridge.

Cross the main road and follow the embankment opposite, which eventually leaves the water by a slipway and exits between cottages to a road.

(5) Turn right along the road, passing Ringmore Towers, a turreted red-sandstone building, and the bottom of Salty Lane. After 300 yards, turn right into The Strand, a no-through road leading down to the water’s edge (at high tide the foreshore may be inaccessible, in which case continue along the road through the village to the Devon Valley entrance at waypoint (6) ).

From the end of The Strand, turn left along the foreshore and follow it around the projection of Gravel Point. 22 At a concrete slipway, turn left through a gate into Devon Valley holiday village. Turn right at the end of the car park, then left by the bar and takeaway to pass a swimming pool on your way out to the road. On reaching the public road, turn right.

(6) 100 yards from the Devon Valley entrance, opposite the next entrance to the holiday village, turn left into Dagra Lane, a rough track. The track ascends gradually between hedges, with occasional views down the estuary, then kinks right and left around a small wood.

At the end of the wood, in front of a gate, it again turns right then left. Ignore a similar track (Pegwell Lane) off to the left and follow Dagra Lane round another right- and left-hand bend to emerge on a metalled lane. Otherwise, for the direct route back to Labrador Bay car park, turn left and walk uphill.

(7) After 130 yards, by two houses either side of the road, turn right into Butterfly Lane, another rough track. Follow the track past a covered reservoir on the left and continue between brackeny hedges along a broad ridge. Ignore a track joining from the right after 1⁄2 mile, continuing ahead to meet a narrow lane just after a concrete trig point. Turn right and descend to the A387 coast road within sight of Labrador Bay car park. (S/E)

Parts of the coast path are steep and may be muddy in places. Part of the route may be inaccessible at high tide (though there is a road alternative – see map overleaf).

Car Park : The route starts from Labrador Bay car park and can be combined with the Stokeinteignhead & Maidencombe route (overleaf) for a 101⁄4-mile circuit.

To drive to the start (33⁄4 miles), turn right from the Cockhaven and drive down to the main road. Turn left towards Teignmouth for 13⁄4 miles, passing a Morrisons supermarket on your left. Turn right (A379 Shaldon & Torquay) and cross the Teign estuary. Bear right in Shaldon and follow the main road as it winds uphill out of the village. The car park is a further mile along the coast road, on the left (£1.20 per day as of 2019).

Pdf file : http://walksfromthedoor.co.uk/i/walks/De...

Cockhaven Arms
Bishopsteignton, Devon
TQ14 9RF
Tel 01626 77 52 52
Email contact@cockhavenarms.co.uk
Web www.cockhavenarms.co.uk

• The main remnant of the Bishop’s Palace, in use from the 13th to 16th centuries, is the former chapel, now incorporated into farm buildings.

• Ness Beach near Shaldon is excitingly approached via the Smugglers’ Tunnel; in reality, it was probably built to transport lime from the beach or as private access for a local aristocrat.

• The pretty village of Stokeinteignhead repays exploration.

• Wildlife: The Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus) is a rare relative of the Yellowhammer and a speciality of South Devon, where much work has been done to boost the population. Listen out for its rattling song from bushes and hedges around Labrador Bay and Stokeinteignhead.