Often featuring in lists of the world’s best walks, the South West Coast Path is 630 miles long, and passes through two World Heritage Sites. This guide to the path is modelled on the author’s recently published guide to the England Coast Path, which (in spite of lockdowns) is selling extremely well - 2,874 so far this year. We pitched The England Coast Path as a modern take on the traditional (turn right at the stile, and follow the footpath to the bridge) guidebook: instead of telling readers where to go step by step, Stephen gave them ideas for what to do as they travelled along the path. There are so many amazing adventures and places to visit (some ‘secret’ and some well known) and the book celebrated over 1,000 of them. It was endorsed by the Ramblers and National Trails, as well as by Boris Johnson…
This guide will be presented in the same way: Stephen will spend the spring of 2021 walking, pack rafting and wild camping along the South West Coast Path’s entire length, writing and photographing as he goes. The book will open with an Introduction giving a history of the path and the stories of the people who made it, and continue to maintain it today, bringing the path and the book to life. Why is this path the most popular National Trail? Why is it so closely associated with tales of King Arthur and national pride? When is the best time to visit, and what lies in wait for it in terms of access and funding?
The bulk of the book will focus on all the amazing things you can do along the path itself. It will be divided into regions, with approx. 77 adventures/highlights per region:
West Somerset
North Devon
Torridge
North Cornwall
South Cornwall
South Hams
Torbay
Teignbridge
East Devon
West Dorset
Weymouth and Portland
Purbeck
Poole
The structure for each section will be as per the England Coast Path, starting off with a ‘Best For’ section, eg ‘Best for secret swims’, ‘Best for tidal woods’, ‘Best for fossils’, ‘Best for canoe adventures’ then moving on to individual regions and the places within them, each with basic directions, a short description and postcode/map coordinatres. Readers will be able to use this guide whilst walking the path in either direction. And all presented within a gorgeous design and with stunning photography (a mix of the author’s own and Shutterstock, this time with a publicity agreement for useage up front!).
