Leading to Buckland Abbey

Today I’ve had the most lovely day out for my friends birthday! We went to a National Trust property across the other side of Dartmoor, Buckland Abbey, once the home of Sir Francis Drake. I think I will probably create several posts about it because I’ve just put 400 photos onto the PC. As I don’t know where to start with Buckland here are some photos of the journey across the moor. In the one with the smoke we were wondering if someone was swailing – controlled burning of heath to stimulate new growth, and now I’ve just seen on the BBC’s website that a few mile north there is a huge blaze covering six square kilometres. They don’t know how the fire started yet, swailing can be done until the second week of April, but with prior arrangement .The land is desperatle dry, I can’t remember seeing it look quite like it did today, so just the tiniest spark is all it takes, and the concern now is for nesting birds.. There are 100 firefighters at Chat Tor and they are being assisted by local commoners beating, I hope the fire in my photo, south east of there is quickly contained.

 

An Easter Day Out, Saltram House Devon

A lovely National Trust property, Saltram has been overlooking the River Plym for three hundred years. If it looks familiar, it was one of the settings for 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility. I didn’t go into the house today but the grounds were beautiful, well worth a visit if you’re in the Westcountry.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Future Tense

Michael Pick says, ‘We spend so much of our lives thinking back, or looking ahead, and even though a photo captures only one moment in time, with a bit of thought it can freeze the process of moving forward, or the promise of things to come. Your challenge this week is to seal one such moment in amber’ and invites us to share to join the http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/weekly-photo-challenge-future-tense/
I thought this was an impossible task at first, but then I came up with these.

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A connecting extension to a favourite walk.

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On the strip of ground between the river Exe above and the canal, out of sight on the left, Devon County Council are building a new world class outdoor education centre in Exeter. The spiral stairs to the left are the way up the abseil tower which was nearly completed when I took this photo in January and the centre is due to open in April. A real investment in the future.

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This is sadly a bit more worrying. The South West Coast Path is a 630 mile walk, one of Britains National Trails. The Devon Red Sandstone section here at Sidmouth which climbs sharply eastwards has been closed because of erosion. The path has become unstable in several places, and some homes are at risk of plunging over the cliff. Diversions are in place for walkers until more permanent plans are made.

 

Grand Western Canal

I walked at the canal again today, starting from the Jubilee bridge this time. It does a horseshoe loop that is quiet disorientating, you feel as if you’ve turned around on yourself. It started cold but once the sun broke through it became a gorgeous day for a stroll, towards Halberton. 2013 Mar 17_3573

The tow path winds its way through the Devon countryside for eleven miles.

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With lovely views of farmland.

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Under some very old bridges, the Devon section of the canal opened in 1814 so the bridges must be roughly the same age.

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It was a muddy day and welly boots were called for – sadly I wasn’t wearing mine! Never mind, it was worth it to see this stunning tree.

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There is lots of wildlife, but I took the wrong lens. When I was there a few weeks ago I had the zoom lens and needed the the standard, this time if I had the zoom I could have got a decent shot of . . . I’m hoping the Hobbit will tell me?

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If you live in the UK you will have heard about the damage to the canal bank in November last year when many parts of the country suffered severe floods. This gallery shows some of the damage, and the temporary dams that are in place to prevent further problems until the repairs begin. Thankfully Devon County Council have budgeted three million pounds to rebuild the thirty metre breach in the embankment. The work begins in June and will take nearly a year to complete.

Now I’ll leave you with a photo from the end of today’s walk, hope you enjoyed it.

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Jakes Sunday Post: Arrangement

http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/ has given us the prompt of arrangement this week and Jake says, ‘The act of arranging or being arranged like Places, living things or collection of things that have been arranged. The condition, manner, agreement, settlement or music result of being arranged.’ I’ve chosen three photos taken on Dartmoor, the result of arrangement by Man, Nature and the Universe or God if you choose.

 

Dry stone wall
Dry stone wall
Wild Bluebells
Wild Bluebells

 

Near Hound Tor
Near Hound Tor