Devon and Cornwall - 1

 Jun 21 – 24 2021

 Stairway to Devon

 This was the trip we should have made in June 2020; when lockdown happened, we just rolled forward all the site bookings by a year. It was a good feeling to be loading up the van for a “proper” trip at last.

 After the usual erratic journey on the M5, we arrived at the Camping and Caravanning Club site at Lynton on a sunny Monday afternoon. We were soon settled on a pitch with a view over the fields toward the distant Bristol Channel and planning the next couple of days. The following morning we walked along the lane outside the site, over a hill and down the steep descent to Lynton. A short walk then took us to the top of the Cliff Railway. Before travelling, however, we couldn’t resist the scones, cream and jam on offer at the Clifftop Café; they were delicious.

Looking down the Cliff Railway

Lynmouth Bay

 Dating from 1890, the water and gravity powered railway is a marvel of Victorian engineering, and unique in the UK. At the bottom, we wandered around the harbour town of Lynmouth, and headed along the seafront to Blacklands Beach for a late lunch. Our next stop was Glen Lyn Gorge, home to a hydro-electric turbine providing power for the National Grid, and a lot of information about water and conservation matters, as well as moving tales from the terrible 1952 flood. 

Glen Lyn

After some more exploring of the town, we cheated and caught a taxi back to the campsite (justifying the cost to ourselves by the fact that the ride was only slightly more expensive than the return on the Cliff Railway).

 The next day we caught an early bus from the stop on the main road, a walk of about half a mile. Our destination was Woody Bay, home of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, and John’s reason for wanting to come to this area. After a life of only 37 years, this narrow-gauge railway was closed in 1935, to the sorrow of many. The day after closure a wreath appeared at Barnstaple station bearing the words “Perchance it is not dead, but sleepeth”. A dedicated band of volunteers is trying to awaken it; only a mile of track exists at present, but the next few years should see much more progress. On a lovely sunny day, with views across the rolling hills of Exmoor to the Bristol Channel, it was a delightful ride.

 Catching the bus from outside the station, we returned to Lynton. The queue for the Cliff Railway was long, so we decided to take the steep path down to Lynmouth. We bought fish and chips from the Esplanade Fish Bar, and enjoyed them sitting by the harbour in the warm sunshine, under the watchful eye of a hungry seagull. We then walked along the East Lyn River towards Watersmeet, but a recent landslip meant we had to curtail our walk. Heading back into town, we decided to return to Lynton up the path we had descended, before catching the bus back to the site for a well-earned (we thought) glass of beer.

East Lyn River

On Thursday we again caught the bus into Lynton, this time with the objective of taking a circular walk along part of the South West coast path, to the Valley of the Rocks, then towards Lee Bay and back to the campsite. Once again the sun shone as we headed along the cliffs, then up amongst the prehistoric rock formations that give the area its name. After eating our lunch up amongst the rocks we descended to Mother Meldrums’ Tea Rooms for a drink before carrying on. 

Valley of the Rocks...

...and inhabitants

The area is home to wild goats, which were numerous as we headed towards the Christian retreat of Lee Abbey. There the path turned uphill amongst pleasant woodland, before leading us back to the site.

Through the woods

Time to move on, but we really enjoyed our taste of the area, which has been added to our ever-lengthening list of “places we’d like to go back to”.