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Map of South West England the extreme region (notably Cornwall), was one of the bastions of the Celts-Iron Age Britons driven west by the advancing legions of Rome, and, as such, has long been considered own native Celtic-Cornish language until only three or four hundred years ago, the South West is noted for being the legendary realm of King Arthur, the final resting place of the Holy Grail, the mythical abode of giants, mermaids and pixies, and the partly-real, partly-dream landscape of Thomas Hardy’s Wessex novels.

The South West coast, ending in the jagged granite rocks and vertical grey cliffs of the Land’s End Peninsula, is notoriously dangerous for shipping and literally thousands of vessels have been wrecked there over the centuries.

With its narrow inlets, secluded coves, wooded creeks and cave-riddled cliffs, the long and indented coastline proved particularly advantageous for smugglers, wreckers and privateers.

In addition to smuggling, the South-West coast is noted for its spectacular and contrasting scenery, from the high, rounded cliffs of Exmoor, the sweeping sandy bays of North Devon and the wild rocky Atlantic bulwarks of Cornwall to the sedimentary sandstone cliffs of South Devon, the fossil-rich Jurassic limestone promontories of Dorset and the long shingle ridge of Chesil Beach.

Linking all of these natural features is the South West coast path, a 594 mile footpath running from the Somerset resort of Minehead, in the North, to the Dorset Port of Poole, in the South.