Compton Bay and Downs

Directions

• Begin from the car park at Freshwater Cliffs and take the marked path heading uphill and passing through Freshwater Bay Golf Club. Follow this track for 2.5 miles, head through the gate around 100m after you pass a bench on the left-hand side. From here, you can take a small detour to experience the panoramic scenery from the Five Barrows
• Heading back to the track, walk down and pass through a gate to find a road. Turn right and continue for 150m. Head left up the tarmac drive of Brook Hill House, go through 2 kissing gates and turn right at the sign saying “Private woodland, please keep to path”. Walk through the woods and another kissing gate to reach a field, where you continue to cross 2 stiles and a further kissing gate leading you to the road at Hulverstone
• At the road, head left for around 40m and then turn right down a lane for 60m where you need to climb the small wall to the right, signed “BS47 Brook”. Follow this path as you tackle 5 stiles and walk past a pond before joining a track heading towards the village of Brook
• Turn left as you reach the road and carry on until you reach a junction. Cross the road and pass through a gateway on the BS79 path leading to Brook Chine, then follow the coast path to get to a car park
• Here you have a choice between a scenic cliff-top walk or one along the sand at Shippards Chine, should the tide be low enough. The former offers stunning coastal views, while the latter may present you with the footprints of dinosaurs before climbing the wooden steps to get back onto the coastal path
• Continue along the track to Compton Chine, ignore the kissing gate heading back to the road, and instead take the path to the left of the fence. Head over the stile and a bridge over the chine and find the coast once more after crossing another stile
• A further set of steps and one more stile bring you to the road, where the path continues on the left-hand side. Once you pass the ELM memorial, bend to the right and find yourselves back at the car park