I’m late posting the Weekly Photo Challenge, mega busyness. The theme is Inspiration this week, I’ve been thinking about it and finding it difficult to pin down. In the end I was looking through Lucid Gypsy, some photos, and the my regular Lazy Poet’s Haiku posts. Then it fell into place, my county, Devon in the south west of England is so often my inspiration. So here are a few photos in a gallery so that you can see why.
To the west of the main seafront at Exmouth is the Exe estuary, it’s been a favourite place of mine since childhood and I’ve posted many photos taken there. Every couple of weeks a friend picks me up from work, and its become a habit on summer evenings to head to the coast, for fish and chips, a paddle and a Pimms on the balcony at the Grove. On Thursday we managed the paddle and fish and chips but the pub balcony was full, so we kept walking towards the marina.
This used to be a scruffy, but fascinating, working dock, now the apartments here are very expensive. I’m torn between thinking I’d like to live there and thinking its all a bit sterile and elitist.
Leave the apartments behind for a while and enjoy the view.
Across the estuary towards Dawlish Warren.
The tide was very high on the remains of the beach where I used to play, the blue moon was on its way.
There’s still some fishing work taking place, thank goodness.
and a lot of blue.
as the sky and buildings fight for the boldest colour.
Turn the last corner, here is the bridge that replaced the rickety one I remember, and the sun shined on, a perfect Devon evening.
National Trust Knightshayes invites you to ‘Discover magic in the woods’. Apparently its garden in the woods, created in the 1950’s, is the only one of its kind in existence. I walked there on Sunday, when I found this little path, leading away from the formal garden.
and found myself in a world that was magical indeed, it felt like anything could happen.
There were ancient giants,
some with arms outstretched to catch you.
Funky seed heads,
Bark that Meg would like to stroke.
Delicate froths of fluff.
A giant sequoia
and an elegant maple.
This little walk was enchanting, rich in texture, colour, light and shade. Birdsong filled the air, as did the fragrance of years of fallen leaves on the ground. I hope you enjoyed the garden in the woods, perhaps you’ll go one day. I’m sharing it with Jo, for her Monday walk. Join her here.
Jude’s Bench Challenge for June is to process and image with an arty effect, hooray, that’s licence to play!
I’ve used Photoshop, Pixlr and Snapseed to create this image, but I can’t remember what steps I took to get to the end result.
The photo was taken on the beach path at Dawlish Warren in February. The perspective makes it appear that its a row of single seats but they are in fact benches for two or three peopel. I do quite like the end result and I expect I’ll try some more this month. Perhaps you’ll join in too?
Last weekend my friend Lindy and I went for a walk up in north Devon. I wanted to go to see Verity at the same time so I found a walk on the coast that was just 2.3 miles, perfect for the Dido and Daisy as well.
We arrived at Mortehoe, a pretty village, just before noon and walked up the road between the pub and church.
Mortehoe village
The lane climbing upwards was trimmed with spring wild flowers.
Wildflowers in the hedgerow
And the walls were full of life.
Navelwort waiting to bloom Jude
We walked past a pretty cemetery.
Cemetery with a view
And the walk began
We climbed to the viewpoint
Lindy looked towards Woolacombe
Back towards Mortehoe
That’s where we were heading
So I zoomed in
Back to the path
Looking westThat’s close enough to a sheer drop
There were sheep everywhere and the lambs were adorable
The lambs were at the toddler stage
The path stretched ahead into bright sun.
The south west coast pathWoolacombe is fading into the distance
We stopped frequently so the dogs could cool down, so I zoomed in again.
Something strange over there
Can you see the stegosaurus back bone?
By now we were warming up, and wishing we’d brought all of our picnic lunch, instead of just a packet of crisps. But the walk was lovely in every direction.
Deceiving but a very steep drop
There were some interesting rock formations.
Slate possibly
How could this have formed?
The crest of the hill in the photo above was soon just above us.
The stegasaurus
Some suicidal sheep!
Sure footed sheep
Not far to the pointOne more bend
The rock was changing colour as we walked east towards Morte Point.
We were really, really hot here
Made it at last
Morte Point
Morte, as I’m sure you know means death and it’s believed that Morte point got its name because the treacherous rocks caused a number of shipwrecks over the centuries. Smuggling was rife, and some of the wrecks may have been helped along the way by wreckers walking the coast with lamps to confuse the sailors in the dark. Having seen this rcraggy coastline, it must have been incredibly dangerous. According to the South West Coast Path website,
The Normans dubbed it the ‘Death Stone’, and claimed that ‘Morte is the place which heaven made last and the devil will take first.’
Time to head on.
Going east again
The walk continued steeply.
Shallow water
My camera captured seals here but just as dark bobbing blobs.
The seals didn’t want to sunbath
We were out of water and fairly certain that we’d missed a turning by the time we reached here.
The turning point
But a slight hint of a path up to the right led us back the way we needed to take.
Familiar ground
The gate leads through to the road by the cemetery.
The village shop supplied cold drinks and ice cream, which we followed with our picnic. The dogs flopped in the shade, tired but happy. The pedometer on my phone said I’d walked 5.5 miles, not the planned 2.3, but we stilled had some energy left to pootle around Ilfracombe.
I don’t know if Jo will be doing her Monday Walk this week but there’s always another day.
Jude, I promise you there is a beach down there when the tide is out. The problem is you would need to swim, paddle board or arrive by boat. Or, you could roly-poly, because unless you ‘re one of the hundreds of sheep that live on the side of the hill below the coast path, I don’t think you could walk down to it.
This bench is on the South West Coast Path, England’s longest waymarked footpath, 630 miles around the peninsula from Minehead in Somerset, via Cornwall and Devon to Poole in Dorset. It goes without saying that is it one of the best walks in the world. Pick yourself a stretch when you visit the UK. Jude’s Bench Challenge for May is ‘At the Beach’ and you still have time to join in.
I set off to Dart’s Farm today for a stroll around their fields with the dogs, they have a farm walk, a bird hide and fishing lakes as well as the shopping experience they are well known for. It was a beautiful afternoon and I decided that I wanted to walk a bit further than Dart’s could offer, so I crossed over and took a path that joins the Exe Trail, which runs up the river Exe to Exeter and back down the other side. It’s part of National Cycle Network route 2 that will eventually run all the way from Kent to Cornwall.
The section that runs alongside the Exe is around 16 miles and must surely be one of the loveliest. Just below Topsham on the picture, you can see Darts Farm, where I began,
it’s the modern building in the distant background to the right. The white house boat must belong to someone, I hope they rescue it before it rots away, I know I’d like to.
The bridge above has one of the newest sections, with great views over Bowling Green marsh.
I’m striding along now, parallel to the railway line that I travelled on the day before, taking two of my grandchildren to the beach at Exmouth. The old bridge spans an area with an inlet that probably floods at times.
it’s certainly soggy today.
I’m heading towards Exton now and the views of the river are gorgeous.But the railway line and a fence are in the way. Never mind, the path turns inland through the little village of very expensive houses, and out the other side.
The river gets wider and Exmouth is in the distance, my favourite estuary. I pass by the Royal Marines commando training centre,
but there are no fit men to watch today!
Instead I pass a group of young people in fatigues yomping along. They may be cadets, definitely not marines, they were having too much fun.
It’s a really warm day and while I don’t mind walking in full sun, the dogs are getting elderly so we sit, so they can rest and nibble on the cleavers, and then retrace our steps. We didn’t quite reach Lympstone.
The tide was lower as I headed back inland, there were fewer cyclists and walkers going by, and the only sounds were birdsong. I had a lovely walk, around five miles and flat apart from going through Exton.
I hope you enjoyed it, and Jo too, as I’m posting for her Monday Walk.
A few days ago I was reading a favourite blog friends post about beaches, and something seemed familiar. I’ve seen photos of many wonderful places since I’ve been blogging, it’s great to see parts of the world I’ll probably never get to visit in reality. Australia is one of those places and Eurobodalla beach in particular, and yet I feel a connection. So when Meg posted images of Broulee beach I looked through my photos to try to find out why. These rows where Dido and Daisy are paddling remind me of Meg’s beachAs does this crisscrossing in the rock. and the view at Hartland is rather like Narooma!
And these are similar to Meg’s Smugglers Cove photos. Craggy rocks with winkles. Crops of determined little flowers Even surfers, but I expect they are colder than any near Meg. Pay a visit to Meg and see if you don’t agree with me, Hartland in North Devon has a lot in common with these beaches in New South Wales. To find Hartland on a map of the UK, first find South Wales, then go due south.
The bridge above has one of the newest sections, with great views over Bowling Green marsh.
These rows where Dido and Daisy are paddling remind me of 
As does this crisscrossing in the rock. 
and the view at Hartland is rather like 
Craggy rocks with winkles. 
Crops of determined little flowers 
Even surfers, but I expect they are colder than any near Meg. Pay a visit to Meg and see if you don’t agree with me, Hartland in North Devon has a lot in common with these beaches in New South Wales. To find Hartland on a map of the UK, first find South Wales, then go due south.
Lucid Gypsy 
