We are spoilt for choice with beaches around Bude. There are plenty of beaches within a short drive. This is the first of a few posts with tips on Bude’s beaches to help our guests choose which ones to visit. First up, Summerleaze Beach in Bude town.

Summerleaze is one of our favourites all year round. It is a big sandy beach, great for kids and surfers. It is dog -friendly all year round (although dogs must be on a lead in the summer, check the notices for details). Summerleaze is good for sandcastles, maybe not so good for rockpooling as nearby Crooklets. If you walk along towards Crooklets at low tide, you will come to a rocky section which is good for exploring.

Summerleaze is home to the Bude Sea Pool, great for serious swimmers and children who want a safer swim than the sea.

Facilities on Summerleaze beach

Summerleaze has better facilities than some of the more remote beaches. There is a big car park and toilets and showers by the RNLI station. It is a short walk to the beach so access for pushchairs is possible. Beach wheelchairs are available to hire from the Beach Office in the summer (call
01288 352226). There are toilets and showers by the RNLI station. Life’s a Beach (up the steps) sells food to take away or eat in and ice creams. Lifeguard cover for the beach and sea pool is provided by the RNLI over the Easter holidays and May-September. Check the board at the entrance to the beach for lifeguard cover hours and any warnings.

Summerleaze is popular with surfers and body boarders and a few surf schools operate from the car park.

Summerleaze beach landmarks

As well as the Sea Pool there are a few landmarks to look out for. You will see Barrel Rock at the end of the Breakwater just over river from Summerleaze. Barrel Rock has become a Bude landmark. Named after the beacon at the end of the rock, there is also a micropub called the Barrel on Lansdown Road (check the website as opening hours are limited).

Summerleaze has a half tide cross – when the sea reaches the cross bar the tide is half way.

Just next to the beach you will see the end of the Bude canal and the sea lock, one of only two working sea locks in Britain. You can cross over the lock to pick up the path along to the Breakwater. The canal itself was originally built to take sand inland. You can walk along the canal back to Marhamchurch. See our blog entry for details on the walk (scroll down to Bude Canal Walk.

What you might not like about Summerleaze

If you are looking for a quieter beach, Summerleaze is popular with families so it does get very busy in high season. There may well be queues for the car park in school holidays. Summerleaze is dog-friendly so if you would prefer a beach with no dogs, try Crooklets, just along the bay.

The Times featured a walk along one of my favourite sections of the South West Coastal Path (The Times, 20/1/2018 by Christopher Somerville, or find the walk on Christopher Somerville’s website). This particular walk starts at Northcott Mouth, just north of Bude and follows the South West Coastal Path above Sandymouth to Duckpool. It then heads inland to Coombe Valley and back to Northcott Mouth though woods and the countryside. Northcott Mouth is a short drive from our cottages (about 15 minutes).

The views of the coast are spectacular along here.

In the Spring you get lots of flowers which are  beautiful.

Even on a grey and murky day in the Autumn it is still worth walking along here. The craggy cliffs, waterfalls, the long run of sand and sheer drops to the sea are always stunning. There are some steep climbs on this stretch of the path and a long flight of steps up from Northcott. For an easier walk try walking from Crooklets in Bude to Northcott. This is an easier stretch of the South West Coastal Path. Time it right and walk one way along the South West Coastal Path and the other way along the beach, which is only possible at low tide. Check tide times online at Surf Reports.

Stop for lunch….

The Times recommended the Preston Gate pub in Poughill for lunch. Definitely worth a visit, or try Margaret’s Rustic Tea Garden at Northcott Mouth in the summer or one of the many cafes or pubs in nearby Bude.

Bude canal walk is one of our favourites. Follow the tow path along the canal into Bude. There is usually lots to see along the canal; birds, butterflies, dragonflies, flowers, lambs in the spring, water voles. The tow path comes out by the Tourist Information office. You can cross the road to the Wharf and walk along to the Breakwater and Summerleaze beach. Bikes are not allowed on the tow path. If you want to cycle,  there is a cycle path which runs near the canal for much of the route.

The walk takes about an hour from Hilton, a bit longer if you have small children. The tow path is a good walk if you have a child in a pushchair. It is downhill to the canal and then a flat walk along the tow path. The path down to the canal is bumpy and quite steep. To avoid the hill on the way back you can park at the bottom of the village in the canal car park. To get to the canal car park drive into the village, turn right at the pub and head down the hill past the church and the school to Helebridge. Just before the junction with the A39 opposite the Weir, there is a turning on your right. There is a small car park on the right hand side just before the bridge. If you are walking from Hilton follow the instructions below.

Walking from Hilton

From Hilton take a left out of our gate and the first left at the top of the hill along Hilton Road. Follow this into the village. Take a left at the end of Hilton Road. You will see the pub opposite the T junction. Turn right and head for the church.

 

Walk past the church on your left and the school on your right. Continue past the first house after the school. You then come to a track on your right (signposted Public Way).

Take this path down to the canal. It is quite steep. At the end of the track you see some houses. Follow the path on the left hand side just past the SW Water station. There is a sign on the fence “Canal Walk”.

Walk along the canal to the end of the path. The car park is on the other side of the canal. Cross the road and follow the path under the A39. This brings you out by to the Weir cafe and bistro. The Weir is a good place for a coffee or meal with children. There is a play area and lake. Bude Segway tours leave from here. For the Weir turn left. For Bude turn right along the tow path. Follow the tow path.

Bude Canal

Bude canal was completed in 1825, with a total length of 57km/36 miles. The lowest section of the Canal, between Bude and Helebridge, was built to be operable by barges. The rest of the canal was operated by small “tub boats”. The canal was used to transport sand inland. You can find out more about the history of the canal on the Bude Canal Trust site or from the Bude Canal and Harbour Society.  Just next to the car park in Helebridge is the Barge Workshop (owned by Bude Stratton Town Council, open Sunday afternoons late July-September only). Here you can see an example of a Bude Canal tub boat. These had wheels to get up the hills or “inclined planes”. There is a board along the Helebridge section of the canal walk which explains how the system worked.

Keep going along the tow path until you come to Rodd’s Bridge, a green painted bridge next to Rodd’s Farm. Cross the bridge and go through the gate onto the tow path on the other side of the canal. There are usually plenty of water birds to see along this stretch; herons, ducks, geese and swans.

If you don’t want to walk all the way into Bude, you can loop back to the village here along the cycle path.

The tow path comes to an end by the Tourist Information Office. At the end of the tow path you can cross the road over to the Wharf and walk along to the sea lock at the end of the canal or down onto Summerleaze beach. You can also explore the Breakwater if the tide is out.

Where to eat by the canal

There are plenty of places to eat along the canal in Bude. If you like vegetarian food there is a caravan in the Tourist Information car park in the spring and summer Get Your Veg On. This sells delicious vegetarian salads, toasties and wraps.  Over along the Wharf you can try the Barge, a tea room in a Barge, open for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. The Barge is moored at the end of the canal by the sea lock in the summer and down on the main Wharf in the winter. On the Wharf itself try the Olive Tree or the Lock Gates Tea Room.

 

 

Crooklets in Bude to Northcott or Sandymouth along the sand and coastal path

One of our favourite walks around Bude is along the beach from Crooklets to Northcott Mouth or Sandymouth at low tide, coming back along the coastal path for the views. You need to time it right as the tide does come in quickly and cuts off parts of the beach. You can check tide times at Surf Reports.

This is a beautiful long stretch of sand with lots of rock pools and with the backdrop of the dramatic cliffs and the strange rock formations. This walk is popular with all the family and especially our dog, Toby.

Start the walk at Crooklets beach. in Bude. Parking is available at Crooklets or Rosie’s cafe or on the street from October to the end of May. Dogs are not allowed on Crooklets from Easter to the end of September. However, you can still do the walk. Just walk up above Crooklets, either taking the steps next to  the Bude SSLC hut behind Rosie’s or following the road up behind Rosie’s. Go through the gate onto the coastal path where you will see a path going down through the cliffs on your left. Follow this and scramble down the rocks onto the beach. Head right and you will find a way through the rocks down onto the sand.

Walk along the sands to Northcott Mouth. This is a dog friendly beach and there is a lifeguard service in the summer. You can climb up the beach here. It is a bit of a scramble over stones at the top. You will see a cottage up on the top of the cliffs to your right as you face inland. The coastal path back to Bude runs up past this cottage. This is a fairly easy stretch of the coastal path with no really steep climbs or steps. The views are spectacular and the flowers in Spring are beautiful.

If you feel like stopping for lunch or a cream tea Margaret’s Rustic Tea Gardens  at Northcott Mouth are highly recommended. The cream teas and cakes are delicious. Sandwiches and pasties are good too. All seating is outside in a pretty garden just along the track from the beach. Margaret’s is open from Easter to early October.

Alternatively carry on along the sand to Sandymouth, a beautiful National Trust beach. If the tide is low, just north of Northcott Mouth you will see bits of a shipwreck sticking up from the sands. This is the wreck of the SS Belem which ran ashore in 1917.

From Sandymouth walk up the path leading up from the beach. Pick up the coastal path on the right towards Bude. There is a cafe and toilet at Sandymouth (March-November, times vary), or stop off at Margaret’s at Northcott along the way.

The path from Sandymouth to Northcott is more difficult than the stretch to Bude. There is a steep but short climb from Sandymouth to the coastal path and a steep run of steps down to Northcott.

You can walk from Crooklets to Northcott and back in an hour if you are quick. Allow and hour and a half to two hours if you want to explore the beach or stop off for lunch. Allow two hours to walk from Crooklets to Sandymouth and back.