Little and Great Hangman: The Walk From Combe Martin

Short answer: Little Hangman is about forty-five minutes up from the bay, with views across to Wales on a clear day. Great Hangman continues beyond it and is the highest sea cliff in England. Both start free from the village and both are exposed at the top.

Starting from the bay

The coast path leaves straight from Combe Martin bay, which means no separate car park and no fee — you walk out of the village and you are on it. That is unusually convenient for a walk of this quality.

Little Hangman

About forty-five minutes up. The climb is steady rather than brutal and the payoff is a view that on a clear day reaches across the Bristol Channel to Wales. For most people this is the walk: enough effort to feel earned, back down in time for lunch.

Great Hangman

Continues beyond Little Hangman and is the highest sea cliff in England, over three hundred metres above the water. It is a longer and more serious proposition, properly exposed, and the drop is real. Do it in decent weather and decent boots or do not do it.

What to take

• Boots or proper shoes. The path is unsurfaced and wet in patches year round.
• Wind protection. The top is exposed and the wind comes off the Channel with nothing in its way.
• Water — there is nothing on the route.
• Dogs on leads; the path is unfenced in places and there is livestock.

When not to go up

In a named storm, or when the wind is strong enough to be a nuisance in the village. The gusts at the top are substantially stronger than at sea level and the path runs close to the edge in places. The view will still be there next week.

Coming back down

The descent is harder on the knees than the climb was on the lungs. Take it slowly on wet ground. The Focsle Inn overlooks the beach at the bottom and does an enormous ploughman's, which is the correct conclusion to this walk.