Wanson and Bude to Northcott Mouth

/ 19/03/2022

If you are heading clockwise around the South West Coastal Path then after the heights of High Cliff this part will be a doddle. A lovely flatish section of coastal path, without the climbs and drops of the previous parts. A chance to walk along a beach as well, without worrying about the high cliff ahead. The walk itself has some lovely views, especially from the cliffs around Bude, and the walk back is very good, crossing a golf course and walking along a canal. Now canals in Devon and Cornwall are found as often as rocking horse poop, but Bude has one, and its a joy to walk it. The canal leaves the houses and harbour area quickly before finding itself out in fields on a meander through the countryside. After that I picked up a path which linked me back to Widemouth Bay and those glorious seaside views again. An absolute cracker of a walk some stunning views, with so much going for it and a want to carry on along this section, can’t wait to be back here.

Start – Wanson

Route – South West Coastal Path – Widemouth Bay – Salthouse – Efford Beacon – Compass Point – Bude Beach – Crooklets Beach – Northcott Mouth – Maer – Bude Golf Course – Bude Canal – Helebridge – Salthouse – Widemouth Bay – Wanson

Distance – 12.5 miles    Start time – 9.30am   Time taken – 5hrs 30mins  Highest Point – Nothing over 60 metres

Weather – Sunny, very windy

© Crown copyright 2022 Ordnance Survey FL 2022 SF
© Crown copyright 2022 Ordnance Survey FL 2022 SF
A scruffy start to a lovely walk. This is Wanson and where I ended my last coastal walk in this part (here). I’d noticed these laybys which made for a good place to start this walk.
Wanson Beach and some lovely sunshine, blue is the colour of the day
Oh wow, Widemouth Bay and a killer view
Looking back west to the Penhalt Cliffs and High Cliff area
On Widemouth Beach now, its always best to walk along the sand if you can
Glorious walking across here, I’m heading for the white buildings low down by the beach in the distance
At the top I put that it was very windy today, here it shows some of that. The top of the waves were being taken back out to sea, whipped away by the strong wind
Widemouth Bay and beach
Heading up to Lower Longbeak and the views are along the beach. Away on the right the furthest point sticking out is Cambeak which is near Crackington Haven
The large satellite dishes of GCHQ Morwenstow are in the distance looking north
A bit higher up, you can see clearly along this section the erosion taking place, the jagged edges of the cliffs giving it all away
Some stunning rocky scenery along here
GCHQ Morwenstow
The outskirts of Bude come into view now
Open grassy paths lead down to Bude and its harbour
A look back along the part already walked and again that rocky shoreline
Nearly at Bude now, I’ll head to the trig point over there first and then the ground starts to fall towards Bude
The trig point at Efford Beacon
Bude beach, or Bude Haven as it is marked on the maps
The tower at Compass Point, which naturally has the compass directions written across the top
The outdoor lido at Bude, quite a few either in it or warming up having been in it.
I’d stopped for a coffee and cake in a café at Crooklets Beach, before a short climb up to Maer Cliff. The distance views today weren’t great but still I’m not complaining with the sun out and it was reasonably warm, you can just make out Trevose Head in the distance now
Northcott Mouth with the path rising up to Menachurch Point beyond. This is as far as I went today, another 5 1/2 miles of the coastal path ticked off, now to turn inland and make my way back towards Bude
Mental note made for the future that this is a National Trust car park here, so free parking for me on the next leg along this part of the coast
Think that’s Poughill over there as I follow some lanes wriggling back towards Bude
Bude golf course, which is pretty much in the middle of the town
The River Neet running through the centre of Bude, I’m about to cross it on a bridge behind me before picking up the canal path out of Bude
Bude Canal, it was opened in the 1820s to take minerals and sand from the beach to the agricultural farms inland. It ran for 35 miles up to an altitude of 132metres from Bude to Druxton Wharf near to Launceston
Common Moorhen on the canal
Small tortoiseshell, in March!! Good job the celandine flowers are out already here
Nearing Helebridge now and I look back along the couple of miles of canal walking done
Some locks. Part of the raising of the canal up that 132metres
At Helebridge I turned right at a fishing lake to cross the farmland towards Salthouse. A glorious view to Widemouth Bay opens up as I reach the high point and start to drop down
Back on Widemouth Beach now, I stayed on the left hand edge this time, picking up the coastal path through the car parks
At the far end of Widemouth Beach now, looking back
Hazy views of Penhalt Cliffs
One last look at Widemouth Bay at the end of a superb walk in lovely weather. A perfect day out.

Related posts

12 thoughts on “Wanson and Bude to Northcott Mouth”

      • We camped in Dorset many years ago and visited Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove etc. Before my blogging days. And we’ve stayed in Cornwall nearish Bude but inland in a quirky Showman’s Wagon at Vintage Breaks in Rezare.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.