Sunday 16th June 2019
A cross country journey punctuated by road closures and accidents, sunshine and downpours we finally arrived at the Sunny Lyn Holiday Park. Not quite the right name as it kept drizzling as we put the tent up - but there was a beer and music festival in the next field to keep us entertained.
We decided to walk down to Lynmouth via the road in the evening in search of food only to find that everywhere had stopped serving food at 9.00PM on a Sunday. Mind you that was nothing compared to the disappointment of having to return up the almost vertical road back to camp. North Devon is very steep!
We stuffed a few cereal bars down our throats and slept to the constant roar of the river which was only a few metres from our tent.
Monday 17th June 2019
Breakfast was consumed at the camp cafe, partly because we are lazy, but mostly because we hadn’t eaten a proper meal for what seemed like days. The cooked breakfast was fine except for some cheap sausages and weak tea/coffee.
Feeling much better after proper food we discovered there was a tarmac footpath to get us to Lynton without the extreme danger of the road with very little pavement. The footpath had a very steep climb away from the campsite, and then a steep lane dropping down into the village, but in between was perfect with great views over the valley and some of the properties clinging to its sides.
Wandered along the quiet streets until we found Charlie Friday’s which had good online reviews and coffee that tasted like coffee (we hoped). Ordered two lattes and settled into the comfortable, very bright surroundings of the cafe. Some time later I decided to remind them of my very complicated order, and shortly afterwards we were indeed enjoying proper coffee.
We explored Lynton a little further and discovered a few touristy gift shops/galleries a couple more coffee shops, a couple of convenience stores and a couple of pubs. We then headed for the Cliff Railway, only to find that they had a cafe which allegedly serves the best Devon cream teas. All I can say is that the scones were freshly baked and the biggest we had ever encountered - Michelle even had to leave some of hers and I couldn’t bring myself to hoover up her leftovers. The views down the cliff and across Lynmouth Bay were very good too.
The water powered railway was not as spectacular as some we have seen in Switzerland but still provided some great views across the bay towards Wales. Apparently the river water is collected in a tank below the carriage at the top of the cliff thereby increasing its weight. Water is then allowed to run out of the tank below the carriage at the bottom of the cliff which makes it lighter, and this change of weight with a little help from gravity makes the heavier one run down the rails whilst pulling the lighter one to the top. Clever lot The Victorians!
We wandered out to East Beach and spent a bit of time beach combing and taking photographs, then headed back to the safety of the village before the tide claimed us. We visited a museum about the town’s flood in 1952 which claimed 34 lives. A quick drink in the thatched Rising Sun on the sea front before we caught the train back up the cliff and had another quick drink in The Crown before walking back to base along our footpath (well we haven’t seen anyone else using it yet).
Tuesday 18th June 2019
The fine dining which is breakfast bars started our day before driving off to Ilfracombe. We didn’t know much about the place other than there was a big statue on the harbour wall which might be worth a look. Cheapskates that we are we found some free parking in a side street then wandered down for coffee at the theatre near the sea front. We followed the path round to the front of the theatre and looked over the sea walls onto the rocks below to see a collection (or whatever the correct collective noun is) of seagulls fishing beneath us. It looked like a murder scene and deciding this was a case for Taggart, we followed the path around the headland to find the harbour and meet Verity. You can see Verity from some distance as she is over 20 metres tall.
She is a steel and bronze statue created by Damien Hirst (Apparently he is a big fan of the area). We exhausted ourselves by taking lots of photos and decided to adjourn for lunch. Crab sandwiches with a mad comedian of a chef for entertainment helped restore our energy levels.
Pottered along the high street where Michelle bought some Christmas decorations (Yes, in June!), and dashed back to the cafe we had our next coffee in as she had left the rain cover for her backpack behind.
In the evening Michelle “bullied” me into going to the Thai restaurant next to our camp. Not my sort of thing really, but I chose the Thai red curry and pleaded with the staff for it to be toned down to suit my delicate tastebuds. The waiter decided I was a wuss and completely ignored my request, as well as forgetting our bottle of wine, and bringing us noodles when we had ordered rice. Employee of the month???? Anyway Michelle really enjoyed her curry, and I enjoyed some Fatbelly ale - so the evening wasn’t a complete write-off.
Wednesday 19th June 2019
Not being able to face breakfast bars on two consecutive days, we quickly got ready and followed our footpath to Lynton for breakfast at Charlie Friday’s (Bacon sarnies and lattes).
Following the zig-zag path down over the railway bridges we arrived back in Lynmouth. The steep footpath had various small statues (some minus their heads) and also handwritten poems fastened to lampposts which we stopped to read on the way. Anyone could submit a poem by handing it in at a nearby hotel.
On reaching the bottom of the path we crossed the road near The Walker statue - unveiled by BBC Countryfile’s John Craven (No, not when we were there) - and followed the Coleridge Way along the river bank and out of town. Whilst photographing a line of colourful boots strung across the river, we were distracted by a pair of hunting Heron.
The morning’s drizzle had given way to a decent day and we arrived at Watersmeet (NT) to enjoy coffee and cookies outside in the garden. We also shared a few crumbs (we don’t usually leave many) with the friendly finches and tits hopping around the tables. An ever improving day meant we headed up to view a fairly disappointing waterfall in warm sunshine before heading back via a road, as we had missed our path.
Milkshakes in Lynmouth’s peaceful little shopping street before heading back up the very steep zig-zag path for tea and crumpets in Abi’s tearoom then back along our path (I think we might actually have seen someone else this time) to sit in the sun on our campsite.
Thursday 20th June 2019
After an overnight downpour, we drove to Barnstaple as the weather improved. We had a sandwich lunch in Queen Anne’s Cafe on the Strand in a lovely old building by the river (once the trading exchange, then later a bathhouse).
We followed The Tarka Trail along the banks of the River Taw for a while before looping slightly inland and then retraced our footsteps back into town.
Meandered around the town for a while and discovered Barnstaple parish church with its somewhat wonky spire. Also encountered a homeless character who got very angry with a cigarette paper which wouldn’t do what he wanted it to.
Pannier Market which has looked pretty much the same for 150 years was holding some kind of jumble sale when we passed by after another coffee shop discovery, before visiting an excellent delicatessen. I say excellent, as the range was good and the quality high - it was just a shame the meat slicing machine had broken and they were seemingly unwilling to try and cut with a knife. Nevertheless we got a very tasty collection of pies, cheeses etc for tea.
Friday 21st June 2019
About an hours drive to the West of Lynton is the village of Clovelly. £7.75 per head for parking and access to the visitor centre, which includes a film showing the history of the village, but does seem a bit steep - not unlike the village itself.
An unusual village in that they have banned cars from the streets, which is probably just as well as the main street is so steep you feel as though you might need ropes to get back up and it is also very narrow in places. There is a LandRover parked at the bottom of the village which will get you back up to the car park via a back road (for a price) if you really need it.
Beautiful cottages, pubs, shops, tearooms, and cobbled streets are all clinging to yet another very steep part of Devon all the way down to the harbour and the stony beach. As there is no vehicular access, all the deliveries to the homes and businesses are made by the use of wooden sledges lowered down on ropes.
Of course we stopped at the tearooms half way down (because the pub had a sign out saying no food) and enjoyed tortilla wraps for lunch admiring their cakes on the way out. An hour or so later we were sat at the same table enjoying said cakes. We also stopped in at the old fashioned sweet shop for bonbons on the way back.
The harbour area was quite crowded even on a weekday, so I hate to think what it might be like at weekends. We did venture along one of the back streets to have a little walk on the beach, but to be honest we really couldn’t wait to get back up the hill for the cakes.
As we headed back up the hill (slowly) we reached the pottery and decided to veer off and follow a bit of the South West Coast Path before circling back toward the car park via the woods.
After the drive back we walked down to Lynmouth and ended up in the Ancient Mariner for our evening meal. They did say there might be half an hour wait for the food, but it was almost an hour before we saw ours, and only then after reminding them. Devon wasn’t doing too well on food service! We took some sunset photographs over the harbour and went for a last drink in the Rising Sun before staggering back up the poets footpath in the dark.
Saturday 22nd June 2019
Fully kitted out for a day on the trail we left the campsite via a stile, the pub grounds, and an old stone bridge which took us into the National Trust Watersmeet estate. We followed the footpath through the woods towards Watersmeet gaining height all the time. It was a warm sunny morning, and we eventually joined the Two Moors Way to drop down into Lynmouth once again. True to form we arrived in town pretty much at lunchtime. This time we decided to opt for cheese tea rather than cream tea - cheese scone, mature cheddar, and chutney (or chilli jam if you prefer).
Finally it was time to head for the Valley of the Rocks via the South West Coast path. This involved climbing the zig-zag path up to Lynton yet again, followed by a tarmac footpath along the coast which very shortly offered beautiful open views of the cliffs and sea. It was a hot sunny day and lots of people were making the most of it by walking the same route as we were, and shortly after leaving the houses behind we encountered the first wildlife in the undergrowth. Wild goats were grazing quite happily on the cliff edges, some sunbathing on the rocks and all seeming quite unconcerned by the humans complete with excited children or clicking cameras and tripods. Eventually we reached a spectacular rock formation above a sweeping rocky coastline where we decided to have a sit down and watch others clambering up in the hot sun. It was during this rest stop that Michelle managed to dislodge the part of her new sunglasses which had been removing clumps of her hair every time she took them off. The resulting search did mean we spent a bit longer there but we did find it again although I’m not sure why we wanted it back anyway.
Walking back towards Lynton via a road we discovered a refreshment stop for cake and juice which was absolutely necessary on a hot walk.
Arriving back in Lynton, it was apparently essential to rush down the zig-zag path to Lynmouth to purchase a souvenir before the shop closed. The person who felt it was essential also quite rightly decided that it was essential to purchase some pacifying beer to maintain good relations so we ended up in the Rising Sun again. One thing led to another and the ribeye steak and chips, and sweet potato curry proved to be far better than the food in the Ancient Mariner the previous night. Although we did have to dodge one or two pieces of flying lobster shell from the next table.
