The walk file: Budleigh Salterton to Sidmouth

The easiest place to start this walk is Lime Kiln car park, at the eastern end of Budleigh Salterton’s expansive beach. However, if time allows, find a space in the centre of the genteel East Devon town and amble down its quaint high street to Marine Parade. There you’ll see the delightful beach and the equally pleasant River Otter, which is hugged by the South West Coast Path. Little egret, wildfowl and waders, redshank and curlew are just some of the bird life in abundance at the Otter estuary, a designated nature reserve.

Follow the path along the river and you’ll reach a bridge. Cross over, turn right and take the path over the red sandstone cliffs. The path veers left, giving excellent views of Lyme Bay. After about an hour of moderate going, with some steep climbs, you’ll reach Brandy Head Observation Hut, which opened for testing as an RAF gunnery in 1940. During the war local divers would collect gun cases when out scalloping, before selling them on the beach at nearby Ladram Bay.

Brandy Head derives its name from one of the West Country’s most lucrative former industries: smuggling. To reach the quintessential smuggler’s cove at Ladram, follow the path due east along an easy stretch of the South West Coast Path. It pays to slake one’s thirst here at The Three Rocks pub above the bay, because the ascent of Peak Hill is next. Press on east along the well marked path through the woods; if you feel up to the challenge, take the path on your right at a gap in the trees. This leads you, with calf-testing exactitude, to a trigonometry point high on the cliff of Peak Hill. Below, to the east, is Sidmouth’s famous landmark, Jacob’s Ladder. The path undulates over fields before a notoriously steep descent takes you to the top of the ladder and, at its foot, the welcome sand, shingle and stones of Sidmouth beach.

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The details

Beaches, birds and a smugglers’ cove

Start
Budleigh Salterton (SY067818)

Finish
Sidmouth

Length of walk
Six miles

Walkers’ pitstop
The Three Rocks, Ladram Bay

Website
www.ladrambay.co.uk