Drive better, not faster, to appreciate our very special South Hams lanes 

Updated by Ruth Saunders February 2026.

The transition from fast roads to single-tracked lanes is the sign that your holiday has really started! Slow down and embrace the ‘Zen’ experience: take a closer look at our local heritage and the abundant wildlife; enjoy driving through magical tree tunnels and the unexpected views as the sea or the majestic moors reveal themselves; or glimpse those picture perfect thatched cottages and vistas of patchwork fields.

One of Devon’s unique features is that it has more mileage of roads than any other county in England and the narrow lanes are made up of banks with hedges on top – Devon Banks. These beautiful highways and byways provide a special opportunity to observe the natural wonders of our area. The hedges themselves are of historic interest with the most recently constructed 200 years ago; some even date back to the Bronze Age! 

Many of the lanes have names, and as you drive down on the final leg of your journey to Dittiscombe you will be travelling along ‘Five Mile Lane’ which, as the name suggests, stretches for five miles from the main road (A381) into the historic village of Slapton. Other features are the crossroads and junctions which are marked by named white painted finger signs. Some of these reveal elements of the area’s social history such as ‘Dead Man’s Cross’ near Dartmouth. You will most commonly see names ending in the Anglo-Saxon suffixes ‘-ton’ (Slapton) which means town/village and ‘-combe’ (Dittiscombe) which means valley, and ‘-ham’ (Stokenham) which means a homestead or farm.

The flora of the lanes is often glorious, especially in Spring and Summer. Embrace the abundance of wild flowers; swathes of snowdrops and primroses, the red, white and pink of Red Valerian, Stitchwort and Bluebells, lacey Cow Parsley, yummy edible yellow Alexanders, bright green Bracken, and red-berried Holly. These wonderful plants might even grow out into the middle of the road, making the road a little narrower and an even slower speed is recommended.

Whatever the season, Devon lanes with their Devon Banks are essential wildlife corridors and if you drive steadily you will hopefully be rewarded by wildlife sightings from your car. You might see stoats, weasels and voles, rabbits and hares, bats and foxes.  

There is also an abundance of birdlife. In the Winter around dusk you may see murmurations of starlings approaching the reeds at Slapton Ley. Buzzards are locally very common in the South Hams and can be seen perched on top of wooden telegraph poles all year round or soaring on the thermals in the Summer. A bird of prey that literally uses the lanes as a superhighway is the sparrowhawk flying at 20mph along a lane before it swiftly darts through a field gateway to ambush its prey! 

These unpredictable wildlife encounters within the agricultural heart of the area are in themselves good reasons to drive slower along the lanes – you never know what might be around the next bend, a horse and rider, a rabbit with no road sense, or a massive tractor! The lanes are also a working environment all year round and you will inevitably meet tractors, combine harvesters, lorries and sheep.

Our top tips for driving in the lanes are:

• 1. Watch out for passing places; make a mental note of the last one you passed. It’s much easier to reverse beyond the passing place, then drive into it forward. 
  2. Don’t bunch up behind the car in front of you, hang back a bit. That will leave room so that there is more opportunity to go backwards or forwards, depending on who or what is coming towards you.
  3. Be prepared to reverse for larger vehicles, especially if they are towing a trailer, even if they are closer to a passing place.
  4. The updated highway code gives pedestrians, runners, cyclists and horseriders priority, so pass slow and wide for these more vulnerable road users.
  5. If you feel pushed from behind by someone who wants to drive at breakneck speed, pull into the next wide passing place and let them go by. You can then continue to drive at a speed where you can be observant, mindful and courteous!
  6. It’s a good idea to plan your route before you set off, maybe to avoid the very narrowest of lanes, humpback bridges and fords for instance.
  7. The local custom is to thank the person who reversed. Devon folk are pretty cheery and will acknowledge drivers if they’ve pulled into a passing space.

As the lanes are a very special feature of our South Devon landscape it would be a shame to miss out on all they have to offer, so take your time, be part of the slow holiday movement and leave with some special memories of primrose-clad banks and pensive buzzards. Once you leave the lanes and drive down into the valley you’ll find a peaceful place for your holiday at Dittiscombe Estate & Cottages.

Read more about beautiful and ancient Devon hedges and banks here.