The South West Coast Path is the spectacular 630-mile (1008-km) National Trail around the tip of Britain. South West Coast Path: Minehead to Padstow features the section of the Path from Minehead to Padstow, a distance of 163 miles (262 km). It skirts the Exmoor National Park, taking in the precipitous harbour towns of Lynton, Lynmouth and Ilfracombe, before heading south-west into Cornwall along the surfers' coast via Westword Ho! and Arthurian Tintagel, to reach the gastronomic mecca of Padstow. Along the way there is the coastal path around Lundy Island, with its puffins, and other arresting wildlife from shearwaters to basking sharks.
This guide has been fully revised and updated for 2013, and completely resdesigned to feature many more colour photographs and much more information on local history, cultural associations and wildlife. It is not so much a walking guide as a complete companion to the landscape of the Path, whether you are a dedicated long-distance walker or a weekend stroller. National Trail Guides are the official guidebooks to the fifteen National Trails in England and Wales and are published in association with Natural England, the official body charged with developing and maintaining the Trails.
Roland Tarr was born and brought up in West Somerset and has close family ties with Exmoor. He was heritage Coast Officer in Dorset from 1974 to 1988. He is author of the National Trail Guides South West Coast Path: Minehead to Padstow, and South West Coast Path: Exmouth to Poole. He currently lives in Dorset.