Westward Ho! to Clovelly: South West Coast Path Day 8 Guide

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After a good night’s sleep (yay for four walls and a bed), we set out back towards the path under cloudless skies once again. We’d had a great run of weather so far, with loads of sun and virtually no rain: little did I know that was going to continue for another fortnight!

With very limited food and drink options enroute today, our first stop was the local Tesco, where I got to introduce my brother to the delights of the meal deal. Despite him having spent even longer living in the UK than me, he had somehow never acquainted himself with the endless variety of main + snack + drink options available in British supermarkets.

After perhaps more time than strictly necessary spent discussing the relative nutritional benefits of boiled eggs versus carrots and hummus, we made our respective choices and headed for the exit. With lunch sorted, it was now time for breakfast: fortunately Cabana was (a) next door, (b) open, (c) full of friendly dogs, and (d) excellent.

Fuelled by coffee and breakfast baps, the unofficial sponsors of the South West Coast Path, we headed westward (ho!) past a line of colourful beach huts and out of town. The trail started out wonderfully flat, first gravel and later grass, following the path of an old railway line along the coast.

We were soon able to see Clovelly in the distance, and even though it still looked a long way off, a small part of me wondered if today might end up not being quite as “strenuous” as the guidebook suggested.

That small hope was snuffed out after the first hour or so, when the old railway line turned inland and we, unsurprisingly, did not. The climb up the first of several hills made it quite apparent why the trains took the easier route, but it give plenty of opportunity to take a break on the conveniently-located benches and admire the view.

It was definitely a view worth admiring.

After dropping steeply down to a shingle beach for all of ten seconds before starting back up the other side, the roller coaster continued for another couple of miles. It was a good workout, especially in the heat, but an enjoyable one. With views like these, how could it not be?

Even so, we were very much in need of a break as we headed slightly inland towards the welcome sight of the Peppercombe Coachhouse. There’s nothing there in the way of shops or services, but this lovely old building is owned by the National Trust and always open for anyone who needs somewhere to sit.

There’s a room off to the side with a picnic table: if you need shelter from the weather, this is the place to be. We took full advantage, hiding out in the shade and devouring aforementioned meal deals. Did I enjoy mine? Yes I did. Could I have enjoyed a second one just as much? Absolutely.

The path along the coast had been wide-open all morning, but now that we’d turned inland, those expansive views had been replaced by woodland. It was still pretty, albeit in a different way, and by this point in the day the shade was a welcome bonus.

Speaking of welcome bonuses, while there had been a steep climb immediately after leaving the coachhouse, the path then stayed up on the hill for a mile or more rather than doing its usual trick of dropping into any valley it could find. This section of narrow dirt trail through the trees was particularly lovely, even if they meant we only got occasional ocean glimpses.

Dropping sharply down into Buck’s Mills,it struck me that as pretty as this little village was, it felt oddly empty as we looked around. All of the windows and doors were firmly closed on the colourful old buildings and there was nobody to be seen, which surprised me on such a lovely day.

The reason, as it turns out, should have been obvious: almost all of the houses in the village are holiday homes, and hardly anybody now lives there year-round. That felt like a real shame, although I guess it’s not the only lovely old fishing village that’s befallen that fate in this part of the country.

There’s apparently a small waterfall that falls directly onto the stony beach here at Buck’s Mills. I say apparently because the idea of another very steep descent to see it, and the climb back up again afterward, didn’t hold much appeal by this point in the day. I guess it’ll just have to remain a mystery.

We climbed out of the village, our footsteps echoing on the empty street as we left, and continued on through the trees. There’s a large holiday park just off the trail shortly afterward, something we confirmed by taking the wrong path and almost walking into it.

That said, the little Nisa convenience store in the holiday park is the only place to get food and drink on this section. It’s close enough to Clovelly that we didn’t feel the need to stop by, but if you want it, it’s there.

Our wander through the woods continued, and after one more valley descent and climb (a relatively easy one, at least by the standards of the Coast Path), we rounded a corner and joined up with The Hobby Drive.

This old path is delightfully flat, if not delightfully soft: ending the day by walking on gravel for the better part of three miles wasn’t on my bingo card, although after that nasty walk around Braunton Burrows, perhaps it should have been.

Still, even with my feet strongly suggesting they’d had enough, it was a scenic way to finish. Glimpses of Clovelly through the trees let us know we were drawing ever-closer, and some kind soul had placed stone benches at useful intervals so I didn’t even need to stand up while I drained the last of the water from my bottle.

For some reason I’d expected to come into Clovelly at sea level, but the path stayed up high, emerging from the trees above the village right beside a sign that let me know I was just about to complete the first 100 miles of the Coast Path. Now that’s something to celebrate!

Clovelly is a famously pretty place, and if you’ve got any energy left by the time you get there, it’s well worth braving the slick cobblestones and very steep lane to check it out. There are many High Streets in the UK, but this one has to be the most appropriately named.

We made it as far as the New Inn Hotel, the higher of the two pubs on the main street. Arriving mid-afternoon, they sadly weren’t doing food until the evening, so a packet of crisps and a pint would just have to suffice. Well, maybe a couple of pints.

My brother was heading back to London that night, so we left him to wait for the bus and puffed our way back up to the visitor centre. The lovely people at nearby Roey’s Retreat are happy to pick up and drop off walkers free of charge: I gave them a quick call and sure enough, 15 minutes later, a van pulled up, the door flew open, and we were soon trundling along the country lanes towards the campsite.

There was nowhere within walking distance to get dinner, but the little camp store was about 20 yards from where we pitched the tent and had all the snacks and cold drinks that a tired hiker could ask for. Even better, there was a nearby seating area and picnic table to enjoy them at in the evening sun.

It had been a great day of walking, reasonably short, with great weather, fantastic views, enough up and down to keep things interesting without overdoing it, and even time for a couple of pints at the end. My blistered, bruised, and black toe (the three B’s of hiking) was still giving me grief, but if that was my only issue, there really wasn’t much to complain about!

Planning

Started at: Stylish bungalow in walking distance of the beach (0.8 miles/1.3km off-trail)

Finished at: Roey’s Retreat Campsite (1.2 miles/1.9km off-trail uphill, but owners will pick you up from Clovelly if you call them)

This small campsite (two fields, with a row of tall trees between them) had a lovely, friendly vibe to it, both from the owners and the other people who were staying there. Facilities were fairly basic but clean and in good working order, with a small toilet and shower block at one end (£1 coin required) that I never had to wait to use.

We paid £12.50 per person for a pitch in a sheltered spot just in front of the trees, with a seating area alongside and the small camp store nearby. The store runs on a honesty system, with a box to leave the money in: the snacks and cold drinks were extremely welcome, as there’s nowhere else to get them nearby. There’s a pizza oven that gets fired up on Saturday nights, but sadly we were there a day early.

The only real downside was the location, beside a roundabout on the busy A39. The traffic noise was quite loud, and although it died off somewhat after dark, I still woke up every time a truck rumbled past in the middle of the night.

Even so, I’d happily stay there again–and not just because it’s the only campsite in the area!

Transport and Parking

The number 21 bus runs between Westward Ho! beach and Bideford, where you’ll need to change to the 319. This service takes you to the Clovelly visitor centre, and usefully it also stops just beside Roey’s Retreat campsite. The 21A takes a similar route to/from the eastern edge of Westward Ho! to Bideford.

You’ve also got the option of joining or leaving the trail at Buck’s Cross on the A39: lanes and public footpaths lead from there through the holiday park to the Coast Path a few hundred yards away. Aim for the Nisa Local I mentioned earlier: the path joins right alongside.

Pay close attention to the timetables: if you miss your bus, you may be up for a long wait for the next one. Note that the 319 has no service on Sundays or bank holidays.

There’s free all-day parking in Westward Ho! at the Seafield Car Park, at the end of Merley Road on the western edge of town. You can pick up the path directly beside it.

If you drive to Clovelly, there’s a nearly £10 charge per person to enter the village, which in the smallest of mercies does at least include parking at the visitor centre.

If you only want to leave your car there and don’t want to visit the village, it’s £7.50 per car for the day and £5 per day after that. If you arrive outside the visitor centre opening hours, there’ll be nobody there to take your money, and if you walk in on the Coast Path, there’s no need to pay.

Waymarking and Navigation

Navigation was generally straightforward on this section. There’s little chance of going wrong on the coast, especially between Westward Ho! and Peppercombe. There are a few intersecting footpaths between there and Buck’s Mill: just be sure to look for the acorn marker and wooden signposts to stay on the right path.

We either missed a sign near the holiday park or it didn’t exist, veering left when we should have gone straight. Fortunately you can’t go too far off-trail here, as you’ll end up in the holiday park pretty quickly. After that it was plain sailing, especially once we got to The Hobby Drive.

I used AllTrails as my main navigation app for the entire South West Coast Path, and it was an ideal backup on this section when we went off-track. You can find the Westward Ho! to Clovelly 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

We had good cell service in Westward Ho!, but only intermittently from there on. Even Clovelly didn’t have much: I only had one bar of service with O2 when calling the campsite, but it was enough for the call to connect.

As a backup, I’d also paid a few pounds for a data 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 throughout my time on the Coast Path: whenever I needed data service but couldn’t get it on my usual SIM, I’d switch to 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

Westward Ho! has a couple of small supermarkets close to the path, and many pubs, cafes, and restaurants near the beach.

Clovelly has two pubs and a tearoom in the village, but they are often closed or not serving food in the afternoon. The cafe at the visitor centre is open all day, but everything except the pubs shuts at 5pm when the village closes to day visitors.

This closure doesn’t affect walkers as much, though, since you can still walk down to the pubs and the rest of the village from the path.

Accommodation

There’s a campsite soon after Westward Ho!, Westacott Farm Camping near Abbotsham, which is a mile off-trail. Other than that there’s only Roey’s Retreat in Higher Clovelly where we stayed.

As far as hotels and other accommodation goes, Buck’s Mills has several holiday cottage options, although not all offer one-night stays in summer.

In Clovelly, you can stay at either of the pubs: the New Inn Hotel where we enjoyed our crisps and pints, or the Red Lion Hotel down on the waterfront. The cozy 14th-century Harbour View Cottage B&B is between the two: it only has a couple of rooms, but if one of them is available, it’s usually cheaper than the pubs.