In Victorian times, Bude was a popular seaside resort and many of the Victorian buildings remain. Possibly inspired by the sandstone being quarried in Bude and heated in lime kilns, the Victorian inventor who invented limelight built his home here (grandly named Bude Castle) which is now a heritage centre.
In more recent times, Bude has become famous for its Jazz Festival in August. There is a Tourist Information Centre in the main car park.
Whilst much of rock along the Tintagel and Boscastle coast is slate, the rocks around Bude are sandstones and shales. Where the softer upended rock layers have been eroded by the sea, series of ridges have been formed such as at the sides of the beaches at Widemouth and Sandymouth creating many rockpools.
The sandstone around Bude was used as a source of lime to improve the fertility of the acid soils around Bodmin Moor.
"the quantity which is every season carried away from different parts of the coast for the purpose of manure almost exceeds belief. From Bude, in the parish of Stratton it has been ascertained that in one day as many as four thousand horse loads have been taken."Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall 1818.
Bude Canal was built to carry lime inland and the original canal system spanned 35 miles. This included "inclined planes" (hills in a canal!) where canal boats were hauled uphill using waterwheels or in one instance VERY large buckets of water. Today, 2 miles of canal remain filled with water at Bude. The canal is popular with fisherman as it's one of the few watercourese in Cornwall where you can catch coarse fish. It's also a nice spot for a leisurely walk. You can pick up some leaflets (70p) from Tintagel Visitor Centre for "Bude Canal trails" - some circular walks with information about the history.
There are a number of nature reserves around Bude:
- The undisturbed history of Millook Valley woods (now owned by the Woodland Trust) and location in a sparsely populated area of the north Cornish coast offers visitors a sense of stepping back in time. The broad-leaved woodland is criss-crossed by footpaths with some great views over the valley. There are bluebells in Spring and loads of blackberries and sloes in Autumn. Other interesting occupants include dormice, otters and smooth snakes. It is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, an Ancient Woodland Site and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
- Bude marshes is the fourth largest area of reed in the county and provides valuable habitat for wintering migrant and breeding birds.
- Maer Lake - Owned jointly between the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society - 25 acres of wetland meadow with open water provides an internationally acknowledged resting and feeding site for migrating birds. Note there is no access inside the reserve - viewing is strictly only from the private road above the reserve.
- Lower Tamar Lake (South West Lakes Trust) was built by the Bude Canal Company in 1823 to act as the feeder reservoir for the Bude Canal System. Good for waterfowl and there is a bird hide here. A pair of Great Crested Grebe usually breed on the lake.
- Phillips Point (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) is a small reserve off the Widemouth to Bude coast road with magnificent vertical and slumping high cliffs with spectacular views to Hartland Point and Widemouth. A good spot for seals. Very close by is Upton Meadow (also Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - a small reserve on side of a steep valley above a small stream, alongside which a small woodland grows
- Marsland Valley (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - two large, steep-sided valleys with mixed oak woodland, bracken slopes, traditional hay meadows, wildflower meadows and coastline covering over 450 acres.
- Lower Lewdon (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - an 11 acre mosaic of culm grassland and woodland, crisscrossed with rides and paths containing the pretty, blue-flowered devil's-bit scabious, an essential food plant for the larvae of the rare marsh fritillary butterfly.
- Greena Moor near Week St Mary (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - culm grassland with some broadleaved woodland, scrub and streams. Jointly owned with Plantlife.
Walks in the Bude area
Millook Haven to Dizzard (5 miles)
The walk starts at Millook Haven and heads up the valley through the woods. The route climbs out of the valley and heads out the the coast at Dizzard Point. The path skirts across the top of the ancient coastal woodland at Dizzard passing Cancleave Strand and crossing Millook Common before descending to Millook Haven.
Jacobstow to Poulza (2.75 miles)
The walk begins at Jacobstow church and then ambles along country lanes, tracks and meadow paths circling around a network of river valleys.
Millook Common and Trebarfoote (3 miles)
The walk starts at Millook and follows Millook Water up the valley then climbs through Trebarfoote Wood up to Trebarfoot overlooking the valley. The route then drops into the valley further upstream passing The Den and climbing through Landy Wood on the other side of the valley before heading out to the coast at Bynorth Cliff at Sharhole Point. The route joins the coast path at Cancleave Strand and crosses Millook Common passing Gull Rock and Broad Strand before reaching Millook Mouth and heading down to Millook Haven.
Millook to Poundstock (3.5 miles)
The walk starts along the coast from Millook Haven along Penhalt Cliff towards Widemouth Bay then turns inland to Wanson and heads up the Wanson valley across fields to Poundstock where there are some impressive ancient buildings. The route then climbs out of the Wanson valley past Trevisick down into a wooded valley which it follows down to Millook.
Poundstock to Penfound (3.25 miles)
The walk starts from the small hamlet ot Treskinnick Cross and drops into the valley at Newmill then follows the stream down to Penfound Manor - the oldest inhabited house in England. From here the route follows a lane to Poundstock where the Gildhouse is the only surviving mediaeval church house of it kind in Cornwall. The route completes the circle along another lane to Treskinnick Cross.
Week St Mary to Ashbury Manor (3 miles)
The walk starts at Week Green near the Inn and heads west to Asbury through woodland below the Ashbury hill fort to the remains of Asbury Manor. The route then heads through the woods around Westwood Common and crosses the river to the opposite side of the valley climbing up Waxhill before crossing a valley to the church in Week St Mary and returning to Week Green.
Widemouth to Bude (6.5 miles)
The walk follows the coast North from Widemouth Bay to Bude passing Phillip's Point Nature reserve over Efford Down up to the tower Compass Point and then along the cliff at Bude Haven to the Bude canal. The walk then follows the canal towpath up to Helebridge where it follows a pleasant route over fields to the coast.
