Saltram in Autumn

It was a grey, cold day, so we decided to just have a short walk around Saltram Gardens.  The cyclamen were looking lovely at the side of the Lime Walk.  I am sure they have spread since last year.

Some of the trees were very colourful, brightening the dull day.

Burrator in Autumn

It was a grey day, but mild, so we took the opportunity to go onto Dartmoor and see the autumn colour n the trees.  As it had been very wet recently we expected the Burrator to be full so thought we would explore that area.  We parked the car at the dam and walked to Norsworthy Bridge.  As we expected the ground to be muddy near the reservoir we kept to the road, but it was very quiet and there was still lots to see.

The reservoir was very full, but not all the trees had changed colour.

The waterfall was surrounded by trees whose leaves had turned orange, and it looked spectacular.

At Norsworthy Bridge the stream was also surrounded by colourful trees.

Autumn Holiday - the Journey Home

Our holiday in Mortehoe had come to an end all too soon, but we were determined to make the most of the day as we travelled home.

We started visiting the shops at Atlantic Village and managed to buy some reduced shows and cheap jeans.  We then drove on to Bude.  To begin with we went to Sandymouth to take advantage of the free parking in the National Trust car park there.  We were surprised how difficult it was to get down to the beach from the path from the car park as there was a bank of stones.  There were 2 waterfalls either side of this stone bank and they had created crevices in the rocks.

The geology of these rock faces were very interesting and continued all along the beach.  It was our intention to walk to Bude, but there were lots of streams flowing across the sands and we did not have the best footwear on.  So after we had walked about a mile we turned back.  We then drove into Bude to have a look around and get some lunch.

After lunch we drove on to Lydford Gorge.  We chose to park at the second car park this time and just walk to the waterfall.  There were two ways to do this, long and easy or steep and quick.  Going down we chose long and easy, but coming back we took the steps of the quick and steep path.  We were surprised that there was not more water coming down the river, it was not as spectacular as Watersmeet.  Even the waterfall did not seem over impressive.

When back at the top of the gorge we walked a little along the accessible path, but again were disappointed - with the trees still in full leaf you had a very restricted view.

Then it was time to head home.  The end of a short but excellent holiday.

National Trust in North Devon

On the second day of our holiday in Woolacombe we decided to explore some of the National Trust property in the area.  We started the day by driving to Hunters Inn on Exmoor and walked down the river to Heddons Mouth.  It was a pleasant walk through a very deep gorge.  There looked as if there had been some rockfalls which made me wonder how safe it was.  There was so much water flowing down the river it was not possible to get on the beach so we returned.

Once back in our car we drove across the beautiful countryside of Exmoor to Watersmeet.  We were surprised that the car park was not owned by the National Trust and so we had to pay to park.  Another time we would go to the next nearest car park, but we wanted to walk to Lynmouth for lunch so did not have time to go the extra distance.

With all the rain that had fallen lately the rivers were flowing fast and furiously and looked wonderful.

The walk down the river to Lynmouth was truly lovely with the river rushing beside us over the boulders.

It was low tide at Lynmouth, so it did not  look that attractive.  After we walked around and had some lunch we headed back up the river to Watersmeet, which was just as good, even walking uphill.

We just got back in the car when it started to rain.  It was still raining when we reached Arlington Court, so we hurried to the coach museum to see the coaches.  We then had a quick look around the formal gardens before heading for the tea rooms.

By the time we had had our tea and cake the rain had stopped so we took the circular walk around the lake.  Some of the trees were changing colour, but most still had a long way to go before they would be in their autumn splendour.

We left Arlington just before it closed, it had been a full day as we had started this morning before 9am, but it showed us how many lovely National Trust places there were in North Devon.

Woolacombe Holiday - Day 1

Today we planned to walk some more of the South West Coast Path.   We started by walking from our caravan down to the village of Mortehoe.  From there we followed the signs to Morte Point.  This took us along a grassy path to the end of the Point where we tracked down to the South West Coast Path.  The views were spectacular!

The direction we were going to be walking 

Looking back to Woolacombe Beach

This part of the coastline is a known habitat for nuthatches.  As we walked along we saw one at the side of the path.  He was not moving so we don't know if he was injured or 'playing dead' as scared of us.

The path, as often the case with the South West Coast Path, went up and down, but the views were worth the effort.

Bull Point with Rockham Beach in foreground

We walked as far as Bull Point with the lighthouse, then followed the access road back to Mortehoe.  This was a much easier walk, with gentle hills, but it was not so interesting with high hedges either side.  The road led back to the centre of Mortehoe.  Instead of walking back on the road to the caravan site we decided to walk back to the South West Coast Path and follow it to Woolacombe.  It was a steep path to get to the Coast Path but once on to it it was a pleasant walk into Woolacombe.

Beach at end of Woolacombe with Morte Point 

After sitting and eating our lunch we walked back to the caravan along the riverside path we had discovered last night.

After a short break we drove the car to Ilfracombe, where we explored this unusual town.

In the evening we took the car down to Woolacombe and ate our fish and chip supper watching evening surfers.  Gradually the sun went down and there were stunning colours in the sky.

It was getting chilly so we did not stop for the full sunset but returned to our caravan.  When we arrive we realised we could see the sun setting over Lundy from the caravan.

Autumn Holiday - The journey

It was pouring with rain as we loaded the car with all the things we thought we would need while staying at Twitchen House, a caravan park just outside Woolacombe.  However, by the time we had driven out of Plymouth the rain was easing, and it had stopped by the time we were driving across Dartmoor.

Our first stop was at Meldon Reservoir.  We walked across the dam and then down one side of the reservoir.  The path was muddy in places and then very squelshy on the flat land at the end of the reservoir.  There was some heather still out but most of the colour around the lake came from berries on trees and occasional gorse bushes.

From Meldon we drove eastward across rural Devon to Castle Hill Gardens.  We were hoping for tea and cake here but this was just served from the entrance kiosk and you had to sit outside to drink it.  It was a cool day, threatening rain, so we made do without!

As we walked towards the house there were beautiful blue borders and the grounds were obviously well kept with the lawns looking immaculate.  Although there were some summer flowers still in bloom, such as hydrangeas  the trees were beginning to change colour.

We walked along the stream and then climbed up the hill to the derelict castle where there were far reaching views towards Lundy, Exmoor and Dartmoor, even on a cloudy day like today.

After leaving Castle Hill Gardens we drove on to Twitchen House, that was to be our base for the next few days.  We saw that there was a footpath down to the beach so in the evening decided to go exploring.  The path followed a river through woodlands down to the edge of Woolacombe and was a very pleasant walk.

Fungi on walk to Woolacombe