Heddon's Mouth is on the Devon coastline on Exmoor. It's only a tiny little bay but the walk down to it through the woods follows the river and is very picturesque. You can walk to it from Trentishoe, or take the cliff path to view it from above (on a good day you can see across to Wales - the cliffs are the highest in Devon), but the easiest way to get there is to park at the Hunters Inn . From Barnstaple take the A39 towards Lynton and Lynmouth and about three miles past the Blackmoor Gate crossroads Heddon's Mouth and The Hunters Inn are signposted to your left. A long, single track road brings you out to the Inn and its surrounding National Trust land. There are public toilets and a National Trust shop there also.
To reach the coast path you have to follow the road past the Inn. Once on it its an easy stroll down to the beach on more or less level ground, with the odd patch of mud and several slopes of scree that the children enjoyed climbing until my littlest one found it rather tricky coming down from. "I'm not going on the stones again," she said on the way back.
Signs of spring were everywhere and the daffoldils were lovely - see my Photo Journal blog for more photos. Once at the beach we threw a few pebbles in the swift-flowing and noisy stream then ambled back to the Hunters Inn for a hot chocolate before making our way home.
1 comment:
Greetings from sunny Brighton!
I took my little boy to stay at the Hunters Inn a few years back, my boyfriend at the time had a cousin who owns it.... We did the walk to Heddons Mouth (having a few minor heart attacks on the way due to steep drops and narrow path) and it has stayed in my mind as one of the scenic and beautiful areas of England.
As we were trekking through the woodland, I said to my partner that it was like something from a Thomas Hardy novel, low and behold mr Hardy did in fact take residence at the Inn and based one of his novels around that very area!
After seeing your photos of this wonderful part of the world I am tempted to pack my little hankie-on-a-stick and set forth in that direction once again.
Gen x
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