Hooken Landslip & Coast from Seaton to Branscombe, Devon

This walk is now part of the South West Coastal path, which encompasses the whole of the South West peninsular and is the longest trail in Britain at 630 miles, stretching from Minehead in Somerset to Poole in Dorset.

Having said that, this first small stretch from Seaton to the village of Beer wasn't on the actual path, but a bit of a risky walk around the base of the cliffs. Then a cliff walk to Branscombe. All the photos were taken on slide film, sometime during 1977 and early 1978, so they're a bit the worse for wear unfortunately, and although I've walked to Branscombe several times I only have these few photos.

Great view through a cavern carved into the cliff by the tides. It was fabulous to see the red sailed yacht in the distance and really pleased that I managed to capture it. Every time I see it I think of the song 'Red sails in the sunset', which used to be one of my Dad's favourite songs. Mind you, he used to sing 'red snails in the sunset'! ;)

Then from Beer onto the Branscombe path...

...where can be seen this fantastic view of the Hooken Landslip which occurred in March 1790. 

Like the Undercliff Landslip at Bindon between Axmouth and Lyme Regis, the Hooken landslip occurred due to its geology of limestone on layers of greensand and clay being permeated by water and sliding towards the sea. This also pushed a reef up out of the sea, which, like the Undercliff, later subsided again. And which created this fabulous landscape that can be seen more clearly than the Bindon one. 

There are two options on the cliff walk into Branscombe. One is to continue along the cliffs and go down into the village via an extremely steep grassy slope, and the other is to take a walk which meanders downwards close to and amongst the limestone cliffs.

The lower path is a bit strenuous but it's a great way to see the geology - including an adit which connects to the Beer Quarry Caves - as well as the wildlife on the cliffs. Peregrines can be spotted on the pinnacles and there are wild flowers indigenous to the area, including the rare Purple Gromwell, which lives on limestone-based soil. I don't recall seeing that but I remember seeing some Viper's Bugloss, which is also from the same Borage family of plants, and is also quite rare.

The path does deposit you gently on the beach at the end. There are some beach huts near the end of the path. When I did the walks they were old and a bit ramshackle, all higgledy piggledy on different levels. I really wish I'd have taken photos of them as they looked fabulous amongst the banks of wild flowers and undergrowth. I checked them out online and there are new ones there now; bright orange and looking the same all in a line and close together on bare banks. Sadly awful and very boring, I'm sorry to say, lol, but maybe they'll weather and fit in with the landscape better as they grow older. We can but hope! ;)

I'm not sure if I've got all of the photos in the correct order - it was a long time ago! - but most of them are, if not all. It's a shame I didn't take more photos on the various walks and, as it isn't something I'm likely to be able to do again, I do hope you'll forgive how old they are. Mind, it's always nice to be able to see how things were as the landscape changes over the years, and which is the main reason Past Remains exists. Cheers. :)