I have to be honest, for me Bath was mostly about the shopping!

Russell did do a free two hour walking tour which was apparently quite enjoyable, I probably covered more ground though 🙂

A last minute panic on Thursday morning found us lining up waiting for the shops to open to buy yet another extra bag and Jack Wolfskin fit the bill. By lunch time we had safely arrived at Bristol Airport and we had a quick catch up with Ali and Ollie who had unfortunately missed their morning flight and were enjoying the delights of Bristol airport until that evening 😉

We descended into Dublin after an uneventful flight and hurried off the tarmac to escape the famous Irish 'misty rain.' Sara at the Thrifty counter very kindly upgraded us to a Volvo with a larger boot when she saw our four bags which was a huge advantage given that Sam and Bonnie hadn't even arrived at that point!

By just after three thirty we were reunited and off north toward Cavan, (our accommodation next to the wedding reception venue) where we would stay for the next five nights. En route the rain persisted and Sam and Bonnie filled us in on their Irish experiences from the last 10 days (which seemed to have a large pub focus.) At 5.30 Bonnie and I were checking in for our previously organised pedicures at the Radisson spa whilst the boys organised the pressing of the suits and dinner supplies.

Friday morning dawned overcast but mostly dry and preparations for the wedding began at the salon with Bonnie's and my 'do's.'

The ceremony was an hour's drive away and we left in plenty of time, arriving at Multyfarnham Priory as the sun struggled weakly through the clouds.

The wedding was lovely, the wedding party looked 'grand' and we drove back to the Radisson with dry if not sunny skies. The reception was a joyous celebration unlike any Aussie wedding I've been to and was still going strong when Russell and I left at midnight – the bride left at 5am and festivities were still continuing. The Irish sure know how to do weddings!

Love those shoes Niamh!

 

 

 

Well, our ride on Exmoor turned out to be a ride basically on someone's farm but it was a ride nevertheless and Major and Gertie provided us with a pleasant enough hour on Sunday morning.

After a quick shower and change we left the hotel with instructions for the Valley of the Rocks walk which starts in Lynton, our sister village up the hill.

The quaint funicular made short work of the incredibly steep hill and also afforded some terrific views.

The walk was easy to find as we left the village proper and a brisk breeze accompanied us along the cliff edge. At various points along the way there are benches, some of which have small 'poetry tins' containing a notebook and pen where you are encouraged to put pen to paper and share your experience of the walk/view. A great idea and quite entertaining to read.

There is also a large wild goat population and we took a breather to watch several youngsters in the group cavorting over the rocks.

 

We stopped for fortification at Mother Melba's, a pleasant cafe on the way back, named for a supposed witch who lived in the cottage once. The garden was decorated appropriately and Russell thought he could see a family resemblance…..?

Further along the road we came to what must surely be one of the most picturesque cricket ovals around and there was a game in progress.

Not sure if it's the most popular game in town though as we could only count 10 people in total on the ground including the umpire! We watched a few balls until someone hit a six over the fence and into the bracken and all 10 of them left the field to look for the ball!

Just past the oval we came across a small herd of very well conditioned Exmoor ponies who share this part of the moor with the goats. In the background below you can see that there has just been a wicket taken with the new man coming in 🙂

Our walk brought us back through Lynton, down the funicular, and through Lynmouth – by then we were glad to rest our weary legs on the sunny terrace at the hotel with a glass of wine.

Leaving Lynmouth the next morning Pamela directed us along the very beautiful A39 which has stunning views of the coast on the left and the moor on the right but not nearly enough panoramic spots to stop and enjoy it!

We didn't have a lot of time anyway as we had a lunch date in Bath with Georgie who had lived with us for a time in Australia. She and her mum were driving for four hours down from Nottingham to catch up and she had chosen a great little restaurant with the most varied menu we'd seen in England so far, hardly a chip in sight!

After lunch we strolled down into Bath proper and finished the afternoon with coffee in the shadow of the beautiful Bath abbey.

Parting ways with lots of hugs, Russell then successfully navigated to the apartment which will be home for the next three nights and we collected Murray and moved in. Whilst attending to some laundry we booked online for Jamie Oliver's flagship “Jamie's Italian” (about ten minutes away) and promptly at eight were shown to our table.

The menu was quite interesting and we enjoyed a couple of entree serves each and gave Jamie a big tick.

Later, walking home through the shopping area I began salivating for reasons that had nothing to do with food 😉 and I look forward to exploring further tomorrow!

 

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.

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 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 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 🙂

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.

 

On Friday morning we reluctantly packed Murray once again and departed beautiful Boscastle – really hope we will be back one day.

This is our cottage below with the garden on the left

Tonight’s accommodation was in Appledore but en route we stopped firstly in Hartland Quay and the promontory of Hartland Point, where the coast of Devon turns from facing north into the Bristol Channel to face west into the Atlantic Ocean. The coastline is quite different to where we had been but equally stunning.

We arrived in the famous village of Clovelly in time for lunch. It is a major tourist attraction notable for its extremely steep pedestrianized cobbled main street, donkeys and views over the Bristol Channel. No vehicles are able to traverse the street and goods are transported down from the top car park via sleds. Donkeys used to be utilised and can still be seen some days but now are more of a tourist attraction.

The dog in the photo left has developed an ingenious skill.

Look carefully on the cobblestones and you will see his tennis ball – hundreds of people pass this spot on a daily basis. Many of them (me included) pick up his ball and return it to his (quite large) yard for him. He fetches it, comes back to the wall and just casually drops it over the wall for the next unsuspecting sucker who comes along.

We watched him do it several times, the funniest thing.

The whole village of a Clovelly is privately owned, it has been owned by only three families in the last 800 years! You have to pay an entrance fee of about £4 but we thought it worthwhile.

The photos don’t do the steepness justice honestly! We stopped for lunch on the way back and eventually made our way back to the top, very proud of ourselves for not resorting to the Land Rover ride back for £2.50! Calves will be feeling it tomorrow though.

Continuing on we arrived late afternoon to the small village of Appledore on the bank of the River Torridge.

We were very warmly welcomed by the owner of the B&B and then set off for a walk along the water – or lack of it. They experience 7m tides here and at this time of the day most boats were high and dry.

The village on the opposite side of the river is called Instow and can be reached at high tide for awhile by a small ferry, otherwise it’s a reasonable drive around and over the bridge in Bideford.

 

The next morning, with the benefit of high tide and under threatening skies we decided to catch the ferry over and kill some time before our lunch date.

(As you know, we are attending an Irish wedding next week and I had been emailing Ali, a friend of the bride who lives in Exmouth, for some months re her local expertise. She was coming up today to meet us for lunch.)

Coming back before the water ran out we received a message from Ali saying she had had a puncture and we eventually decided to catch up in Barnstaple. Reluctant to lose Murray’s parking spot we decided to catch the bus and settled ourselves into the top deck for what we thought would be a relatively quick trip. Apparently the bus doesn’t go via the most direct route and picks up from many surrounding small enclaves and then ran into what appeared to be “peak hour” 3 o’clock traffic 🙁

Eventually we met Ali, found a pub and enjoyed roast of the day at about 3.30pm and then braved the bus home again. Unfortunately we didn’t see Barnstaple in the best light, it was raining, we were hungry and by the time we finished lunch the shops were shutting. Look forward to catching up with Ali again at the wedding next week.

 

Found time to wander the tiny winding streets of Appledore in between showers and found this little gem…..

 

 

 

Tomorrow we’re on the move again, this time to Lynmouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had time for a little look in the Boscastle shops Tuesday morning before heading to St Breward's for our next pub ride.

Russell's mount was a lovely TB/Shire cross called Katie and I was mounted on a mischevious Irish cob called Smurf.

We headed off across Bodmin Moor toward Blisland where we pre ordered the minted lamb burgers with the obligatory side of chips 🙂

Wild (ish) ponies, sheep and Highland cattle dotted the moor and after about 90 mins ride we arrived at the Blisland Inn notable for the thousands of mugs lining the ceiling!

Lunch was rather forgettable but the ride back pleasant and we decided that we could easily spend our next holiday exploring England on horseback – the public bridleways are so extensive and well set up and would be the envy of all Aussie riders.

Wednesday morning greeted us with perfect blue skies and sunshine and after arming ourselves with walking maps we headed off northward along the SW coastal path toward the Boscastle Farm Shop, about 2 kms away.

The scenery was spectacular and we were able to gain a visual perspective of Boscastle Harbour and the valley that feeds into it and could only imagine the devastation of the floods in 2004.

We rewarded ourselves with a tasty lunch at the Farm Shop and possibly the best ice cream we've had so far ( and we've had a fair bit!)

The way back was downhill, so in order to work the ice cream off 😉 we trudged off along the Valency Valley walk which took us uphill through the woods to the very picturesque Minster Church.

Unfortunately, on the descent my trusty walking shoes (thongs) let me down somewhat with my second stub of the day and I had to resort to leaning on one of Russell's newly purchased walking poles to get back!

Luckily tomorrow we will be relying on Murray for transport as we head north back into Devon and a small village called Appledore ……