Back in August we had a week down in Exmoor. It was our first visit and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we had a fantastic week exploring some of Exmoor’s beautiful countryside. I hadn’t made the connection between Exmoor and the sea (obviously not firing on all cylinders), but the national park is actually home to the first 60km of the South West Coast Path, and we did some lovely coastal walks while we were there.
After our visit to the Tarr Steps we had planned to head across to the Valley of Rocks, but halfway there we changed our minds and decided to bump the Valley of Rocks to the next morning instead, just in case it was busy. Sam came up with a rapid Plan B in the same direction we were already travelling: a 7.5km circular walk from the South West Coast Path website tackling Great Hangman and Little Hangman, two small hills along the coast near Combe Martin.
We got parked with no issues in the Kiln car park pay & display in Combe Martin, even arriving at lunch time in the Summer holidays. Exmoor really is an underrated destination – although Combe Martin is perched right on the very edge of the national park (we walked past the boundary sign at the start of the walk). We followed the route in the opposite direction to the description on the website, choosing to do the road walking at the start and returning along the coast path.
The beginning of the walk was rather inauspicious, starting with a somewhat overgrown, narrow path behind various housing estates to exit Combe Martin, followed by a rather tedious walk of about a mile along a country road, climbing steadily uphill. I must confess to being rather grouchy (being attached to a spaniel trying to drag you back down the hill can have that effect), but I cheered up considerably once we left the road and picked up the footpath which would lead us to the South West Coast Path.
At no point was the climb up the hill particularly steep, but the gradient eases off even more at this point of the walk and we started to get nice views of the hills along the Coast Path. The path runs through a farmyard before crossing a field to finally join the South West Coast Path. There were a few horses grazing in the field we crossed, but happily they were more interested in their grass than in coming over to say hello to us.
When we joined the South West Coast Path, there was an explosion of heather and gorse alongside the trail which was beautiful. Exmoor really is a wonderful place to go to see the heather at its best, especially as heather is usually best seen in the summer holidays when lots of other ‘heather hotspots’ like the Lake District can be extremely busy.
Heading up Great Hangman was very straightforward from this point, climbing gradually on a clear trail bordered by heather and gorse. There’s a small cairn at the top where we stopped for a few photos, but not for too long as I’d spotted some (very asleep) cows chilling out in the heather a few hundred metres away. I’m not one to hang around when there’s not a fence between me and a cow!
From Great Hangman, the path starts to descend as it heads to the next objective of the walk, Little Hangman. There’s a short, steep climb up to the top of the hill, but it’s over quickly and you’re rewarded with good views over the coast. The inland section of the walk was completely deserted, but as we walked along the coast path towards Combe Martin we started to see a few more people: to be expected, really, but still nowhere near what I’d call busy.
When we got to the top of Little Hangman, it felt like we’d pretty much finished the walk. I therefore wasn’t mentally prepared for the ceaseless up and down of the path as it returned to Combe Martin – it felt a lot longer than it actually was! Luckily there are nice views over the coast as you go, so there are plenty of excuses to stop and enjoy the view.
Dog friendly rating: 3/5. There’s a chunk of road walking (along a very quiet road), as well as a good chance of coming across both cows and horses in some places. On some parts of the walk, there are sheer drops. For these reasons we kept our dogs on their leads for the entire walk. There’s also no water along the way, so we were glad we’d taken extra for the dogs with us as they drank all of it. The positives are that it’s a nice quiet walk, and that there aren’t any stiles for you to worry about.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this blog today, subscribe below so that you never miss a post:
