Cornwall Border to Bude, Cornwall
This is 8 mile stretch of coast and is a pretty strenuous introduction
to the Cornish Coastal path
- mile 0 - 2
- Marsland Mouth on the Devon Cornwall border is not the easiest
of places to get to. By road you go to Welcombe Mouth and follow the path
for steep 1/2 mile to get to the actual county border. There are four steep
coombes to go down and up in the first two miles. But you do have the reward
of some fantastic coastal scenery. Off shore is the twisted strata of Gull
Rock, with Lundy Island also visible to the north
- As you approach Henna Cliff, you can detour half a mile inland
to visit Morwenstow church and village. In the 19th century and eccentric
parson, Rev R S Hawker, put the village on the map, with his efforts
to rescue shipwrecked sailors and prevent looting. Many drowned mariners are
buried in the graveyard.
- As you re-join the coastal path, you will see, on the side
of the cliff, the hut that Rev Hawker built out of driftwood, where he sat
to write his poetry.
- On past the viewpoint at Higher Sharpnose Point. The fourth
steep descent and climb is at Stanbury mouth after two miles
 |
 |
 |
|
Cliffs north of Duckpool
|
On the cliffs
|
Coombe Valley
|
- mile 2 - 4
- This section is dominated by the Satellite Tracking Station
on the cliff tops. The path goes through the site of an old army camp, and
past a disused Coast Guard lookout house before dropping down into the Coombe
Valley and the sandy beach at Duckpool. The farm above the valley to the south
has some stables that are all that remains of a 17th century manor belonging
to the Grenville family ( Sir Richard Grenville was immortalised in the poem
about the Revenge)
- The path rises, then falls again to Sandy Mouth, a popular
tourist beach in summer
 |
|
 |
|
Duckpool Beach
|
|
Cliffs south from Duckpool
|
- mile 4 - 6
- From Sandy Mouth the walking becomes easier, and it is only
a mile to Northcott Mouth, another sandy beach. At low tide you can walk in
to Bude for a mile along the sands
- Otherwise continue along Maer Cliff.
 |
 |
 |
| North of Bude |
Bude Beach |
Bude Breakwater to the south |
- mile 6 - 8
- After a mile you come to the small seaside town of Bude.
A population of 5,500, grows significantly in the summer with visitors in
the many hotels in the town.
- The main thing you will notice, after leaving the wide sandy
beach, is the Bude Canal. It was built in 1824 to transport sand to Holsworthy,
to improve the farmland there. Today the canal is not navigable, and only
exists for a few miles round Bude The castle is now council offices.
- The coast path continues on the south side of Bude. There
are various interesting rock formations, which have resulted from the sea
and the wind removing the softer shale, and leaving the harder sandstone as
bands of upstanding rock
-
And if you want to learn more about Cornwall,
then try our Cornish information site, Cornwall Calling
Cornwall Coast - your guide to the Cornish Coastal
Path