Mamhead - Forestry England — Local services in Teignbridge

Mamhead is one of those rare places where nature and humanity seem to have called a gentle truce. A Forestry England woodland with a view to kill for, if you’re the sort who kills for views. Mamhead slopes gently along the edge of the Haldon Hills before pausing, theatrically, to offer you a sweeping stage-set vista of the Exe Estuary, that long silver mouth opening wide to the sea.

This is not wilderness. It’s not trying to be. It’s a thoughtfully managed, calmly civilised forest, where the paths are as flat as a Norfolk pancake and just as welcome if you’ve got a pram, a wheelchair, or simply the creaking ankles of middle age. You’re not climbing Everest here; you’re ambling through the National Trust’s daydream of a dog walk.

The mindfulness walk( because of course there is one) is like being gently patted on the head by an NHS therapist in waterproofs. It’s a collection of small, well-meaning prompts reminding you to breathe, listen to birdsong, and generally stop being such a stressed-out, phone-obsessed moron. It’s surprisingly moving. And remarkably effective, if only for the fifteen minutes before you remember you left the oven on.

But let us talk caffeine. Teign Bean, the café parked up near the entrance, is a gem in a hut. The coffee is better than it has any right to be in a forest, the cakes are homemade and generously portioned, and the whole operation runs on what seems to be goodwill and flat whites. It’s the sort of place where you could lose a Sunday afternoon and feel vaguely improved for it.

Mamhead doesn’t shout. It suggests. It doesn’t impress with drama; it reassures with space and sky and silence. And honestly, after a week in the modern world, that’s worth a great deal.

Bring a flask if you must, but don’t skip the Teign Bean. Bring your kids, your dogs, your elderly relatives, your unresolved thoughts. And let them all...

On a clear day you can see for miles and it is beautifully romantic with another. A great dog walking route too. However, get yourselves gone before the evening starts as it seems to be taken over by the 'dogging crowd'. It's a shame our local beauty spots have to get turned into these things of an evening but I guess that's the nature of humans eh. It's the same at Haldon, beautiful spot to chill and view the world from a hill...until the doggers pull up and make anyone not visiting for their purposes feel mega uncomfortable. Think I'm getting old cos I used to be much more live and let live, but i dunno seems like majority have to suffer with beauty spots as a result of the doggerZ....

As a wheelchair user, I would really recommend this trail. Parking is free, and the car park is level with tarmac so no horrible uneven flooring. The pop up food wagon is unbeatable, we always grab a hot drink and snack from Teign Bean!

The paths are all level, hard standing compacted gravel so it's very easy to walk and drive on, with the incredible viewpoint only 1/4 way around. The path can get muddy and wet but because it's hard compared surface it's easy to drive through as the mud isn't...