Accessible Britain

FOOD & DRINK aa The light and airy Dockyard Café serves delicious cakes and pastries,
all prepared on the ship. You can enjoy your lunch with views of the floating harbour.
044–045 Tarka Trail and Tunnels Beaches, Devon
Tarka Trail: Address: start point Biketrail on Fremington Quay, just outside Barnstaple, EX31 2NH Web:
www.northdevonbiosphere.org.uk/the-tarka-trail.html Tel: 01271 372586 Hours: no closures Dates: no
closures Entry: free
THE SOUTHWEST
Tunnels Beaches: Address: Bath Place, Ilfracombe EX34 8AN Web: www.tunnelsbeaches.co.uk Tel:
01271 879882 Hours: Easter school hols to Sept daily 10am–6pm (7pm during summer school hols); Oct
Tues–Sun 10am–5pm (also Mon during half term) Dates: closed Nov–Mar and for occasional private
events. New Year’s Day free Open Day 10am–4pm Entry: [D]£2.50 [A]£2.50 [3–15s]£1.95 [Under 3]free
[Con]£2.25 [Fam]£8.50 (2 adults & 2 children)
Named after Tarka the Otter – the celebrated children’s book by Henry Williamson –
the Tarka Trail is one the UK’s most scenic and accessible trails covering around 180
miles of paths. An accessible section of the trail starts about 40 minutes’ drive from
Tunnels Beaches – a unique coastal attraction in Ilfracombe.
A good way to explore the Trail is by hiring a Tramper mobility scooter or other inclusive
cycles such as handcycles, recumbents and trikes, from Biketrail on Fremington
Quay (www.biketrail.co.uk; advance booking is essential). There’s a drop-off point outside
Biketrail, a free car park just past the shop, and an accessible toilet at the end of the
Fremington Quay Café. Heading East from Biketrail takes you along the banks of the
River Taw towards Braunton and its famous dune system. Within minutes you’ll be immersed
in an area rich in flora and fauna, all described on small information posts that
work in tandem with an excellent audio guide (www.tarkatrailguide.co.uk). Curlews,
dunlin herons, egrets and the occasional spoonbill – and even a kingfisher, if you’re
lucky – are some of the many birds that can be seen along the shoreline. Heading West
towards Instow, Tramper users can also go “off road” and explore the nearby Home
Farm Marsh nature reserve (www.gaiatrust.org.uk/properties/home-farm-marsh).
You can continue your exploration of the area in charming Ilfracombe, where it is
slightly surreal to enter a series of tunnels that exit onto a wild Devon bay of craggy
rocks and a grey sand and shingle beach. Formed when Welsh miners tunnelled
through to Crewkhorne Cove in 1823, the beach was popular with visiting Victorians,
complete with separate bathing pools for “Gentlemen” and “Ladies”. Now, in summer
the tidal pools are a riot of youngsters in inflatables. Signs at the entrance say when
they are exposed. At low tide, this is one of the UK’s best places for rockpooling, with
a rich array of crustaceans, sea corals, anemones and hammerhead sharks – though
admittedly the last one found here was in 1865. There’s a pay-and-display car park,
but no dedicated disabled bays, and level access to the ticket office. The tunnels are flat
though the route to the beach gets progressively steeper, so wheelchair users may need
assistance here and with the forty yards of sand between the bottom of the paved path
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