Devon beach walk #1: Strete Gate
I love living by the sea. There’s something reassuring about hearing the call of sea birds and tasting salt on the breeze. It’s also an important point of reference for me. If I have the coastline behind me I can mentally map out the land around.
When we lived in Hampshire we often visited our local beaches and those in neighbouring West Sussex and Dorset. Most were shingle, with green waters churned by the busy shipping lanes of the Solent. On the horizon there was the Isle of Wight where we could pick out the features of Yarmouth, Cowes, Osbourne House and Ryde depending on our observation point from the mainland.
We walked on our local beaches in rain and shine, at mid-summer and on New Years Day. They were our place to go when we needed some fresh air at the end of a busy day or a destination for meeting up with friends. Going to the beach is and always will be an important family ritual.
Moving to Devon has given us the opportunity to walk on a whole host of different beaches with their own characteristics. This is a truly exciting prospect and something I thought would be fun to share here on the blog.
About the Street Gate beach
Strete Gate is part of a long coastal bar that runs across Torcross in South Devon. The beach is made of fine shingle, which sinks away under your feet making walking slow and steady.
There’s a promenade along some of the coastal bar but I wouldn’t recommend using a pushchair if you want to see the beach properly. Wear those babies and make sure toddlers and other kids have sturdy shoes on.
The carpark at has a pay and display machine but this was covered for the winter during our visit. There’s a small toilet block, but no baby changing facilities.
The good news for families with four-legged members is that dogs are welcome at Strete Gate all year round. There’s a dog bin near the carpark, so there’s no excuse to not pick up those poops.
Our walk
After days of rain, wind and more rain, we were very excited when we had our first bright sunny day of January 2016. It was perfect weather to get outdoors and explore a Devon beach.
Strete Gate is a 15 minute drive from where we live in Dartmouth. It’s not a totally new beach to us as we visited last summer holiday when we were searching for a dog friendly shoreline. A lot of the more popular beaches are out of bounds for dogs in high season.
Sadly the weather was terrible and we didn’t hang around much longer than it took for me to feed and change Tin Box Baby while Mr Tin Box threw the ball a few times for the dog.
What a difference six months makes! We found the beach surprisingly sheltered despite it being on a long, straight stretch of coastline. It even felt warm. Yes, in January.
Tin Box Tot was so excited to be able to run around on the shingle, as was Tin Box Dog. They have missed having the opportunity to do this in the past month.
We drew lines in the sand with TBT’s umbrella (that she insisted on bringing with her despite the sunshine), we threw a few stones at the water’s edge and removed a lot more from TBT’s wellies.
It was my first outing with Tin Box Baby strapped to my back in our Baby Weavers back pack. She has now outgrown the Moby Wrap we have had since she was born and seemed to enjoy her new crow’s next position.
We didn’t wander far along the beach as we had to get home again for lunch, so there’s still plenty for us to explore another day.
Strete Gate – great for
- Picnics
- Dog walking
- Swimming – no life guards
- Water sports – bring your own equipment.
It’s also worth mentioning that the north end of Strete Gate is a naturist beach. We didn’t see anyone brave enough to bare all during our visit! Not surprising really in January.
Have you been the Strete Gate? Can you recommend any other Devon beaches for us to visit in 2016?
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I’m very jealous, I’d love to live by the sea. Beautiful photos. Huge apologies for the delay in commenting. I was really poorly for a few weeks and then I had no WiFi! #CheckOutThatView
Emma Day recently posted…Southampton Docks from the Norwegian Escape #CheckOutThatView
Looks like a lovely beach even in January. Love the blue sky. #countrykids
Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids, great to see you back!
What a stunning beach to have found and look at that blue sky!! #countrykids
What a lovely beach, it looks like it's perfect for your family and allows dogs too, I didn't realise beaches didn't until we went to Cornwall in October. We don't have a dog, but we did growing up and never really came across this in Scotland, unless things have changed in the last 15 years!! In saying that maybe I was just oblivious. #kcacols
Oh that beach looks absolutely lovely. You can't beat time on the beach! #KCACOLS
Oh, you'll have a great time. There's a lot of stoney beaches here too. Do your research before you visit. I'll be sharing a few more beaches before your trip too 🙂
We did. I can't recommend living by the sea enough 🙂
Absolutely, they are becoming rarer. It's a shame but I can understand that not all dog owners are responsible 🙁
I hope you get your wish. There's nothing quite like it 🙂
It really was. It didn't feel like January at all 🙂
We definitely have moe choices of beaches here than parks, but I hope to find s few good ones here too 🙂
It really is refreshing in all senses of the word, isn't it!? I wouldn't mind living on the Italian coast either…for research purposes, obviously 🙂
Thank you! We've seen a fair bit of wet and windy this month too 🙂
We love it and feel lucky to have it so close 🙂
It really is. We feel lucky to have it so close, as does Tin Box Dog 🙂
What a shame – Tin Box Dog would not cope. I can understand though – those Dubai beaches look amazing and the thought of finding the evidence of a careless owner is not pleasant!
Summer is going to be really special but I have a feeling we'll be heading to the less popular beaches then. Sorry I didn't make #CountryKids last week – I will be back soon!
Absolutely, and when it's rough they go all the way inland in the UK. We really can't live too far from the coast wherever we are here. The thought of living 10 hours away is mind boggling to me!
Yes, she starts to whine as soon as she sees the water. She's totally in her element 🙂
Sound heavenly. I can't wait for our beach trip this summer. Going to just rent a place right on the beach and spend everyday for a week there. I am visiting from #KCACOLS
The beach looks absolutely lovely! The perfect sheltered beach, although I wonder if the north end is busy in the summer with the naturists! We don't have any beaches nearby, at least a 1.5 hour drive to the nearest, but love visiting them when we get a chance. Thanks so much for linking up to #Whatevertheweather 🙂 x
*sigh* i hope one day to move closer to the beach. Sadly we have a good 1 1/2 hour drive away from any beaches. I have never visited Devon or Cornwall but it's on my family to do list 🙂 #KCACOLS
Looks like a beautiful winters day to get outside in the fresh air.
I love being by the sea too, I wish I could brave the elements with my crazy crew a little more often! I think weekly beach visits are a goal for this year, especially as temperatures rise and Kinley gets more sturdy on his feet, hopefully not having to take the pushchair will allow me more control over the other crazies! That beach looks stunning and I can't wait to see you explore more beaches in Devon #KCACOLS xx
Ohhh this looks lovely. I can't wait till my youngest is just a bit older and we can get down to Devon and Cornwall for some holidays and walks like this. Gorgeous. #KCACOLS
What a beautiful beach and coast line!!! We've had so much warmth and lovely weather in January down here in Cornwall too. Perfect for beach walks. It sounds like a beautiful beach to come back to in Spring with a picnic, and good that they allow Tin Box dog too! Thank you for sharing your adventure on #whatevertheweather x
What a lovely sandy beach! Most of the beaches near us are all stone. We are actually coming to Devon for a holiday in March and I've heard fab things about the area – especially the beaches!
Thanks so much for linking up to #KCACOLS and I hope to see you back again next week. X
Aaahhhh we love Dartmouth and that stretch of South Devon. Had some wonderful holidays recently. Our favourite beach is Blackpool Sands. So beautiful and clean.
Looks like you had a lovely family walk, albeit a bit chilly! I look forward to reading about your next beach visit! We are in West Sussex just outside the Witterings. There is nothing quite like being by the sea…❤️ #KCACOLS
Kathy xxx
I love the sea! Thank you for bringing me some today 🙂
Don't forget to link to Country Kids too
It looks like a great beach. I've lived in the Midlands all my life but I often think it would be so much fun to live near the coast. Looks like you all had fun! #whatevertheweather
Brilliant to find a year-round beach walkies for Tin Box Dog 🙂
Beautiful beach photos! I miss living near the sea. I hope to do so again someday.
I have never lived on the coast but I would love to – I adore being by the sea. And how fantastic to have the beach to run around on rather than just a park.
What a lovely beach! We live near the coast also and at the weekends, if it's sunny, we always head towards the sea. Coming from Italy, it took me a while to learn to see the beauty of a cold day on the beach, but now I love it: the sun, the smell, the sound of the wind. I always got back home in a good mood, after a day on water!
What a lovely looking beach. I love the coast in winter when it can be anything from warm and calm, like your day, to wild and windy and you can have the place all to yourself. You all look like you had a great time and I love the photo of Tin Box Dog! #AnimalTales
It looks heavenly. What a wonderful place to go for a walk.
What a beautiful beach to have found, it's great that you've found one that's perfect for Tin Box Tot and Tin Box Dog to enjoy together. I bet you can't wait until it's even warmer for a splash in the sea in the summer. #animaltales
This looks like a lovely walk and i'm sure your dog loved it too. what an amazing site! The beach is so so beautiful in any season. Angela popping over from #AnimalTales
how lovely to walk the dog on the beach. we live in Dubai, 1km from the beach yet sadly dogs are banned all year round here
Awww I miss the sea! I was working out the other day that this is the longest I have ever lived this far from the sea (5 months; a very, very long way – see Pretoria on a map of SA, I think it takes about 10 hours to drive to the coast from here). I didn't live by the sea in the UK but you are never far away from the sound of seagulls!
I love living near the sea too! And Doc like yours also loves the beach 😉 #animaltales