Although Start Point is a full 30 miles from Plymouth the fine day attracted 17 of us to the Start Point car park which costs £2.50p in season, which runs from May through to the end of September by the way.

Julie Partridge who led the walk in her normal entertaining manner gathered us all together for her route outline for this 9 mile walk at 10.30 at the dot.

She casually mentioned that there were 3 good uphill sections on the walk and as we were to find out she way spot on with her 3 climbs.

We left the car park and followed the narrow road which would have taken us out to the end of Start Point and the lighthouse landmark well known to all mariners.

As we made our way along the lane the views across the bay to the east were magnificent all the way across Start Bay to the mouth of the Dart and beyond.

The sun was shining, the skies really blue and the seas calm, it was truly a picture postcard scene.

Not far along the lane the coast path veered off to the right, effectively cutting across the Start Point headland, over the top and then swinging west.

The coastline in the area looking across to the lighthouse and west is dramatic to say the least. The huge rocky outcrop that constitutes Start Point headland and the wide sweep of the coast line below certainly looked incredible on this lovely day.

As we made our way generally south west across the benches to walk around the high rocky outcrop above us there was much to interest us, not only the masses of seabirds but also a seal swimming off Great Sleaden Rock, with the masses of seabirds sitting on the rock simply ignoring it.

We stopped many times in this section to take in the views.

Once around the high cliff the coast path swung north and led us up to and above Great Mattiscombe Sand, the first good sandy beach west of Start Point.

It looked most attractive on a day such as this.

We followed the coast path around above the beach and then headed west along a relatively level coast path, it had it's ups and downs though.

We headed west aiming for Lannacombe Beach for our morning coffee break on the beach.

There were people sunbathing on the beach making the most of this late summer or was it early Autumn sunshine.

This beach is particularly popular with locals since it is possible to drive cars down a narrow track and park right above the beach, I wonder how many pay the £3 parking fee in the honesty box though.

We enjoyed 15 minutes on the beach in the glorious sunshine and then were on our way again, heading south west for the 1.5 miles to East Prawle.

The coastline in this area was very different to the coastline around Start Point. The coast here eases across low rocks out into the sea whereas the rocky coastline around Start Point is dramatically steep.

After about a mile of walking through shrubs and bracken we came upon a lovely old house , once a hotel I understand, called Maelcombe House, off to our right.

Beyond the house the path led us across a grassy area and the actual coast path continued for a further mile on to Prawle Point. This was not on our programme today.

A few hundred metres beyond the big house we followed a track leading us steeply uphill and away from the coast to East Prawle.

This was the first of the three steep climbs of the day, from just above sea level up to the village green at East Prawle, 400 ft above msl at least.

We arrived up on the village green just opposite the Pigs Nose public house, one of two in the village and a little cafe called the Pigs Nose cafe. Julies planning had worked well and lunch was taken at the top of the hill rather than having a steep climb immediately after food.

There was, unsurprisingly, more of a breeze up here than we had had down at sea level and jackets were being put on as we cooled down.

After lunch we made our way down by the Pigs Nose, the most westerly point of this walk and made our way north along a road leading out of the village.

As I mentioned earlier the route inland from here is quite complicated and Julie had excelled herself in remembering it on the day for sure. It was far from easy.

We made our way along footpaths, green lanes, sections of country lane, twisting this way and that.

Although I had walked in the area before, I freely admit that I couldn't remember some of the tracks Julie led us across. The difficulty was compounded by a recently diverted footpath, all of which Julie took in her stride.

There were a few places I remembered, but most were new to me.

We were approaching a farm at Higher Borough and the footpath took us across to just east of the farm with a lovely small lake on our right hand side.

The Swifts or were they House Martins were swooping low over the lake to drink in flight or pick insects from the water surface, it was an intriguing sight.

From Higher Borough we headed north east along the lane which led from the farm and then across several fields before a very steep descent, steep enough for people to zig zag on the way down, most unusual but it way exceptionally steep.

When we got to the bottom we came out to a road which took us down to Lannacombe Green.

It a very small hamlet where obviously an artist lived and there was a display of the artists work on show around a small building at the bottom.

We had descended over 300 ft very quickly and of course the valley was steep on both sides so we were faced with a 300 to 400 ft ascent on the other side as we headed towards Hallsands and the coast.

Four of us decided to stretch our legs on the second steep uphill section of the day and we legged it uphill all the way for the half mile climb east to the next high point along the narrow country road which led to the next high point from where we had sight of the sea again. Yes we had regained all the height we had lost on the last descent by the time we arrived at the small crossroads at the top.

Julie wisely allowed us all time to regroup at the top to regain our breath before we continued on to South Hallsands on the coast along another narrow country lane right down to just above sea level again.

This section certainly had some steep ups and downs.

We arrived down at Hallsands and the Trout Hotel above this now mostly ruined village, lost to the sea following ill advised excavation of gravel from just offshore to use at Devonport Dockyard. This caused erosion of the beach in the area and with it's disappearance the protection of the village from the elements disappeared.

Inevitably south east storms caused almost the whole coastal village to be lost to the sea.

We stopped at the Trout Hotel to have tea and coffee from the restaurant or for some Langage Dairy Ice Cream, a superb product and very tasty indeed after such a walk. (No advertising intended Len!!)

Just below the hotel there is a viewing gallery to enable people to see what is left of the village, very little indeed, there is just one house still inhabited in this row of ruined cottage just below the cliff, aptly named Sea View, I wonder how long it will be before it becomes Sub Sea View.

After an enjoyable break at Hallsands, we were left with the third steep climb of the day along the coastal path south east for the final mile from just above sea level up to the car park above start point.

After the previous steep climbs this final 300 feet heave up back to the car park seemed almost easy, it wasn't we were just getting used to the ups and downs on this walk.

The views towards Start Point and the lighthouse were again outstanding and enjoyable and it had been a magnificent coastal and inland walk, made of course all the more enjoyable by the quality of the day itself, more cloud in the afternoon but ideal walking conditions with the long sunny intervals and the cooling northerly breeze.

We had said our farewells and thanks to Julie back at Hallsands, since she and three other ladies had stayed to take their time over the tea and refreshments. All we had left now was the thirty mile drive back to Plymouth though the beautiful South Hams countryside.

It has to be said, we sure are lucky in the Plymouth group to have such a magnificent range of walking routes on our doorstep and on days like this we know that only too well.

During this 9 mile walk we had a total ascent and descent of course of a shade under 2000 ft, so the walk had certainly been in keeping with the South Hams undulating landscape.