roemin around

A nice English holiday and an extended birthday break for me, with warm and mostly sunny weather for the 10 days. Visited some new places and went back to some familiar around North Devon. Here is a link to a selection of our photos  Picasa web album.

It rained for a few hours in the night but it had stopped by the time we left the Blue Anchor campsite. Rosemary had read about a food festival at Burnham on Sea, so that is where we went for a couple of hours. We left mid afternoon with the object of finding another overnight stay but the weather remained dull and overcast well into the midlands. So we came all the way home instead and we arrived back home at about 6:30pm.    

Heading towards home and seeing some more of North Devon and Somerset on the way. Drove up to Lynton to park then took the cable car down to Lynmouth. Browsed the shops, took some photos, had a pastie and took the cable car back up again. Then I made the mistake of going to Hunters Inn down a road marked "Unsuitable for caravans" to get to the Heddon Valley and the inn. It was unsuitable for practically anything. The NT warden cheered me up by saying 'you should never have come down there - there's no passing places! The proper road out of the valley back towards Combe Martin was much better with excellent views along the coast.   Joined the A39 again and stopped off at Watersmeet where we walked down the steep path to the river and had tea on the lawn at the NT Edwardian cafe. Finally negotiated Countesbury Hill and Porclock Hill, stopping briefly for Exmoor pony pictures and found a site near Minehead for the night just before sunset. An interesting day!       ...

Took the bus pass into Ilfracombe for a couple of hours in order to get some cash and have a fresh crab sandwich. Sea food is still landed at the harbour every day. A grey murky day does not do much to help lift an ageing seaside town. The controversial Damian Hurst sculpture of Verify at the harbour entrance seems strangely out of place here. On the plus side, still no rain and its warm and sunny at times. We had a DIY cream tea, from the excellent site shop, in the evening sun back at Damage Barton.

Moving on today from Cornwall back to Devon. Drove A39 stopping at the picturesque village of Clovelly. The last time we were here was over 40 years ago and it is much more commercial now. We walked down the steep cobbled streets to the quaint harbour to find a film crew doing some seafood ads for Youngs. Took the land rover back up the hill and had fish and chip lunch. Looked around Clovelly Manor gardens where Rosemary did a bit scrumping/foraging before we continued on to the Ilfracombe area for a couple of nights.  It was hot and sunny on the quay at Clovelly, but it's murky at Woolacombe. We are on a dual club affiliated site at Damage Barton for two nights.

Wall to wall sunshine this morning, what a difference between north and south coasts again. Took the van into Bude and I went for a wander and a paddle while Rosemary did the shops. Then we went fishing for the afternoon on the sites fishing lake. Didn't catch much but some regulars had the same problem - so it wasn't our problem. It turned cloudy later with a brief shower.

Headed to north coast and found the sun at Bude. Parked up near beach and walked along the cliffs to Lifes a Beach cafe for a fishy lunch, then back along the beach. The surf was up took some surfin photos. Found the Woods Farm site easily and were given a nice pitch with distant sea view. Walked down into the valley to find the fishing lake and struggled back up the hill. Good place to see the sun set and it's the autumn equinox!