Landslip Cove soon to be accessible once again

Work is taking place this month to repair the coastal path at Talland Bay. As reported in this news post, storm damage forced the closure, in February, of the Coast Path running past Landslip Cove, making access to the routes here impossible without ignoring the diversion. Hopefully once the work is completed this stretch of path will be reopened allowing safe and unhindered access to the climbing once again.

CORMAC’s countryside team is now organising a new diversion around the works, which are due to be completed within four weeks. The diversion is about a mile long and goes away from the coast following roads rather than footpaths; its route can be seen here on the South West Coast Path website.

This section of the South West Coast Path within Talland Bay was affected by last winter’s storms. The storms destroyed the existing coastal defences, which now need to be replaced to ensure the future of this section of the National Trail.

Repair work is taking place at 67 sites around the coast of Cornwall, funded by DEFRA and Cornwall Council. BAM Nuttall & Mott MacDonald will undertake the work at Talland Bay. To protect and improve the resilience of the cliff supporting the road they will be making placements of rock armour, gabion baskets and sprayed concrete.

CORMAC Countryside Officer Dave Wood said “It is great to see the investment in our coastline by DEFRA and Cornwall Council. We hope to keep inconvenience to a minimum during the works and ask that people follow the diversion we have put in place. Although we appreciate that the diversion will be in place for four weeks, it is hoped that this will preserve the route of the SWCP for many years to come.”

Although there are only four mediocre routes of historical interest at Landslip Cove, there are so few crags in this part of Cornwall that loss of access to any of them greatly limits what little climbing is available. Thankfully the temporary closure of this stretch of Coast Path will soon be at an end so climbers in the area can feel free to book a trip to experience the joys of The Circular Climb!

Updates on path closures and route changes can be found here on the South West Coast Path website.

Storm damage causes coast path diversion

With the recent spell of storms many agencies are warning people to take care when out an about on Cornwall's coast. Although no rockfalls or storm damage have as yet been reported on the climbing cliffs of South East Cornwall there are one or two diversions to the South West Coast path that affect access to some venues. Firstly anyone wishing to visit Talland Bay needs to be aware that as of February 2014 the South West Coast path has been diverted so cannot be followed past Landslip Cove. See information here. Also at Downderry one of the paths to the beach passing the school has been closed, however, a number of alternatives are available and this isn't the access described in the current Cheesewring & South East Cornwall guide - so there is no need to cancel any planned trips as it should still be easily possible to get to the bouldering.

Hopefully these paths should reopen soon but it's worth noting that path closures and route changes can be checked here on the South West Coast Path website.