A pregnant pause

When we left Appledore Saturday morning the sun was shining and it showed the village in entirely different colours from the day before but our time here was done and we were on the road at ten after a hearty breakfast.

First stop, recommended by our hosts, was Woolacombe Sands, not too far to the north and one of Britains “blue flag” beaches. A balmy 18.5c meant beach goers were pouring in in great numbers and we studied the growing crowd with some bemusement.

Woolacombe Sands

After (not) getting our obligatory £3 parking cost value we moved on toward Ilfracombe, described by our previous hosts as “somewhat shabby.”

We really liked Ilfracombe with its famous beach tunnels which lead to the historic “Gentleman's beach” and the separate “Ladies Beach” – initially in use at the turn of the century and where opposite sexing bathing was introduced in a 'racy' move in 1905.

There was a £2.50 charge to visit but a nice interpretative display was interesting and although we didn't see the famous beach pool due to the high tide it was a pleasant stroll.

 

The Tunnels - Ladies Beach

Verity

The other point of interest mentioned by our helpful hosts was the sculpture entitled 'Verity' at the harbour side.

The controversial artist, Damien Hirst (you may remember him, dissecting a cow and displaying it in formaldehyde ?) lives in the area and in 2012 erected the 67 foot high bronze statue to mixed reception.It depicts a pregnant woman with one side 'bared' to show the foetus in utero. I really liked it and it has certainly put Ilfracombe on the map!

More info on Wikipedia.

 

We also visited Hirst's gallery and I bought a rather interesting T shirt, strange man that one 😉

After an ice cream for lunch we were back in Murray and headed for Lynmouth albeit on a rather unusual route thanks to Pamela.

Finding the road for our small hotel proved to be easy enough, persuading Murray around the switchback corners was slightly more challenging and parking earnt me the comment “you've passed the test” from our lovely host Richard! A lovely cup of tea and cake on the terrace was the reward (although I did mention a stiffer drink) whilst Richard told us about his seven months in the merchant navy when he visited Port Pirie of all places!

The Heatherville, Lynmouth

The hotel has only six rooms and is absolutely charming, and best of all it has a proper shower not one of those 'in the bath sit down' jobs – sigh….

After unpacking we walked, (much less stressful than disturbing Murray), down to the village only five minutes away. Lynmouth sits at the bottom of a steeply wooded cleft and it's 'partner' village Lynton is at the top – you can walk between the two or use the delightfully Victorian funicular railway which we will do tomorrow.

 

We checked out the local watering holes (Lorna Doone was written in the Rising Sun apparently) and strolled along the coast with many other day trippers.

Lynmouth is really very pretty and we are already wishing we had more than two nights here 🙂

Lynmouth harbour

Lynmouth beach

Getting in early to beat the rush, we had an early seafood dinner at the Rising Sun followed by a very decadent chocolate dessert justified by the uphill walk home 😉

Tomorrow, we're back in the saddle, this time on Exmoor.

 

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