The Secret Sands
Introduction: Discovering the Secret, Unspoiled Beach
Imagine a fabulous sandy beach that’s over a quarter of a mile long and surrounded by amazingly dramatic scenery. Now imagine that beach with no one down there by the waves enjoying its winds acres. Why is it so empty? Why is it so secret? Because reaching it, then getting back to civilisation safely again, is very perilous indeed. So dangerous, in fact, that no one really wants you to go there.
Article as seen in WEST magazine
Certainly not the local lifeboat crew or coastguard. Because they have been called to that beach far too many times to help stranded but clueless adventurers.
Warnings and Dangers: Why the Beach Remains a Secret
I add the word clueless, because you can reach this beach in safety if you really do know what you are doing. By which I mean, you are acutely aware of the tidal situation on an hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute basis, and you know the secret cave that will introduce you to the beach without your having to lower yourself down a 60 foot rope. And even if you do know the whereabouts of this cave, you will need very good footwear and have excellent levels of agility to negotiate the giant slippery which you must cross to reach the sands.
This Secret Place - written for the regional daily newspapers such as the Western Morning News and Western Daily Press - is one off the best beaches to be found along a 60-mile stretch of the West Country’s north coast between Weston-Super-Mare and Combe Martin. It really does boast many acres of fine golden sands –but the reason hardly anyone ever goes there is because it is extremely difficult to get to and if you do somehow manage to get yourself down to the shore, you will have a very good chance of being cut-off by the second biggest tide in the world.
Writer Martin Hesp stands on the secret sands
Dangers Lurking: Navigating the Perils of the Dramatic Coastal Cliffs
The last time I went by the normal route and approached the place from the massive hill that hides it by descending the scary scree to the edge of a near vertical 60-foot cliff, I saw the old rope (that has been there for years) now terminated about 20 feet above the beach. Not a nice place to be left dangling.
A Step Back in Time: My Personal Experience on the Secluded Beach
When I was a youth there was a proper path down and not some flimsy bit of rope. A very scary path, it was too. But one which I used as a teenager nearly 50 years ago when I camped down on the beach with a girlfriend. I dread to think of the fuss that would ensure if some teenagers did that today. Walkers would be ringing rescue services on their mobile phones and there would be helicopters buzzing about the place and goodness knows what.
But back then there were very few walkers, and no mobile phones. And because these secret sands are well off the beaten track (by which I mean that it is even off limits to the all-seeing all-marching South West Coast Path) it is one of the most hidden places in the entire West Country.
Journey to the Top: The Scenic Route to Hurlestone Point
All of which is why I am not going to describe the exact way to reach the beach – but I can divulge how you can safely reach a vantage point which will give you fabulous views of the wondrous sands without your having to risk life and limb attempting to actually be on it…
The best way is to aim for the little car-park in the almost unbelievably pretty, chocolate-box village of Bossington, a mile-and-a-half north-east of Porlock. Cross the footbridge that looks as if it's been inspired by the one at Claude Monet's lily-pond, and turn left along the riverside.
The path ascends gently towards Hurlestone Point - the dramatic headland which not only commands the eastern tip of Porlock Bay, but also does a massive job of effectively hiding our secret place.
Unveiling the Unknown: The Secret Sea-Tunnel Beneath Hurlestone Point
Author M Hesp clambers through The Gulls’ Hole
There's a ruined coastguard look-out that sits squat on a shelf some 200 feet above the end of the jagged point and I recommend strolling out to its airy realm. From it you can peer around the corner and see the wide expanse of the sands stretching east under the great hill.
What you will not see from this truly panoramic vantage point is the secret sea-tunnel which passes through the very end of the headland 150-feet beneath your feet.
It is called the Gull’s Hole and only a handful of people in the entire world know of its existence. Which is why I’m not going to give directions here. However, it has been mentioned in an excellent book called The Hidden Edge of Exmoor by Kester and Elizabeth Webb which is basically an encyclopaedia for those wishing to explore this most dangerous of all the region’s coastlines.
The pair describe Hurlestone Point and its secret sea-cave thus: “The ridge tapers as it descends, forming a sharp headland poking out into the sea. It looks, from the air, like a huge fossilized dragon. The top jaw of this monster is formed by a graceful anticline and, at the centre of the arch, some seven beds of rock have been punched right through by the sea, leaving a 12-foot, and very draughty, thru-cave.
The Gulls’ Hole
“This Gull Hole, with arched ceiling and convex floor, provides an easy half-tide passage from Eastern Cliffs through to Western Cliffs and Bossington Beach.”
For the likes of the late Kester Webb, who was one of the Exmoor coast’s most experienced guides, the Gull’s Hole did offer an “easy” kind of access to the secret world beyond. For most of the human race it is hazardous. I can imagine a health and safety expert would turn pale if they were to see the slippery seaweed covered rocks and cliffs you need to negotiate eve, to reach it. And you must only make the attempt when the tide is right. By which I mean – when it is falling. Only at half-tide or lower can you reach the Gull’s Hole by scrambling across the rocks – and, once you are through, you’d better put a move on if you are intending to boulder-hop the half-mile to the secret sands, and then return via the same route.
My Latest Scrambling Adventure to the Secret Sands
I recently did this scrambled adventure in the company of my brother John - who knows the place well having lived in nearby Bossington for many years – and although we were back in plenty of time, I could see the incoming tide would have caused us major problems had we dallied out on the sands for another half hour.
I’d also add that we are fairly fit blokes for our age – do not even think of trying this route if you are not in tip-top health or if you have trouble with leaping across gaps from giant boulder to giant boulder.
John Hesp near The Gull’s Hole
Once you are on the sands you find yourself being awed by the massiveness of the place and by the vast boiler-plated cliffs that rise heavenwards to meet even bigger hogs-back hills which loom more than 900 feet above the shore. Of all the places in the region, this is the zone in which humans feel truly dwarfed by their surroundings.
I have never seen another soul down here – save for that girlfriend I mention who shared a dreamy weekend with me here all those years ago. That ended in tears, by the way. My tears. And they were wept because of the severe pain I found myself in.
Approaching the Secret Sands across slippery boulders
A Bittersweet Memory: My Unforgettable Encounter with a Portuguese Man of War
The lethal currents around here are powerful enough to gouge large indentations into the sand – and sometimes, when the tide is out, these can be wide and deep enough to swim in. How cheerful was I when hurled myself deep into the sun-warmed waters of one of these natural pools…
And how agonised was I to discover the thing was filled with a million almost invisible stinging tentacles of a dead Portuguese Man of War jellyfish. My dreams of acting the part of some handsome young Robinson Crusoe disappeared under a thousand red weals.
A Unique Event: Recalling the Historic Landing of Small Airplanes on the Secret Sands
A far more memorable image is one described in The Hidden Coast of Exmoor in which Kester and Elizabeth write about the occasion in 2009 when five small aeroplanes actually landed on these wide sands. It had all been carefully arranged and the pilots of four old World War Two Austers and one modern Cub were greeted by a ground-crew who’d been taken down by Kester.
The Importance of Preserving the Secret Beach's Solitude and Beauty
I cannot imagine this Secret Place will ever see anything like it again – but then, it’s a location that has played host to very few human activities down the years. Long may that continue.
