Exmoor

What a brilliant day we have had! Despite the weather forecast for heavy clouds we have had sunshine and blue skies all day. We decided to go to Exmoor today, on the recommendation of Sue and Terri who had given me the names of places that were good to visit. We started off at Combe Martin, a little rocky bay that was very pretty and had colourful canoes on the low tide beach (extra no. 1) Then we drove further up the coast to Lynton, which is a very charming Exmoor town that looks much smarter than where we are staying in Ilfracombe. We parked and walked up to the Valley of Rocks, along a narrow coastal path that hugs the cliff face with stunning views out across the sea towards Wales. We even saw some of the feral goats that roam wild there and one had a baby with her. From the top of the rocks there are far reaching views (extra no. 2) 

We walked back down to Lynton and then walked further down to Lynmouth, which is a very popular and attractive harbour village. It was alive with all the restaurants and cafes open, and we chose to eat lunch outside in the large garden of a restaurant situated on the edge of the river leading out to the sea, it had beautiful views. (extra no. 3 of Lynmouth)

After lunch Tommy and Inca went back to Ilfracombe to swim at Hele Bay and the rest of us drove across the moor where the scenery was breathtaking. I took this panorama image from a place where we stopped to admire the views. We were actually now in Somerset and no longer in Devon. 

We carried on to Porlock and then on to Porlock Weir (extra no. 4) which was so quaint and picturesque with an old lock and a little tidal harbour with some sailing boats in it. Many cottages there date from the 17th century. We finally left to drive back to the house after a wonderful day out, with Luke driving and managing the narrow and steep roads very well. It is very hilly there, the roads are so steep that there are many sections that have emergency safety stop areas off the road in case one's brakes fail.

When we got home I quickly made supper - I have not yet cooked this holiday, it has been a real treat as everyone has been taking turns to cook and tonight it was my turn and the first time I have cooked. Then I started editing all my photos and deciding what to blip.... I am way behind on journals but I will catch up tomorrow when the boys are playing golf again. 

One good thing to come out of the Coronavirus and lockdown is that as we could not travel we have had a wonderful week exploring Devon instead, it is such a beautiful area and it makes me wonder why we always feel the need to go abroad for our holidays when the UK has so many stunning places to visit.