Minehead to Porlock: South West Coast Path Day 1 Guide

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The start of seven weeks and over seven hundred miles of walking was, as these things often are, pretty low key.

It was early August, and Lauren and I had spent the previous few days on holiday in Somerset and North Devon with her parents. After a tasty breakfast at Toddy’s in what passes for Minehead’s town centre, we all wandered down to the promenade that stretches from one end of the beach to the other.

In one direction lay the country’s longest and hardest National Trail, while in the other lay a very large Butlins holiday park. They both presented their own unique set of challenges, but I was only mentally strong enough to tackle one of them.

After many photos in front of the impressive sculpture that marks the start point, we said our goodbyes, hoisted our packs, and set off under heavy clouds that couldn’t dampen my mood no matter how hard they tried.

I look back at those photos now and the main thing that springs to mind is just how clean and fresh-faced I look. Neither of those attributes would last much longer.

Following metal shells inlaid into the footpath that looked for all the world like the waymarks on the Camino de Santiago, we ambled our way out of town. The first mile or so was flat and easy, one of the very few times I’d be using either word for the next 49 days.

Passing a tent pitched directly alongside a stern “No Camping” sign, I’ll admit to getting unreasonably excited about the first wooden Coast Path marker I’d seen, which let me know that we’d covered a full quarter-mile so far. Only 629¾ miles to go!

Just as we were starting to remark how nice it was to be strolling along beside the water, the path took a sharp left and headed in zig-zags up onto the cliffs. This was the first steep climb of the South West Coast Path. It would not, dear reader, be the last.

The path eventually flattened out as we reached the top of the ridgeline, and as if to reward us, the clouds started to break up and the sun tried its hardest to shine through. Sometimes it even succeeded, making the expansive views over the ocean to our right and colourful moorland flowers in every other direction look even prettier than they would have an hour earlier.

We’d seen a few other people on the trail around Minehead but they soon disappeared, probably in search of a coffee or a pint. I’d have been happy with either, but with no shops or services until Bossington right near the end, I had to make do with rapidly-warming water from my repurposed Sainsbury’s bottle instead. It really wasn’t the same.

We stayed up on the cliffs for the next couple of hours, albeit with the occasional taste of the South West Coast Path’s least-endearing most well-known feature: dropping steeply down into a valley only to immediately climb back up the other side.

None of them were especially difficult, at least by the standards of what lay ahead in the coming days and weeks, but they were still enough to work up a sweat in the muggy conditions. The paths were in good condition, at least: it had been a long, hot summer, and there hadn’t been any significant rain for quite a while.

Our first glimpses of Bossington and Porlock crept up on us. One minute we were looking at the same heather-and-ocean-filled view that had entertained us since leaving Minehead, the next we’d arrived at Hurlstone Point, where a long shingle beach and wide, flat valley sprawled out below us.

To get there we had a choice of two routes, so of course we chose the wrong one, accidentally starting off on the steep but sheltered ‘alternative’ route down Hurlstone Coombe.

After realising this wasn’t really where we wanted to be and grudgingly retracing our steps back up the path, we found the ‘official’ route nearby that took us down past the old coastguard building instead.

Hint: if you’re planning to do the same (and you should, if it’s not too windy), stay on the right-hand trail out onto the point, then briefly turn back on yourself to follow the acorn sign down a switchbacked path around the point and past the stone coastguard building.

After a brief look inside the building (there’s nothing there), we followed the path steeply down the cliff to sea level, where it joined up with the alternative route we’d abandoned earlier.

At that point we were almost done for the day. The track meandered slightly inland to cross a stream in the little hamlet of Bossington, just before a National Trust carpark and cafe. With no need for either, we carried on towards Porlock for 20 minutes before turning off the trail onto a public footpath that soon became Sparkhayes Lane, home to our campsite for the night.

We’d deliberately planned for a short day to start things off: with the better part of two months of walking ahead, blowing ourselves up on the first day didn’t seem like the smartest idea. We hadn’t been in a hurry either, spending nearly five hours walking the eight or so miles to the campsite.

That’s not really a reflection of the difficulty; we’d just taken plenty of breaks, the occasional wrong turn, and dozens of photos along the way. Even so, after pitching the tent and having a shower, I was very much looking forward to dinner at a local pub. Fortunately, Porlock has several.

Having tried both The Ship Inn (good) and The Royal Oak (ok) earlier in the week, we decided to go for The Castle this time. And a top choice it was, with friendly staff, a wide selection of ciders on tap, and a particularly tasty chicken burger to help replenish some of the calories I’d burned to get there.

All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better first day!

Planning

Started at: South West Coast Path start point, Minehead

Finished at: Sparkhayes Campsite, Porlock (0.6 miles/1km off-trail).

This relaxed, fairly small campsite was quite full on a Friday night in early August, but still nice and quiet after sunset.

There’s a small common area with a few chairs and a sofa, and a kitchen space with a kettle and a couple of power sockets you can use for charging. The shower and toilet block was basic but clean, and everything worked.

We paid £14 per person for a flat, grassy, and reasonably sheltered pitch.

Transport and Parking

Minehead is easily accessible by bus and coach services. The number 10 bus (really a 16-seater minibus) runs between Porlock and Minehead in both directions, roughly every two hours between about 8am and 6pm Mon-Fri and 9am to 6pm Sat. There’s no Sunday service.

The same bus continues on as far as Porlock Weir, but because it runs inland from the coast, there’s not really anywhere else close to the trail to get on or off.

If you’re planning to leave a car somewhere and take the bus back to it, paid carparks and limited free on-street parking are available in Porlock, and you’ll find both paid and unpaid street parking near the start point in Minehead.

Waymarking and Navigation

The waymarking was generally good on this section of the trail, mostly wooden signposts with the National Trail acorn symbol and (usually) the name of the next village or point of interest. There were a few trail intersections that could have benefited from a marker, though, and a couple of signs were pretty easy to miss in the foliage.

I used AllTrails as my main navigation app for the entire South West Coast Path, and it was an ideal backup for the signs and official guide book. I’d have gone off-course at least once a day without it, sometimes much more!

You can find the Minehead to Porlock route here: it’s free to use, although I pay a couple of pounds a month for a subscription so I can download maps to my phone in advance.

Phone Service

As with much of the Coast Path, cell service is spotty in some sections no matter which provider you’re with. I use giffgaff on the O2 network, and had good service near the towns at the start and end of the route, but limited or no signal elsewhere.

For that reason, I paid a few pounds for an eSIM from Instabridge that let me swap between all three UK networks: EE, O2, and Vodafone/Three.

It worked really well as a fallback option: whenever I needed service but couldn’t get it on my usual giffgaff SIM, I’d switch on the eSIM and choose one of the other networks. If there was any signal to be had in the area at all, I’d pick it up.

Facilities and Accommodation

Minehead and Porlock both have plenty of food, drink, and accommodation options, but there’s precious little between them. Bossington has toilets and a tearoom, but you’re almost in Porlock by then anyway.

If you’re camping like we were, staying in Porlock is pretty much your only sensible option on this day: there are several campsites there, and none close to the trail for a long way after that.

If you’re not sleeping under canvas, though, I’d suggest pressing on to Porlock Weir instead: it’s only another hour or so on a flat and easy trail, and means you don’t have such a long walk to Lynton/Lynmouth the following day. The Porlock Weir Hotel and Locanda on the Weir both looked appealing as we passed.