Escape to the wreckers’ coast

Wild and remote, the wreckers' coast at the southern tip of England runs 16 miles from Hartland Point in north Devon to the seaside town of Bude in Cornwall. This peninsula remains off the map to many and visitors have to go a long way to find a high street, let alone a high-street shop. Away from the ‘Atlantic Highway' (aka the A39) that brings you here, this is a world of meandering lanes, dry-stone walls and thatched hamlets.

Walkers make a beeline for the southwest coast path and its strange, jagged cliffs. From Hartland Quay you can see Lundy, a grey oblong in the distance but, up close, teeming with seals, sika deer and puffins. It's an hour's boat trip from Clovelly, a traffic-free fishing village preserved in 19th-century style. Hartland shelters two miles inland, home to a 12th-century abbey and walled gardens, along with a handful of shops and open studios showcasing the work of furniture makers, artists and potters. At nearby Stoke, St Nectan's church tower soars above the rooftops, a 128-feet high landmark to sailors since the Norman era.

West of Hartland lies the churchyard at Morwenstow, where a ghostly ship's figurehead among the gravestones tells of less settled times. In the 18th and 19th century, more than 200 vessels foundered here in gales; to impoverished farming communities the washed-up cargo was a welcome free harvest. If legend is to be believed, stormy nights would bring wreckers with false lights to the cliffs luring storm-swept sailors to a watery grave - a stark contrast to the welcoming tea rooms and guesthouses here now, but you don't need to look far for a story of wreckers, smuggling and intrigue.

Discover a hideaway

Reverend Hawker - Morwenstow's flamboyant vicar from 1834 to 1875 and known for reviving the tradition of harvest festival - built Hawker's Hut into the Cliffside at Sharpnose Point. Hawker would come here to smoke opium, write sermons and verse, once with the poet Tennyson. It was also a vantage point for spying ships in peril, some say so that Hawker could guarantee first pickings, while others, more charitably, believe it meant he could ensure a Christian burial for drowned sailors. Now owned by the National Trust, the hut is always left open for shelter in a storm.

Go shipwreck hunting

Just as fascinating is Hartland Quay Museum (01237 441218; www.hartlandquayhotel.co.uk). Two rooms above the souvenir shop at Hartland Quay, it's full of shipwreck salvage, old maps, letters and photographs. Look out for the scale model of the coastline with tiny wooden boats showing when and where each vessel came to grief, as well as identifiers of the area's birds and wildflowers. At the Castle Heritage Centre at Bude Castle (01288 357300; www.bude-stratton.gov.uk) see lifesaving rocket apparatus used in the early 19th century to haul sailors from sinking ships. Would-be skippers can try their hand at the tricky navigation game, steering a model boat from open sea into the harbour and canal. Bude's real canal is just across the road from here, home to one of only three remaining lock gates in the UK opening straight into the ocean.

Walk the coastal path

The wreckers' coast has some of the most stunning walks in the UK with glorious heather-covered cliffs and weatherbeaten trees bent over by incessant westerlies. Don't forget your binoculars as peregrine falcons nest on the cliffs and you may even spot a dolphin or basking shark among the waves. Michael and Alison Stubbs of Way2go4.com (01288 331416) run guided walks; alternatively, park up at Hartland Quay first thing, ramble past the waterfall at Speke's Mill Mouth and you should arrive at Docton Mill tearooms for lunch. It's only a couple of hours' walk from Morwenstow church to Hawker's Hut and on to Stanbury Mouth. From here, head inland to dry off by the fire at the Bush Inn. Opposite is Springfield Forge and showroom (01288 331160; www.properblacksmith.com) where you can watch blacksmith David North-Lewis at work and buy curtain poles and hearth sets hot off the anvil.

Enjoy the catch

Pencil in a trip to Clovelly harbour for the Herring Festival on 21 November (01237 431781; www.clovelly.co.uk), an annual celebration of sustainable fishing. Feast on locally caught smoked kippers, bloaters and pan-fried mackerel and learn how 18th-century fishermen would have painstakingly transformed flax into fishing nets. There is also walk-about theatre, Celtic music and stalls selling a range of local ciders and wines that will have you joining in with the sea shanties in no time.

Where to stay

● Hawker's Cottages, Coombe (01628 825925; www.landmarktrust.co.uk). Briefly home to Morwenstow's infamous vicar, this pretty thatched self-catering cottage overlooks orchards and a ford. The window above the porch is shaped like across and the portico was made from salvaged oak barrels. Sleeps five; seven nights from £365.

● Home Farm, Welcombe (01288 331416; www.way2go4.com). Elegant Georgian farmhouse and base for Michael and Alison Stubbs' walking and writing holidays. Alison will rustle up a packed lunch while Michael, a mine of information on shipwrecks and geology, will guide a walk suited to your pace. From £70. Three-night walking holidays from £189 per person.

● The Hoops Inn & Country Hotel, Horns Cross (01237 451222; www. hoopsinn.co.uk). A 13th-century thatched inn with open fires, snug alcoves and suites with four-poster beds. The coastal path to Clovelly and Hartland is nearby and the woods of Peppercombe are on your doorstep. From £140.

● Red Lion Hotel, Clovelly (01237 431237; www.clovelly.co.uk). Awake to the sound of sea birds in rooms that overlook the Atlantic or 15th-century cottages and fishing boats in the harbour. Explore Clovelly Court's garden and Victorian glasshouses, open by arrangement to RHS members in March and October. From £126.*

Places to eat

● Bush Inn, Morwenstow (01288 331242; www.bushinn-morwenstow. co.uk). This 700-year-old pub has a restaurant where you can eat Cornish lamb or pollack from St Ives while enjoying views of the Tidna Valley.

● Docton Mill Tearooms, Hartland (01237 441369; www.doctonmill.co.uk). Old working mill set in nine-acre gardens. Pop in for a cream tea or a platter of seafood.

● Hart Inn, Hartland (01237 441474; www.hartinn.com). The constantly changing menu at this pub includes steak from Red Ruby Devon cattle, spiced venison casserole and homemade sticky toffee pudding.

● Rectory Tearooms, Crosstown (01288 331251; www.rectory-tearooms.co.uk). Originally a 13th-century monastery, now an award-winning tearoom. The meat for Sunday roasts comes from the family's organic herd.