Winter walks: Donkey Beach, South Cornwall

This tiny slip of beach is ideal for children, but there are no equine trudgers here; just talcum-soft sand, colourful rockpools and some wonderful wild swimming opportunities amid the cobalt-coloured lagoons.

Getting there
Drive west on the A387 from Looe and follow signs to Portlooe. At the T-junction after 300 metres, turn right to Talland. Leave your vehicle either in the free car park at the bottom of the hill or outside the Smugglers Rest café. If both are full, there is another car park at the Talland Beach Café (£2.50).

Walk grade: Easy

Distance: 2 miles

Time: 50 mins

Walk along the lane towards Talland Beach from the free car park or the Smugglers Rest, then turn left when you see signs to Talland Beach Café.

Go past the toilets and the café, and take the left-hand turning just as the lane starts to climb uphill.

Halfway up the hill, turn onto the path that leads off to the left. When you reach a tiny lane, go left again.

Turn left once more when you reach the end of the lane, around 250 metres further on.

Walk along this path for five minutes or so, then take the small offshoot pathway that leads down to the beach.

To continue with our route, return to the path and carry on up it. Turn right onto a track just after you pass the war memorial.

Follow this track to its end, then turn right onto a lane. This will lead you back into Talland in less than ten minutes.

The beach

Seclusion: 4

Sand: 4

Rockpools and caves: 4

Swimming: 5

Ebb & flow
Only 20 metres across, this small, beautiful beach is perfect for swimming and exploring at low tide. When the tide comes in, the sand area is much smaller. Though it’s still accessible if the sea is calm.

OS Map Beach Ref
SX 222,510

Car park postcode
PL13 2JA

The pitstop
Though its name suggests a creaky-timbered pub, the Smugglers Rest is actually a rather genteel licensed café with the sort of sun terrace on which people sip Pimms rather than pints. That’s not to say they don’t do beer. There are refreshing lagers on tap all year round, and in high season the proprietors bring in barrels of Cornish ale, too. Open during the day for breakfasts (including one fry-up ominously known as The Gladiator) and light meals of the crab sandwich ilk, it hosts occasional barbecues on summer evenings at which everything from burgers and steaks to shark and swordfish gets the flame-grilled treatment.
Smugglers Rest, Talland Bay, near Looe, Cornwall PL13 2JA (01503 272259)

This walk is taken from 'Secret Beaches Southwest – 50 Short Walks to Secluded Shores' by Rob Smith (One More Grain Of Sand). The book is available at www.secretbeaches.co.uk, at £14.95 (including p&p).