Day two of our stay in Bideford and we decided to just carry on from where we left off yesterday. We’d previously walked around to East Titchberry Farm, before heading inland and back to the car at Hartland. This time we parked at Brownsham (lots of National Trust car parks in this area, so I was pleased to make further use of the membership) and walked the lanes first to East Titchberry, having a break on a bench before starting out again along the coastal path. Again butterflies and bees were everywhere and if anything the number grew as we headed along the cliffs, culminating in a huge number on Beckland Cliff, a series of National Trust fields surrounded by wildflow borders. This was one of the highlights on this walk, quickly followed by a second, the view down to Blackchurch Rock when descending Windbury Head. All that was left was a steep climb back up to Brownsham Cliff and the short walk to the car. The next time we are here, will involve a walk to Clovelly from Brownsham and then completing the 10 miles from there to Westward Ho!
Start – Brownsham
Route – Beckland Cross – Fatacott Cross – Gawlish Bridge – East Titchberry Farm – South West Coastal Path – Gawlish Cliff – Fatacott Cliff – Exmansworthy Cliff – Beckland Cliff – Windbury Head – Brownsham
Distance – 8 miles Start time – 9.45am Time taken – 5hrs Highest Point – Beckland Cross 163 metres
Weather – Cloudy to start then sunshine on the coastal path
Info board at the car park, plenty of walks marked on the map if you wish to stay more locally than we didFields of cows in this area, luckily none that we needed to walk throughHeading right hereLots of lanes like this on our way to East TitchberryRed Admiral, got quite close to this one, can almost see up his right nostril😂Tunnel pathLinda walks the last of the lanes to East TitchberryWe see the radar station from yesterday, to get to this point we’d walked through a field or two of chicory, with its lovely blue flowers. The photos didn’t really do it justice.Coffee stop number one and a view across to Eldern PointAlways get small and large skipper butterflies mixed up. Think this is a large due the amount of brown around the end of the wingsErm two large whites, you know, doing their thingA Wall butterfly, I have seen one of these previously (on a wall funnily enough) but this one was amongst the vegetationThe 3 butterflies above were found along this section of the path, only 200-300 yards from the bench we sat at.Shipload Bay as we near Eldern PointPainted Lady at Eldern PointLooking across Gawlish Cliffs out to seaInland had a bit more cloud around and we watched as the small wispy clouds hit the land and formed into more substantial cloudsTrig Point on Fatacott CliffWe stopped near here for our lunch, with views across to the Ilfracombe areaThe point ahead holds Blackchurch Rock as we cross Exmansworthy CliffsLarge White butterflyWe reached Beckland Cliff and were confronted by a blaze of yellow with pops of purple, red and whiteSmall Copper on the yellow flowers, so many butterflies, bees, hover flies around hereExplanation board for the lovely wildflower borders, around 5 or 6 fields worthWe walked across an old settlement here, which was mostly lost and consisted of a few humps and bumps, but the views down to Mouth Mill were superbMouth Mill and Blackchurch Rock, the rock is called a starch (stack and an arch) and you can get down to it alongside a visit to the pebbly beach at Mouth MillWe dropped down from the previous photo to the trees down there and then began the immediate climb back up again to BrownshamOne last look at the stunning views out to seaOn the way back to the car the butterflies kept showing themselves for the camera, another Red AdmiralAnd this Silver Washed FritillaryA short bimble back through the woods to the car. A lovely two days around the Hartland Point area, and definitely one to come to if you are out this way, especially in the summer when the flowers and butterflies are out.
Just a perfect walk. The wildflower borders are a lovely idea. And you certainly saw an impressive array of butterflies. I am jealous of your Painted Lady sighting. Haven’t seen one for a couple of years.
treksandtors 
What lovely weather you had too 🙂
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A wonderful haul of butterflies
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Its been a bumper summer for them
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A relief after last year
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Blue skies and butterflies. What could be better? xx
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It was perfect and by a lovely bit of coast as well
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What a beautiful walk, and always so good to see so many butterflies 🙂
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Just a perfect walk. The wildflower borders are a lovely idea. And you certainly saw an impressive array of butterflies. I am jealous of your Painted Lady sighting. Haven’t seen one for a couple of years.
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Yes I loved the wild borders, so many bees as well which can only be a good thing
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The wildflowers on this walk really made the day. My other half tried to grow some in our garden and failed spectacularly!
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They were a real bonus, the yellow seemed to stretch on for miles when looking along the fields. A brilliant idea
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Nice walk. I love the field full of wildflowers.
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They were absolutely lovely, and a very good idea
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