We’d been planning a trip to Exmoor as we’d never really been there but the day dawned, dank, grey and miserable and by the time we’d eaten breakfast there was heavy drizzle falling. Time for a change of plan
We headed to Watersmeet, a series of small waterfalls in a deep wooded valley where the East Lyn and Hoaroak Water rivers meet – hence the name
I figured down in the depths of the valley and the woods we might get some shelter from the rain and that proved correct
It was pretty dank and dark down there but we enjoyed a nice stroll along one bank and back along the other.
There were some lovely cascades and pools that would have been good for a swim on a more encouraging day
The light was pretty poor though so the photographs didn’t come out too well
We headed into Lynmouth for a spot of lunch (crab salad for me and TJF, cream teas for TBF and TJS). It actually stopped raining and we took a wander about
The longest water powered cliff railway in the UK (possibly the only one!)
And an interesting tower on the harbour wall that made a nice photo subject
We wanted to explore the coast a bit and headed for the Valley of Rocks. I used to love it here when I was a kid. The rocky pinnacles overlooking the coast always seemed so dramatic and exciting (in the days before I discovered mountain walking). We parked up in an utterly miserable spell of heavy drizzle but I spied a bright line on the horizon and we waited for the rain to stop which it duly did
We took an excellent walk around the various features. This is looking back to Rugged Jack
And this is the coastal view from the top of Castle Rock
It looked bright and sunny over south Wales which we hoped was heading our way but it never really arrived (although we’d seen the last of the rain)
Looking back to Castle Rock
There is a walkway that traverses along the seaward side of the rocky ridge and you can climb to the top and scramble along if so inclined
As we’d left TJF in the car we thought we’d better head back and make sure she still had a phone signal to avert any boredom!
The resident goats
And the view of the Valley and the Rocks
We still had a more time to fill so we drove on a mile our so for another walk to a “secret” beach from my Wild guides.
This is Lee Bay where we started from and it proved to be a longer and more strenuous walk than we’d thought
We were heading for this magnificent beach near Crock Point. You had to scramble through an overgrown tunnel through the hedge and descend a slope that had ropes fixed such was the steepness (the book had warned us of this)
It really was steep and near the bottom, even with ropes it felt very loose and exposed so even I decided it was too risky. The photo below shows the ropes but doesn’t really do justice to how steep it was
The views were excellent though and I enjoyed a little bit of adventure to finish the day
When we returned to the campsite there was a Fish and Chip van on site and very good it was too
The sun finally came out and gave us a wonderful sunset
I took a very fine walk around the site and the local fields to enjoy the show
Always good to end a day by the coast with a grand sunset
Happy Birthday to TBF and what better way to celebrate than a trip to Ilfracombe – doesn’t everyone do that?
I must have been here a few times in my youth but I don’t recall it that much but it’s rather splendid. It has some nice views along the coast, an interesting harbour, beaches and nice walks
It also now has a Damien Hirst sculpture overlooking the harbour. Its called “Verity”
Description from his website:
“Verity is an allegory for truth and justice. Her stance is taken from Edgar Degas’s ‘Little Dancer of Fourteen Years’ (c. 1881). An anatomical cross- section of her head and torso reveal her skull and the developing foetus inside her womb.
Verity stands on a base of scattered legal books and holds the traditional symbols of Justice – a sword and scales. Representing truth, her scales are hidden and off-balance behind her back, whilst her sword is held confidently in her upstretched arm.
She was fabricated in bronze in over 40 individual sand castings at Pangolin Editions foundry, in Gloucestershire. Her phosphor-bronze surface is 20 millimetres thick and her internal support structure is a single piece of stainless steel. The sculpture is weather and lightning-proof and underwent extensive wind-tunnel-testing to ensure her capability of withstanding the force of high winds and sea spray. After two years of planning and production, Verity arrived in Ilfracombe in three parts in October 2012. After a week’s assembly on site, the sculpture was hoisted into final position using a 250 tonne crane.”
As with most Damien Hirst work, its very odd but an arresting and interesting sight
We scoffed a pasty and crab sandwich lunch sitting on the harbour wall, watched a mock lifeboat rescue in the harbour and walked up to the Chapel of St Nicholas that overlooks the harbour
There is a fine coastal walkway on the seaward side of Capstone Hill
Finishing off our visit with a climb up Capstone Hill itself for more fine views
It was actually pretty hot and sunny by the time we left so we swiftly headed to the beach for more kayaking and body boarding. It turned out to be some of the best surf for many years and we both (TBF and me) had a cracking afternoon. When we were back at the campsite the Waverley Steam Ship ploughed past for us
To finish off the birthday treats we went back to Ilfracombe for a seafood supper at the excellent Espresso Seafood bar. TJF had her first taste of Lobster which she was very pleased about and the rest of us shared a number of seafood small plates. It was all delicious.
A couple of pictures of the two ladies in my life, the two Funsters
Hopefully TBF will agree that was a pretty good birthday
Sun, sea and seafood (Ilfracombe doesn’t begin with an “S” unfortunately)
Short little post from a day out on our North Devon weekend.
A grey day prompted a day out so we headed for Westward Ho! (only place name in the UK with an exclamation mark) and where I spent many happy family holidays as a kid
Safe to say its changed a lot since then. We visited around 10 years ago and it seemed very run down and sad. Since then they seem have improved things a great deal. Many of the very old chalets seems to have been renovated and the general area looks much happier and welcoming (it looked like an army barracks before). The only blight is that the planning department have allowed developers to build two huge apartment blocks right on the seafront. They obscure the view for many and as you’d expect all the money was spent on the interiors and the front. The rear which is what most people see is just an ugly wall of concrete. Really beggars belief that someone looked at the plans and thought that was fine. Makes you suspicious as the motivations of the people that approve such things!
Anyway we took a stroll along the seafront and around the seawater pool in the rocks which was still pleasant
We had a very nice lunch in a Thai restaurant and then took a wander on to the beach. We were hoping to do some body boarding and surfing but the waves looked a bit feeble
Afterwards we wanted a walk on the coast so headed to the dramatic headland at Hartland.
Right on cue just as we stepped from the car it started to drizzle. We went out anyway and enjoyed the briefest of wanders onto the top of the headland with views out over the rocks to the island of Lundy
The cliffs and views were spectacular but it was damp grey and dreary so we headed back to the campsite
The weather seemed to brighten on the way back so we detoured to the beach at Putsborough at the south end of Woolacombe beach
On a whim me and TBF went body boarding and surf kayaking for an hour and even though the waves were a bit small it was actually pretty good fun and finished off the day nicely
As an added treat the sun came out and gave us some nice late evening light while we got changed
We were pretty late back to the campsite but we’d eaten at lunchtime so a late sandwich saw us through. All in all a good day out
After a short couple of weeks back at work I needed another holiday. As it was TBFs birthday we took a long weekend in North Devon in the camper.
We stayed at the very fine Damage Barton camping site near Morthoe and Woolacombe. Great views across the north coast and Bristol Channel to south Wales and superb facilities will make this a regular spot for future trips. We hadn’t visited this area since the kids were small so I was looking forward to a revisit
The first morning was gloriously sunny and after a morning doing the shopping and replacing the pop up tent that TJS uses we went out for a walk after lunch
It clouded over while we were out which was a shame but the weather was still warm and dry. We wandered through the campsite at North Morte Farm where we used to stay. Its a superb spot as the camping area has great views and feels a bit like wild camping as the fields are tucked into the heathland. The downside is that there are not many flat spots and they don’t take bookings so its pot luck whether you find a suitable spot, more important when you have a trailer tent. As it turned out the site was mostly empty and we would have had a pick of places to set up but there you go. The site has direct access down to Rockham Beach
We spent many happy hours down here when the kids were small as it has a perfect combination of safe swimming, sand and rock pools to explore. At the end of the Bank Holiday week we were surprised to find it pretty much deserted
We had a nice pither about, poked about in the rock pools and sat on the rocks to chill out
Access is by a very steep set of 100 steps that have only recently been repaired after storm damage
Much as I’df have liked to explore further TJF had had enough of walking (she’s not a great fan) so we headed back to the site for a BBQ
Even though it was cloudy it was still warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the views while eating
The cloud cover gave us a pretty good sunset, one of the real benefits of camping on the west coast
A nice start to what turned out to be a pretty decent long weekend away
Not sure if this collection of high ground has a name (doubtful as hardly anyone seems to have heard of them) so I’m calling them the Churchstoke Hills as that’s where we parked for the walk.
They are fairly prominent on the skyline from the Stiperstones and Long Mynd and look good on the map so worth a trip out to try and fashion some kind of circular walk
Heading out on some fairly vague paths, our first target was Todleth Hill. The path skirted across the slopes but we were on access land so we walked top to the top. A very fine top with expansive views across Shropshire and Welsh borders
The paths were thin and little overgrown in places but easy enough to follow to our next target of Roundton Hill. It’s small, perfectly formed and brutally steep
For such a diminutive hill it packs a punch of crags and steep slopes and takes a bit of puff to reach its summit
Excellent views from the top made it worth the effort
A panorama shot looking at the rest of our route
Our next target was the highest point in the “range” of Corndon Hill. Only 500m high it’s lower than both the Stiperstones and Long Mynd but as its steep all round it has higher feel both looking from a distance and when you’re on it
We had a brief stop on the lower slopes as we could see a nasty looking shower heading in which duly hit us for our walk across the top.
Lots of paths on the open access land and some sensational views across the surrounding hills and over to the Cheshire plain. A bit wet but a price worth paying for the clear air and sunny spells you get between showers on days like these
It rained for longer than we’d either liked or thought, probably the best part of an hour so we didn’t linger on the summit
We quickly dropped down to the lower paths and noted that the hill of Lan Fawr just off the right of way was also on access land and looked rather good so we went to the top
Despite the very obvious storms still scudding across the borders we caught a lucky break and had a late lunch on the top in glorious bright sunshine
We found a spot looking out to the west and could pick out most of the main summits in Snowdonia (that weren’t obscured by rain storms)
There were dark clouds moving across the horizon and not wanting to push our luck decided to head down
The views were still magnificent and a stretch of green grassy path studded with gnarled tress was especially stunning
This section was just a pleasure, easy angled walking on soft grassy paths with expansive views and most of the route to ourselves
We caught another couple of brief showers and I managed to fall a5rse over t1t off a stile into a field but otherwise an uneventful return the car
A respectable 8 miles and well over 2000 feet of ascent for such small hills
I’ve had designs on a walk in these hills for a few years now and never quite made the effort to actually make it happen. It rewarded the effort
Having made the route up as we went along it became a fine circuit that I’m sure will become a regular outing such was the quality
A short post and a few photos from a walk up Ysgyryd Fawr several weeks back after we’d returned from France.
It had everything I dislike about walking in August. The air was still, it was overcast, humid, and the bracken was smothering the hillsides. The flies were a nuisance.
We sweated our way to the top, feasting on flies as we went
We were glad of a breeze on the summit ridge to cool us down a bit and a blow the flies back to where they came from
We watched a guy flying a small model plane on the summit to keep us entertained
And some brighter interludes before we headed down. Not the absolute most enjoyable walk I’ve taken this year but better than sitting at home
I saved the last post with memories of what for me were the highlights of the trip. We went out and saw some amazing places but the heart of the trip were the rivers and the fun we had in them, jumping, diving, swimming floating and fish spotting.
A compilation of photos and a video/photo slideshow to share that fun
DB Jr jumps from below the mushroom rock, our favourite spot
Floating down the river towards said spot
A late evening of fun and frolics
DB Sr showing his skills and form.
TBF enjoys some lazy river floating.
A few underwater pictures of the local fish on one of my snorkelling expeditions
And one final shot of the spot where we spent many happy hours
And that was the end of our trip. We drove home on a wet and windy day, stopping off at a very nice campsite in Normandy before a trouble free tunnel crossing this time and an utterly desperate drive back home (think almost 7 hours to do a journey that should have taken 4!) – never drive anywhere in the UK on a Friday. A truly memorable trip shared with great friends young and old. Here’s hoping we can do it all again in a couple of years time 🙂
Another day out and further afield this time to visit what was one of the real highlights of the trip. To get there a drive along the gorge to La Malene first.
We’d kayaked this stretch of river a few days before
Out of the gorge on a seriously steep, narrow and hairpin-bendy road with spectacular views
Over the Causse Mejean to the pretty town of Meyrueis
We stopped off at this small chapel (un-named on my map) which had views over the town and the upper reaches of the Jonte Gorge
And on to our destination for the day, the Grottes de Dargilan. The entrance and picnic area is perched high above the gorge with fine views
We enjoyed a splendid if rather rushed picnic lunch before the main event and a trip underground.
I’ve been down most of the show caves in the UK and they are all good but this was the first time I’ve been in to one of the French ones. What can I say except this one was utterly magnificent and like nothing I’ve ever seen before
The sheer scale, size and complexity of the features are jaw-dropping. My photos came out ok but even though I’m quite pleased with them, it doesn’t even come close to doing the cave justice
There are two well known caves in the area. We chose this one as it looked more natural and understated than the other option. I don’t know how good the alternative was but it would have to have been sensational to better this one
As we walked through the first section of cave, the large chaos room, there were weird shapes everywhere.
The thing that struck me was there were smaller features that were pretty much ignored, almost forming handrails and the like that in British cave would have been a highlighted feature. Here these smaller features were not good enough to compete
The cave was discovered by accident by a shepherd chasing a fox into a cave. His discovery terrified him, thinking he was seeing ghosts and phantoms. The cave was fully explored and its wonder developed for the public by the famous geographer, caver and climber EA Martel
I can only imagine what it must have been like for those first explorers to train their lights on the cave walls and see this astonishing array of features for the first time. Stalagmites, stalactites, columns flow stones all looking like candle wax, melted chocolate or candy or whatever else springs to mind
We were wowed for around 15-20 minutes when the guide said we were about to descend deep in to the cave to see the most impressive features. “This isn’t the best bit?” we all thought!!
We passed this feature looking like a piece of bacon and down into the depths
There was a wall maybe 100 feet long by around 50 feet high that was just pouring with calcite features
It was jaw dropping and hard to take in
This was my favourite feature, looking like some kind of alien monster. Sometimes you had to remind yourself that this is all natural
The iron oxide in the water gives the cave its mostly deep reds and browns of colour
This is the bell tower again maybe 60-70 feet high in a room where there was very little bare rock. Everything was covered in calcite deposit features of all shapes and sizes
Sometimes it seems like a fairytale, other times in different light like a nightmare vision. You choose.
Probably the only downside is having seen this place, a visit to a UK cave would be seriously underwhelming
I just couldn’t get over how many, how big, how varied and how intricate all these features are
It was slightly disappointing that the tour was only in French and I lost the print out they gave us that describes all the features, many with names. However the tour was very understated just a guide and some simple lighting. The cave was so utterly magnificent that it didn’t need anything more. It was a huge highlight of the trip and considering just what a natural wonder it was worth every Euro (it wasn’t especially expensive at a tenner each). A memorable hour
On returning to the outside world we took a stroll above the gorge in warm, sorry, hot sun
In its own way just as magnificent.
As an extra treat the vultures that call the Jonte Gorge home were gliding around us and resting on the cliffs
This is the best close up I got (apologies for the intervening branch)
To finish the day we dropped down to the base of the gorge and spent another half hour watching the vultures from a roadside cafe
An absolutely superb day out and natural wonder that will live a very long time in my memory
We did manage to tear ourselves away from the pleasures of the river by the campsite and en-kayak as it were. To be honest it was really too hot to be doing any kind of dedicated exploring but we thought driving to the top of the gorge and then walking back down (collecting the car later) might be bearable.
Mark and TBH needed to take DB Jr to hospital to check whether he had an ear infection (he hadn’t, just too much jumping in the water likely) so we took the rest of the kids up to the Point Sublime view-point with a view to walking back to the campsite from there. The site is round about in the middle of the photo below
It’s a superb viewpoint but it was a bit hot and hazy. We should really have made some effort to come up first thing in the morning when the skies are clearer and many mornings had mist filling the gorge
It was a very steep and narrow path, dropping pretty much straight down, 400m into the gorge
Even walking downhill in temperatures in the mid-30’s is a hot and sweaty business but all the kids seemed to enjoy the walk
Some of the rock towers and cliffs are spectacular
We walked along the road back to the campsite watching a bungee jumper do their thing from a platform high above the river (wish I’d taken some photos or video, the nearest I’ll ever get to trying it!). We stopped at this view from the mushroom rock beneath which was our favoured jumping spot. The campsite beach is a few hundred yards upstream
This is the view back up to said mushroom rock from the river
Glad we went out but after all that exercise an afternoon of river lazing followed.
On a later day we had an afternoon of torrential thunderstorms and drove through one to the village of St Enemie. It’s a beautiful spot on a sunny day and even on a cloudy wet day its a fine place to spend an hour wandering its narrow streets
As with all the villages in this part of France there is a collection of stunning buildings to gawk at which we did (as well as some impromptu shopping by others)
It passed a few hours while the rains cleared and normal weather service resumed
On our return we found disaster had struck and the storms had totalled our toilet tent. In truth it was a cheap and frankly shoddy piece of camping crap. However using it made TBF very happy (her words not mine) to the point she preferred it to a real toilet
She was devastated to see it fall to ruin and the toilet looked a bit sad and lonely without its cover. It made us laugh when thinking of the image had the tent blown down while TBF was sitting in residence as it were
Further disaster was discovered much later when I realised that my interpretation of the phrase “close all the tent windows” wasn’t the same as TJF. She took that to mean shutting the inner tent and leaving the main window wide open – in a torrential downpour! Luckily most of the water was trapped between the layers of the main tent so I could scoop it out. Enough still got through to soak the mattress to the point where I could submerge my hand in water by pushing down on it. Kids can be really dumb sometimes 🙂
Another spectacularly good day out to a local highlight to come in the next post
The highlight of any stay in the Tarn Gorge is a trip down the river in a kayak. Many stretches are not easily accessible from the road, especially the narrowest section so a kayak is the best way to see it as well as being a huge amount of fun.
Unlike the Dordogne the Tarn is shallower and much faster flowing with several small rapids. Nothing difficult but it does add to the excitement
This time we let the kids loose in their own one person kayaks and it was a huge success. Most kids do some form of kayaking on school trips and they were all totally competent in navigating the river
They took the mick out of some the adults less than impressive skills but again all in good spirit and many laughs ensued
It was a stunning sunny day and the views in the gorge were sensational
Our friend J clearly having a great time – shame about that hat!
After navigating the weir, rapids and bridge through La Malene it was time for a stop and a swim. We found one of the best swimming spots of the whole holiday. A deep and large pool with rocks for jumping
Its only really accessible by kayak and we made the most of it
The DBs show off their jumping prowess
As does C albeit from a lower perch
Others just enjoyed a swim in cold clear waters. A splendid spot
Time to move on and more paddling fun
The kids decided they were skilled enough to actually stand up in the kayaks. Here is TJF, the DBs and C.
I also showed them how to raft up and encouraged them to them walk along the line of kayaks without falling in
While others watched on and avoided such childish antics
Into the narrows or Les Detroits to give them their proper name
An amazing section where the walls of the gorge narrow in to around 100 feet
We found a beach to pull over and spent another happy half hour exploring and swimming
The kids found a rock in the deeper water that provided a good deal of entertainment
How many people can you get on one small rock in a fast flowing river
We stopped off for lunch at the campsite (one of the advantages of the route) before paddling a short way past to the finish
Over all too soon and I think most of us would have happily carried on further if we could have (the gorge is blocked by a chaos of boulders a mile or so further on)
We stopped for another bout of swimming and play before heading back to the campsite
Another grand day out and highlight of what was becoming a classic holiday
These river kayak trips are a real feature of any holiday in this part of France and I was glad to be able to share this with our friends and see them enjoying it as much as I’ve done in the past
I spend alot of my time surfing the web looking for ideas on places to go, walking routes, travel ideas and tips to plan the perfect holiday or day out. (I'm a project manager I like to plan). I thought it was time to share my own experiences and contribute to the vast amounts in information that's already out there.
I'll also add in some gear and tech reviews and when something irks me I may even use this forum to have a rant - I do that pretty well I'm told.There are a few pages at the top that give a bit of background to what I like to get up to and what you can expect to see in my posts. I'm not exactly a creative writer but I hope some people will find my stuff useful or inpsiring or at least enjoy some of my photos.
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