Countryside Mobility Member, Eve, is an avid fan of the Trampers. On a regular basis she shares her wonderful stories and experiences as she explores different hire locations alongside her family.
Read Eve’s latest account of her adventure on this occasion at Branscombe in East Devon.
Eve’s tales from the Tramper: Branscombe beach and the Old Bakery
A summer journey through Branscombe shows how a Tramper can open up coast, countryside and the simple pleasure of exploring together.
On a bright July day, Branscombe felt every inch the valley village people come to Devon to find: hills rising steeply on either side, a stream catching the light beside the path, and the promise of the sea at the end of the route.
We began near the Forge, where the Tramper was ready and waiting — practical, reassuring and, as the day would prove, quietly transformative.
The ‘pop up’ Tramper hire at Branscombe gives Countryside Mobility members the chance to follow a ‘new’ relatively level valley route of around 1mile from the National Trust car park towards Branscombe Mouth. It is a route of gravel, water, trees and glimpses of open sky: modest in distance, perhaps, but full of significance for anyone who finds walking difficult.
Our mum is 87 and this was not her first time using a Tramper. She has now explored several places with Countryside Mobility, each one bringing a little more countryside, coast and confidence within reach. She has never driven a car or ridden a bicycle, and at first there was the familiar pause before setting off. Then came the change we recognised: her shoulders relaxed, the steering steadied and she began to travel with purpose rather than permission.
“I felt like I was part of the walk,” she said afterwards, “not someone everyone had to wait for.” It was a small sentence, but it captured the heart of accessible countryside. Access is often described through surfaces, gradients and distances, yet its real value is felt in moments like this: when someone can take their place in the day, keep pace with family and friends, and choose where to pause.
Because of the Tramper, our walk unfolded naturally. Nobody needed to shorten the route or hurry the conversation. We could stop for the stream, for the shade, for the swifts stitching the air above the valley and for the everyday kindness of people making room on the path.
At Branscombe beach, the shingle opened out to wide coastal views, with the cliffs of the Jurassic Coast framing the water and families settling into the slower rhythm of a seaside afternoon. The South West Coast Path climbed away beyond us, beautiful and steep, but there was no sense of missing out. We had reached the sea together, and that was the achievement.
There was humour too, as every good day out deserves. An ice cream crowned with a chocolate flake began to collapse almost as soon as it was handed over. “That was the fastest ice cream I’ve ever had to eat,” came the verdict, with the dignity only a melting cone can test.
The return journey brought us back through the valley to the Old Bakery, a welcome stop in the heart of the village. Cream tea in the shade — plump scones, jam, clotted cream, Earl Grey and a gluten-free option — gave the outing the kind of ending that makes a good day feel properly complete.
What Branscombe offered was not a grand adventure, but something more generous: a beach reached, a valley shared, a grandmother newly confident at the controls and a family able to say the ordinary sentence that meant everything — we went together.
For the National Trust and Countryside Mobility, that is the promise of access in action: helping more people enjoy special places, in their own way and with the people who matter to them.
Our thanks to Eve and her family for sharing their Branscombe trip with us. Branscombe is part of the Countryside Mobility pop-up initiative and hire is exclusive to Countryside Mobility members. You can visit the Branscombe pop-up booking pages to see the latest availability.
