Exmoor Day 3

Thursday


A misty start to the day but no rain at breakfast time. Set off for the moor via Lynmouth. I wanted to find something on the moor like bridges or standing stones, there are plenty marked on the OS map (sheet OL9). Once on the moor rain came down and as I had left my waterproof trousers at the hotel decided to stay in the car and drove on to Exford via Simonsbath. Stopped for Ethiopian Coffee! And crumpets at Exford then continued onto Dunster and parked up for a couple of hours. Walked around the picturesque village then went into the castle grounds (castle closed on Thursdays) but did use National Trust corporate membership to get free entry. Rain held off for most of the time but views restricted by mists. Once finished at Dunster drove back via Minehead and a stop on the moors after negotiating Porlock hill. Took pictures of rain drops on the gorse as fog now heavy. Final leg back to hotel visibility very poor, down to 50 feet.

After evening meal (smoked trout and cheeseboard) sky much clearer so took chance to get pictures of sunset. Good shots hampered by rain drops on the lens, or should I say graduated filter. Used flexible lens hood to try to restrict rain getting onto filter. This worked well in the afternoon on 55-250 lens as the hood is quite deep.

Exmoor Day 2

Wednesday


Day started overcast and breezy but forecast is that weather will deteriorate from today. Decided to walk from hotel to Watersmeet via Rockford ( no nothing to do with James Garner!) This is a small cluster of buildings further up stream on the East Lyn river. Took plenty of photos but the breeze was causing the smaller objects (flowers and ferns) to move so needed faster shutter speeds.

Once down at river level the wind not so much a problem but on the highest point the wind was quite stiff and as the sun was coming out it had been refreshing.

A fly fisherman was doing his stuff in one of the many pools on this stretch of the river. Sat for a while hoping to see Wagtails or Dippers, later saw both.

Walked downstream towards Watersmeet and on a quiet stretch ate packed lunch from hotel. Spent about 40 minutes here and only saw one couple go by. Just as I was finishing up a Dipper flew past and started feeding about 200 yards away.

Continued onto to Watersmeet (a National Trust site) and being a Wednesday afternoon outside the school holidays it was pretty quiet. It must be heaving in the peak holiday times. The constant sound of running water was quite pleasant but also it is fortunate toilet facilities are provided by NT. Had a cup of tea and biscuits and headed into Lynmouth, Quite an undulating path but only about 1½ miles. In Lynmouth there are lots of reminders of the flood in 1952 that caused devastation to the town. Some of the massive boulders along the river must be relics of this event.

Took the cliff railway (like the one that used to run at Folkestone but longer) up to Lynton.http://www.cliffrailwaylynton.co.uk/ 

Lynton Cliff Railway

Then walked up Hollerday Hill and saw the feral goats and look over Castle Rock and the Valley of Rocks (reminders of Rock Garden ski run in Lake Louise!)

Back down the cliff railway and faced up to the hike back to the hotel. 1½ miles up hill (vertical rise of about 900 feet. Fortunately a mist was forming which cooled the temperature and made the trip more pleasant. Once back at the top the mist was quite thick and the church tower was just visible.
Once in the room in to the bath then once refreshed into the bar for a pint of Devon Darter bitter.

Exmoor Day 1

Tuesday


Drove down via M4/M5 with a lunch stop at Sedgefield services (just prior to J23 so that I could switch on GPS and check the route from there). Services quite small with the standard sort of retail outlets, I had used up items from the fridge for lunch so only had to buy a tea from Costa coffee. Once on the A39 was quite busy through Bridgewater but then the scenery started to improve. Took a diversion to Porlock Weir, a very scenic harbour with boats and thatched cottages. A good decision. Once back on the main route encountered Porlock Hill! A very steep S bend (1 in 4) where it pays to follow the advice to stay in low gear; blimey that was steep.

Porlock Weir

Arrived at hotel and checked into room 5, a nice double room with single occupancy at £98 per night and on a 3 nights for the price of two offer.

Walked over to Butter Hill and onto North Foreland lighthouse via a very narrow path with precipitous drop off, the warning sign was quite right. Took the safer route back and saw several female pheasant. The sun was fully out still so I thought the sunset would be good. Found ideal spot on path towards Watersmeet with trees as foreground interest and an clear view of the horizon. Unfortunately the cloud cover increased and blocked all but the faintest hints of red. The full moon was rising so I took photos of that whilst watching very frisky lambs in the nearby fields.

Lynmouth for three days

Icelandic Volcano caused UK air space to shut down.