Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
www.thegastrobus.co.uk
;
Bantham Beach car park; snacks from £4; 10am-7pm May-Oct; )
Street food
comes to south Devon, with this funky, fabulous pop-up al fresco cafe. Tuck into powerful
espressos, melting chocolate brownies, gourmet blue cheese burgers, and goat's cheese
and grilled veg salads but leave some room for the early-evening charcoal barbecues.
Getting There & Away
Buses don't run to Bantham. A (very) part-time passenger ferry shuttles between Bantham
village slipway and Bigbury-on-Sea.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Bigbury-on-Sea & Burgh Island
From towering cliffs lined with impressive houses, Bigbury-on-Sea rolls down suddenly
to a sandy beach. The village is more developed than Bantham on the other side of the
Avon Estuary, but it has an ace in the pack: the intriguing Burgh Island, complete with
jazz-age hotel, which sits just offshore.
Sights & Activities
Burgh Island
(
www.burghisland.com
;
Bigbury-on-Sea; open access)
A slanting chunk of grass-topped
rock, 10-hectare, tidal Burgh Island is connected to Bigbury-on-Sea by a stretch of sand at
low tide. At high water the journey is made by a sea-tractor (single £2), an eccentric
device where the passenger platform is perched on stilts 6ft above the tractor's wheels and
the waves.
It takes around 30 minutes to walk around the island. Bear right once ashore, taking the
cliff path that edges rocky coves as it heads uphill. At the summit you'll find the remains
of a huer's hut, where lookouts used to spot lucrative pilchard shoals then raise the alarm
(hence: 'hue and cry'). The gorgeous, art deco Burgh Island Hotel sits on the side nearest
the shore, with the Pilchard Inn just alongside.
ISLAND
Discovery Surf School
SURFING
