The Warren, Noss Mayo - Walk

This is Piggy’s final contribution to Moor Links, but she hopes to see you out and about enjoying any one of the 15 walks she has shared over the past few years. We thought we’d end with one of her favourite coastal walks, not least because it often finishes in a visit to the pub, which usually means a treat!

There is a car park near the tennis courts in Noss Mayo or you can park in the creek (checking on the tide). The walk is just over 4 miles (about 1½–2 hours). Piggy prefers to do it clockwise with one steepish climb at the start; doing it the other way around means you have a long steady climb for about half of the route.

Turn left out of the car park and walk up hill (1). The road soon becomes a stony track and climbs past houses on the right and sloping fields on the left. After about ¾ mile, turn left onto the tarmacked lane, then in about 50 metres, right into a National Trust car park (2). At the far side of this is a dog-friendly gate that opens onto a surfaced path leading gently down to open fields above the sea. Go through the gate here and turn right, following the obvious track/path ahead. Although reasonably high above the sea, the fields and cliffs are not precipitous so well-behaved dogs can go off the lead, as long as there is no stock in the fields.

Once a carriage road called Revelstoke Drive, this track winds around the headland for about two miles, passing the beautifully situated Warren Cottage and giving long views to the Mewstone with Cawsand and Kingsand in the far distance. It then turns back towards Noss Mayo (3) and descends gently through wooded slopes, with the mouth of the Yealm below on the left, before becoming a narrow road beside Newton Creek.

Soon you reach the village, which is full of pretty painted cottages, and the end of the walk. For refreshments, choose between The Old Ship Inn on your left or, across the creek, The Swan.