Post by Dave on Sept 13, 2010 16:43:02 GMT
East Prawle Walk
With the better weather now here its time to go out and enjoy a Sunday walk and one I can fully recommend is the coastal walk that starts from East Prawle. You will need to drive there by car as East Prawle only has one bus go there on a Wednesday.
East Prawle is on the coast at the most southerly tip of Devon. The Village is in the South Ham near Kingsbridge, there are two Public Houses, a Shop & Café and the Parish Community Hall.
Once you arrive you should be able to park by the village Green, all the local people are very welcoming as they love to get visitors, but you will never find the place over crowded. You leave the village by the lane near the Green and on a bend in the road that leads to the coastguard lookout and visitor centre, you turn right along a track.
The day we went it had rained a few days before and a tractor had used the lane, it was full of some deep puddles, but it was fun trying to jump over them to keep our feet dry.
As you walk along, the sea in on your left and you then come to a point where you can look across and see the salcombe estuary. You then turn left down over the hill and there at the bottom is the perfect beech, small and completely unspoilt.
Your then turn left and walk along the costal path the sea is now on your right, lts up and down I’m afraid but well worth it just for the wonderful views.
The volcanic rocks of the coast here are some of Devon's oldest, dating back over 400 million years. Pressure from the earth's movements split the strata and realigned them into parallel bands. The pounding sea then created the split, angular rocks evident today. The raised beach below East Prawle, a distinctive platform 15ft (4.5m) above the present beach, was formed during the last two million years in times of warmer weather conditions and higher sea levels, which altered coastal erosion patterns.
As you walk along you will see ahead the the lookout at Prawle Point today it is manned on a voluntary basis to keep an eye on this particularly busy part of the coast. Originally a coastguard station, with a 270-degree field of vision, it was used by Lloyds of London to report the arrival of ships from across the Atlantic. In use as a naval signal service station from 1937 to 1940, it shut down as a permanent coastguard station in 1994. Prawle means 'lookout hill', so this practice could date back to Saxon times.Do stop and have a look around the small visitor centre and also enjoy the great views from this point.
Also look our for the wreck of the Demetrios, a 700-tonne cargo ship that foundered on the rocks 300ft (92m) below the lookout at Prawle Point in December 1992 en route for a Turkish scrapyard, is evidence of just how tricky navigation is in these parts. There are 800 recorded shipwrecks along the South Devon coast, nine of which are around Prawle, including a Bronze Age wreck at Gammon Head, dating from around 1000 bc.
There are many rockpools you can explore along the walk, residents of the many rock pools include the colourfully patterned cones of topshells, and the spiral whorls of winkles, with typically purple or yellow shells. The Oystercatcher, with its orange beak and black and white plumage, is one of the many wading birds to be seen here. Further out over the water, the seabirds include gannets, wheeling on long black-tipped wings and plummeting dramatically into the sea to catch fish.
The lacy white rosettes of wild carrot grow abundantly along the coast path, and the small blue stars of spring and autumn squill are also to be found. Seals can sometimes be seen from the coast path here, and very occasionally dolphins and even basking sharks.
Take a drink and some food with you, it’s a long walk and as we headed back toward the village we walked through a field that was so steep, we had to walk sideways to get up it, if you love walking and in a place so unspoilt, then this has to be a must do walk.
Below is a map of the walk and some pictures of what you will see along the walk.
