Restaurant Strete England
- At the bottom of the road down to the Blackpool Sands car park from the A379 at Blackpool Hill, turn right into the main seafront car park, turning right again to follow the footpath out of the car park and back up to the main road. Cross the road carefully and follow the South West Coast Path acorn waymarker into the field on the left of Blackpool Valley Road, by the postbox. Follow the path beside the main road, crossing the stream on the footbridge and emerging on a small road (Norns Lane).
Just off-route, Blackpool Gardens were established in 1896 by Robert Lydston Newman, who was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England from 1914 to 1917. Together with the Governor of the Bank of England, Lord Cunliffe, Robert was the man responsible for financing Britain's part in the First World War. Historian Clive Aslet commented: 'Few people realise that England partly owed her victory to those two black-coated gentlemen ensconced away among a seas of papers and letters at the bank.'
Right up to the 1970s, the gardens sent vegetables and flowers to London markets, profiting from the warm climate in the sheltered valley. The gardens were restored in 2000 by Robert's descendant, Sir Geoffrey Newman Bt, whose son Sir Ralph Newman Bt later extended it, adding a range of semi-tropical plants from all corners of the globe. The gardens are open to the public every day throughout April to September (subject to fine weather), and there is a small entry charge. See the Blackpool Sands webpage for more details.
- Leave the Coast Path here, instead turning right to climb gently uphill, carrying on past the drive on your right and the footpath on your left. Keep going past the farm buildings at Southwood, ignoring the lane joining from the left just afterwards. Carry on ahead along Norns Lane to the T-junction at Horns Cross.
- At the T-junction turn left and follow the road into Strete. Carry on past the church and the restaurant beside it, following Totnes Road beyond, to the main road.
