WITH STUNNING VIEWS, HISTORIC FORTS AND RARE WILDLIFE, BERRY HEAD IS ONE OF THE LOVELIEST SPOTS IN THE REGION FOR GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL. ALEX FOLEY OF THE GUARDHOUSE CAFÉ EXPLORES SOME OF THE REASONS THE HEADLAND IS SO SPECIAL.
Berry Head B
erry Head is a truly amazing place. From the sea birds and porpoise, to the carpets of wildflowers; from the views across torbay, to the forts and cliff
formations – every visit and every angle brings a new experience. No wonder so many people come here to walk, relax and spend some time with nature. the headland’s forts were completed just after 1800 in response to the rise of Napoleon. torbay was a sheltered anchorage for Britain’s channel fleet and Berry Head was an important defensive position. the two forts were built to protect a gun emplacement on the tip of the headland. In those days, enemy ships couldn’t raise their cannon high enough to fire onto the headland, so the only danger was a land invasion – hence the reason why the North Fort faces inland. the lighthouse stands in place of those guns today and is the highest, deepest and shortest in the uK – only 5m tall, yet 58m above sea level, with a 45m shaft inside, which used to house a falling weight which
turned the light. standing here staring out to sea, there is always something to watch – some days it’s the por- poise and gannets fighting for fish; other days Brixham trawlers steaming back in to port; sometimes just the waves surging around the headland. the headland is so unspoilt that it is easy to imagine the soldiers living here in Napoleonic times as you wander around the old walls, sentry box and cannon inside the forts. But the historic remains go much further than that and historians from Brixham Museum have recently been investigating some of the archaeo- logical evidence for the dwellings and fortifications on the headland hundreds or thousands of years old. the Guardhouse, completed in 1802, has been a
tearoom for well over 100 years. the modern café can now be found in a light and airy extension (completed in 2010) and the original guardhouse now hosts an information centre manned by volunteers during the summer months.
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