This is a longer much more enjoyable and satisfying version of our other
Coleton Fishacre walk, taking in Kingswear and even a ferry ride over to
wonderful Dartmouth if you’ve the time.
There was a dead whale lying in Newfoundland Cove and no matter how pretty
the path between classy Kingswear and the paradisiacal pile of Coleton
Fishacre, its massive corpse could help but instil an air of melancholy in
the otherwise happy passer-by.
Getting there: Car parks on hill above Coleton Fishacre are easy to find by following signs south of B3205.
More information: National Trust Dartmouth office tel: 01803 752466.
If the whale hangs around for long enough it will instil something else as
well, but when we walked by it was still relatively fresh from the sea and
so its blubber had not yet started to decompose.
From the our viewpoint on the path 150 feet above we were saddened to sea
this great wild thing looking for all the world like some film-maker's prop,
lying motionless on the beach.
But please don't let the decaying carcass of a whale put you off this walk,
which really is one of the most perfect perambulations to be found along the
south coast.
Park your car in either of the car parks just above Coleton Fishacre, which
you'll easily find just south of the road between Brixham and Kingswear.
A lane links the two car parks and if you walk along it to the west - and
keep going - it will turns into a narrow path at Higher Brownstone Farm, and
this will take you steeply down towards Kingswear. It's one of those paths
where the bed-rock shows through to somehow bear witness to the hooves of
the centuries, and this rather historic mood is later highlighted by the
fortifications which you'll see in the bay far below.
Another tarmac lane takes the walker along the side of a deep valley to the
Coast Path and here you have a choice: you can either turn left and get on
with the hike proper, or you can follow the road down into Kingswear for
lunch. The latter is a bit of a treat if you like peering into gardens, and
this village's sunny seaward slopes seem to allow all manner of
Mediterranean plants to thrive.
We crossed over by the lower ferry to Dartmouth where we ate fish and chips,
huddled against a bitter north wind on the quayside. There is something so
fundamentally British about this type of cold, greasy, repast, and the
seagulls who want to share your meal only seem to add to the insanity that
you could possibly eat al-fresco in November anywhere north of Marseille.
And why should you? There are plenty of cafes, restaurants and pubs both
sides of the river - it just happened that we were on a cash-free,
fat-loaded diet. But the ferry ride was worth it, as indeed it always is,
somehow adding a hint of maritime discovery to the most humble of hikes.
Fuelled if not fit we rejoined our circular route where the Coastal Path
leaves Kingswear's most easterly lane by an elaborate flight of wooden
steps, and weaves its way down towards Warren House. This is the place with
the small fort in the garden which we spotted earlier, but you haven't long
to admire it as you must climb what, to the digester of fish and chips, can
look like the north face of the Eiger.
But this particular haul is well worthwhile because it brings you to a
sublimely beautiful forest of pines. It is a pity that so many are dead, and
a representative of the National Trust has promised me she'll find out why,
but don't let that spoil your enjoyment of this most wonderful of all
estuary mouths.
The views through the pines, down across Kingswear Castle and over the deep
blue-green river to Dartmouth Castle are quite simply picture-perfect.
The path winds its way through the woods to Newfoundland Cove where we saw
the whale. H.M. Coastguard later told us this unfortunate beast died at sea
and had reached its final resting place here on this lonely beach where
presumably nature will take its course.
Onwards around Inner Froward Point where you can look down on the
multitudinous birds spiralling around the Mew Stone and Shag Rock. Then the
path follows the coast northeast where a herd of what seem to be semi-wild
Shetland ponies roam free along the cliff tops.
Suddenly you are above Pudcombe Cove and into the quite magical demesne of
Coleton Fishacre. Now run by the National Trust and closed for the winter,
the place was built in 1925 for Rupert and Lady Dorothy D'Oyly Carte (of
operatic fame) and it apparently reflects the Arts and Crafts tradition, but
with what are described as 'refreshingly' modern interiors.
The couple created the fabulous gardens around the place complete with
gazebo, many water-features and an impressive collection of rare and exotic
plants.
Looking down on Coleton Fishacre from the path that takes you back to the
car parks, I fell utterly love with it. It's a place of dreams and I'd go
as far as to say that I would render the flesh of a thousand whales and do
any number of deals with the Devil if such a dubious course of action would
buy me a heaven-on-earth like this.
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