January Walks in the South Hams

I was hoping that January, with its cold crisp days would be full of walks in this beautiful corner of South Devon; however on New Year's Eve Covid-19 arrived at Cross Farmhouse and it has been three weeks since we have really felt much like walking. During that time the best I have managed has been an exhausting walk around the boundary of our fields; so what was supposed to be a whole post of various walks is going to be limited to just one. But what a walk!

For our first proper walk of 2021 we drove the short distance to park at the Gara Rock Hotel for one of our favourite walks. This is the Gara Rock-Mill Bay circuit. As we are a single household and Emme was at pre-school we had chosen this as a longer walk which we thought we could all manage and enjoy.

The walk starts with a descent to Mill Bay on the Salcombe Estuary. This is across the fields and then a sloping path down through the woods to the water's edge and the beach at Mill Bay.

Mill Bay is one of the favourite beaches for kids, just a short walk from the NT car park and loos; and along the road (or beach when its low tide) to the small ferry across to Salcombe.

The estuary is perfect for stand up paddle boarding and has super sand for sand castle building and beach games with rock pools at low tide and a stream running along one side for dam building! Roll on summer days.

Viewed from above the walk looks fairly level but the path descends quite steeply through the woods. After the heavy rain of yesterday it was hard to decide whether we were following a path or the bed of a stream!

The path then follows the edge of the coast, once again through woodland, with glimpses of the water through the trees before opening out as the mouth of the estuary approaches. A short detour from the main path drops down into the aptly named Sunny Cove.

One of the great things about living here has been variety of walks we have both along the nearby coastline and in loops which include both coast and country. We also have some super walks on a mix of paths, unmade tracks and very quiet country lanes direct from the door. Our eldest granddaughter loves to join us in exploring the area around Cross Farmhouse as we venture off down Devon Country Lanes.