Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tours last 45 minutes and wind up hundreds of steps, through tiny circular rooms. The
highlight is the final climb, by ladder, to the top platform where you stand alongside the
massive optics and look out over 360-degree views, down onto a boiling sea.
HISTORIC SITE
South Hallsands
(South Halsand; open access; )
The shells of the handful of houses that cling to the
cliff here are all that remain of a thriving fishing village. In 1917 one severe storm liter-
ally swept this community out to sea. More than 20 cottages, a pub and a post office were
lost overnight; remarkably, none of the 128 residents were killed. You can't wander amid
the ruins themselves, but you can see them clearly from a cliff-side viewing platform
where signs feature evocative sepia images of the village and its indomitable inhabitants.
Slapton Sands
( )
The name is misleading. Slapton Sands is actually a spectacular pebble ridge, and at
3 miles long you can find solitude here on even the busiest days. It's backed by the south-
west's largest freshwater lake, Slapton Ley, with only just enough room for a narrow strip
of road between the ley and the sea. At the southern Torcross end, you'll quite often come
across fishing folk casting their lines from the shore.
BEACH
Slapton Ley
(Slapton Sands)
Slapton Ley's broad sweep of water is ringed by a nature reserve and fringed
by reedbeds and woods. To explore, park at the Memorial Car Park halfway along Slapton
Sands and walk across the road (signed Slapton village). The reserve entrance is on the
left, immediately after the bridge. A 1¾-mile trail skirts the ley, crossing reed beds via a
series of boardwalks. While walking, look out for yellow iris, tufted ducks, great crested
grebes and - if you're lucky - otters. Soon the path heads up to Slapton itself, a quintes-
sential Devon village where houses huddle around mazelike lanes. It has a time-warp vil-
lage shop, robust church and 14th-century ruined tower; the Tower Inn is just next door.
From the village, a path beside the road takes you back to the coast and your car.
NATURE RESERVE
Sherman Tank
(Torcross; )
Wave-dashed as they are today, Slapton Sands have an even more dramatic
past. During WWII, thousands of American servicemen trained here for D-Day using live
ammunition. On one rehearsal in 1944, Exercise Tiger, a German torpedo boat sank sever-
al landing craft; more than 700 American servicemen died.
MEMORIAL
