Page 46 - (DK Eyewitness) Back Roads Travel Guide - Great Britain

44 BACK ROADS GREAT BRITAIN

6 Bude
Crescent car park, Bude; EX23 8LE
Bude is more than just a popular seaside resort. As well as two large
sandy beaches, it has some of Britain’s best coastal walks along its
grassy clifftops. There are reminders too of its past, when it was a
battlefield, a busy port and home of Cornwall’s “forgotten inventor”.

A two-hour circular walk engine, sewer ventilation system and
The walk starts from the car park at revolving lights for lighthouses.
Above Dinghies lined up against the wall on the Tourist Information Centre 1 in Heading along the path towards
Bude’s quayside Bude, where a good selection of the sea you come to a restored sea
local guidebooks is on lock 4, which enabled
VISITING BUDE
sale (open daily, except Sun boats to “lock in” to
in winter). The restored unload their cargoes
Parking
Park in Crescent car park beside the stretch of canal beside it at a quay rather than
canal, signposted to the right in town. is the remains of a 56-km on the beach. Turning
Tourist Information (35-mile)-long canal left, the path climbs
Crescent car park, EX23 8LE; 01288 354 built in the early 19th sharply to the coast
240; www.visitbude.info century to transport path, signposted to
Raven Surf School lime-rich beach sand Widemouth, 5km
Lessons on Bude’s beaches. inland as fertilizer. (3 miles) away. From the
01288 353 693; www.ravensurf.co.uk; Heading towards the clifftop there are views
from £35 for a 2-hour lesson. sea, cross the canal Buckets and spades over Bude Haven beach,
bridge – originally a swing for sale at Bude where the small River Neet
WHERE TO STAY
bridge to let ships through flows into the sea. Before it
– and continue past the impressive silted up, this was a thriving harbour.
BUDE
white Falcon Hotel 2. Opposite it, Because of its trade, the village of
Falcon Hotel moderate the canal-side castle now houses the Stratton, inland, was granted a royal
Originally a lodging house for sea
captains, this hotel has sea and canal excellent Castle Heritage Centre 3 charter by King John in 1207.
views and a walled garden. (open daily), where the town’s varied A long breakwater stretches out to
Breakwater Road, EX23 8SD ; 01288 story is imaginatively told, alongside Chapel Rock, lit in medieval times by
352 005; www.falconhotel.com working models of Sir Goldsworthy a light to guide ships into port. The
Stratton Gardens Guesthouse Gurney’s pioneering Victorian curious octagonal tower 5, known
moderate inventions; these included a steam as the “pepper pot”, was a Victorian
A five-bedroom guesthouse in a 16th-
century house with a bar and garden.
Cot Hill, Stratton, EX23 9DN; 01288 352
500; www.stratton-gardens.co.uk Sea
Tower Lock
TINTAGEL Castle Heritage
Avalon moderate B R E A K WAT E R R D Centre Tourist Information
Comfortable B&B in an Edwardian Centre
guesthouse. Four rooms have sea views. Falcon
Atlantic Road, PL34 0DD; 01840 Hotel VICARAGE RD
770 116
Bude Marshes
Below Stone mile-post marks path on Nature Reserve
clifftops above Bude Efford Down
LY N S T O N E R O A D

LYNSTONE
Mile-post B AGBURY R O A D

0 metres 500
UPTON Rodd’s
Bridge
0 yards 500
Where to Stay: inexpensive, under £80; moderate, £80–£150; expensive, over £150

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