With the ticks that were involved in my last walk, I decided (and was told) to stay away from Dartmoor! The obvious choice is to therefore head to the coast. I’ve been to Start Point before however I haven’t walked the coast from there to Lannacombe Beach, so this walk sorts that out. The weather started as forecast with some cloud, in fact in spots the cloud was low enough to be down on the headlands around these parts. However the sun got going and burnt through, leaving blue skies and a very hot afternoon, which wasn’t forecast! Its a lovely corner of Devon with some fine lanes to walk away from the coast and some nice seaside villages, heading up towards Slapton Sands.
| Start – Hallsands parking |
| Route – Hallsands village – Start Point parking – Start Point – The Narrows – Lannacombe Beach – Hollowcombe Head Cross – Hallsands |
| Distance – 4.5 miles Start time – 1pm Time taken – 2hrs 50mins Highest Point – Start Point car park 103metres |
| Weather – Cloud to start. Then very sunny and hot |
© Crown copyright 2020 Ordnance Survey FL 2020 SF
The beach at Hallsands looking north
The beach of Hallsands again, the car is parked down there and we have climbed up to walk the coastal path along to Start Point
This is a ruined village at Hallsands. They had a large stony beach here which was dredged and taken to Plymouth to expand the dockyard there in 1890. There were 150 residents in 30 odd houses, a pub and a fishing community. In 1917 a strong storm, high tide and easterly wind battered the village. A few residents remained but the village was lost to the sea. The path on the right with the handrails was put in in the 1990s and shows how the sea is still hammering this place. The loss of the beach is seen as the key point to this disaster
The lighthouse at Start Point ahead, the cloud is still fairly thick at this point
But its clearing now as I look back across Start Bay
The walkers
Glorious across Start Bay and getting warmer
The south side of Start Point. Black Rocks to the right
Prawle Point, where I walked a few weeks ago, is over there on the left
More lovely beaches in coves along this section
Heading towards Lannacombe Beach
And here it is, Lannacombe Beach. We turn inland along the lane now
We had a bit of a head dunk in the stream to cool off. And enjoyed the shade as we walked along the lane
After a bit of a search I found out that this one was a Scarlet Tiger Moth
I climbed that hill rising in the distance on my walk around Prawle Point
Tortoiseshell butterfly
At Hollowcombe Head Cross, the masts up there are near to Start Point car park
Heading down to Hallsands
Mitsui OSK Lines is the MOL. One of those huge ocean going carriers heading along the channel
And back at Hallsands beach. It was a hot finish but a great walk
treksandtors 
A fine bit of coast.
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Probably one of my first real stretches of the coastal path was at Start Point around 10 years ago. It was good to go back
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Back in the 1970s I used to meet lots of elderly Americans around there who’d trained in the area in the war, visiting the scene for the last time probably. Very evocative.
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Wow. The views of Start Bay are stunning. I’m amazed by how quiet the beaches were. We have more people on our ‘beach’ and it is not very sweet smelling mud. We haven’t visited the South-West since our kids were tiny – your tourist board should be subsidising your blog: I’m remembering how much I love the area.
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The coastal path is one of the great walks. Yes there are parts in towns but so much of it is like this and the north coast is better!!
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A beautiful walk with sea views. Good you chose a lesser tick busy road 🙂
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I’m planning walks away from the little terrors, otherwise this website would require a change to ticksandtors
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Really loving your coastal walks. I know the north coast reasonably well as I tend to head there for the waves to surf my kayak so these are reminding just how stunning the south coast is.
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The north coast is more rugged normally with a mix of dunes as well. I’ve enjoyed the south coast a lot this year. It going to take me a few years or ten but I plan on walking the whole coastal path. I’ve been to Cornwall today for another nice coastal bimble
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Beautiful photos, I love coastal walks.
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This is a great spot and occasionally you will see seals is the sea off Start Point
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A grand coastal walk. Never as easy as they look with all the ups and downs
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I think someone did a calculation of the South West Coastal Path being the same a 3 Everest ascents or something daft like that. When you walk it, it sure feels that way
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When we stayed in Lyme Regis a few years ago we walked two sections of the coastal path, one west and one east (over to Golden Cap) from Lyme and there were plenty of ups and downs, so I’m not surprised.
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