East Hill Strips

The strips themselves are a peculiar sight - deep, dramatic gullies carved into the soft sandstone cliffs just above West Hill, looking rather like someone's taken a giant comb to the hillside. They're geological formations, really, created over millennia as water has worn away channels through the rock, and they've become a proper landmark for walkers exploring this stretch of the Devon coast.

You get here on foot, which is half the appeal. There's no visitor centre or car park - it's the kind of place you stumble upon while wandering the coastal paths, and that's exactly why it works. The strips themselves aren't particularly high - you're not scaling anything dramatic - but they're distinctive enough to be worth the detour if you're already exploring this part of East Devon. Photographers seem to get a lot out of them, especially when the light hits the layered rock at the right angle.

It's free, obviously, since there's nothing to fence off. Allow an hour or so if you're making a specific trip, though most people experience them as part of a longer cliff walk. Families will find them interesting rather than thrilling - older kids might enjoy the scramble aspect, but toddlers could get bored quickly. Winter's actually better than summer here, when the paths are less congested.

If you're staying at Cuckoo Down Farm Glamping or Ladram Bay, you're within striking distance. They'd work well as a stop-off between the holiday park and a proper walk along the coast - nothing jaw-dropping, but a genuine bit of geological oddity that makes for decent conversation later.