Westcountry Caravan and Motorhome Show at Exeter……

Well it was forecast to rain all day, so why not? I was quite excited at the prospect of wandering around the show, mainly to look at all the gizmos and gadgets, oh yes and maybe a small awning, and definitely some new wellies!

Poppydog was soon settled in the boot of the car, strangely she seems to be able to work out when we are on a long haul and only barks when the car slows down!

Anyhow we arrived, paid our £7.50 entrance fee and even though it was raining, wandered around the outside exhibits, mostly caravans (got one), motorhomes (had one) and campervans (still too small – but very trendy!) to give Poppydog a walk before going inside.

What a disappointment! Just more caravans (got one), motor…..you get the picture! No ‘must have’ gadgets or ‘I want one’ gizmos – the only things not falling into the above categories were a stall selling BBQ bags and beach bags, someone selling micro fleece towels (got them and they are great by the way) and a couple of stalls selling ‘wonder socks and gloves’ to cure all manner of aches and pains! The only awnings on display, were the ‘drive off ‘ kind, designed for campervans. So in other words nothing of any interest to me or Poppydog, so we wandered around another three times to get our monies worth and drove home!

Two thoughts of the day:

I’ve obviously been to too many county and agricultural shows in the past and assumed that these events would be the same!

I really do think it is time that it stopped raining ☔️

Ilfracombe wears it’s Victorian influence so well…

Similar day to yesterday, mostly sunny and dry but with some heavy showers and quite a chilly wind. I didn’t fancy going far, so we ventured into Ilfracombe and what a lovely Victorian town it is. Now I had previously written the town off, judged on the main High St, as being a bit run down, but as we explored the seafront and harbour, I believe that to have been unfair.

The sea is largely separated from the town by a series of hills and gardens running down the slopes to the town. These hills provide excellent views both out to sea and of the town.

Firstly we went to gave a look at the Tunnels beaches, unfortunately though they are closed until Easter, however we had a sneaky look from up above.

These were opened in Victorian times, with access created through the hillside, by tunnel to two beaches and sea pools, one for the ladies and one for the gentleman! How fab? Access is now £2.50 for an adult for the day.

Further along the front is the main beach, not massive but very attractive, Poppydog loved it, charging in, out, over and around!

The sand or really very fine shingle is grey, reflecting its main component being slate. We also found a nice little selection of sea glass on this beach,

The twin domes of the Theatre offer an interesting dimension to the background, seen as we start to climb Capstone Hill.

Up on the top of Capstone Hill, passing Windy Corner (and it was!) on the way up, is a beautiful statue in memory of a young Russian girl ‘Kate’ who sadly lost her footing and life on nearby Hillsborough Hill in 2000.

From here we wandered down the other side of the hill, to get our first glimpse of the oldest working ‘lighthouse’ in the UK, the Lantern.

The little chapel of St Nicholas (patron saint of sailors) dates back to 1321 and through the chapels varied history (as a church, family home and periods of near dereliction) it has always shone a light to guide boats into Ilfracombe’s harbour.

This is a very pretty part of town, with little boutiques, cafes, galleries and pubs looking out on to the sandy inner harbour and the old lifeboat station (now an Aquarium) in one corner and the new one in the opposite one!

And there just beyond the inner harbour is ‘Verity’ – I have seen signs all over the place to Damien Hirst’s ‘Verity’, with no idea (forgive my ignorance!) to what they referred to – well now I do!

I fine figure of a woman she may be, dare I say it though, I think the statue on Capstone is more beautiful, meaningful yet somehow carefree?

From the harbour we went up to take a closer look at St Nicholas’ church which unfortunately for us is currently closed for refurbishment.

Oh yes and look it is raining in Wales,

Two thoughts of the day:

Don’t judge a town on first appearances!

We have had a really good day, learnt a lot and have a lot of respect for the Victorians – they gave us ‘holidays’ after all!

On Military Exercise in Braunton Burrows…..

A mostly sunny day but with some pretty heavy showers around just to keep us on our toes! However we were lucky just catching the tail end of one when we arrived at Braunton Burrows and then it very kindly stayed dry for a few hours until we got back to the car! We enjoyed a lovely rainbow across the Burrows.

As there were Military vehicles in the car park and there are signs up warning of Military training activity, I decided (much to her disgust!) that it would be prudent to keep Poppydog on her lead as we wandered through the burrows to Saunton Sands. As it turned out, we only happened upon a group in the middle of the Burrows who appeared to be having a briefing, so I was probably being over cautious. Anyhow once on the beach, which was pretty much deserted as usual, so plenty of room for play.

This time I was ready and had 3 tennis balls to wind Poppydog up with! The theory being that she can only carry one, so I can keep throwing the other two. As you can tell I am desperately trying to find a method that works! Where we are currently is that I throw a ball which she chases, catches and brings back BUT doesn’t let go, so I then throw another ball, which she chases, catches (having just dropped the first ball where the second ball landed) and brings back but doesn’t let go, so I now have a third ball to throw whilst walking along to where the first one has been dropped! So that was a long winded way of saying we are getting nowhere!

Still the sun was shining and it was very pleasant, wandering along the beach, with just the roar of the waves in the background and Poppydog was getting all the exercise she needs!

On the way back, as Poppydog was calmer (bordering on worn out, not forgetting she is a Springer!) and seemed content to more or less stay with me, we ventured into the Burrows.

All seemed to be quiet so I assumed the Military probably packed up by 3 or 4 to get back for their tea! Wrong! We were just coming up to a bend in the track when the sound of gunfire quite close by, took us both by surprise! I quickly put Poppydog back on her lead and continued around the bend with some trepidation. Fortunately a couple of military vehicles came by and waved us on through, anyhow we got a shifty on, shall we say and once around the next bend World War 3 broke out behind us, so we got a shifty on all the way back to the car! I may add that other dog walkers we encountered back in the car park didn’t look in the least bothered, so I assume we were quite safe!!

Two thoughts of the day:

Who is more out of place walking through the sand dunes behind Saunton, me in my bright purple rain jacket or the Military with their faces all camouflaged?

I assume they were pretend guns or ammo at least – must have been, they didn’t sound loud enough!

Westward Ho! to Appledore….

Well after yesterday’s mizzog day, what a lovely surprise to see the sun from mid morning and to enjoy a mild and dry day out. We started in Westward Ho! and followed the lane through Royal North Devon Golf Club – this was a bit of an ordeal as the combination of grazing sheep, small birds fluttering about and the odd flying golf ball had Poppydog swinging on the end of her lead like some demented pendulum. Such that I was tempted a couple of times to just let her go and create merry mayhem, while I wandered off in the opposite direction completely disowning her – what were my chances of getting away with that?

Still after a mile or so we crossed the dunes and pebble ridge onto the beach – which was huge!

It stretched in every direction almost as far as the eye could see and though there were quite a few people (and dogs) around, Poppydog had a good run about, occasionally letting me throw the ball, but mostly just running around in figure of eights with a ball in her mouth!

The sun was mostly shining and without much of a breeze, dare I say it? It was almost warm!

Westward Ho! itself, runs along the back of the beach and is mostly gift shops, surf hire, pubs and cafes, but there was an enormous amount of new building work going on, both holiday type and residential. Still with this lovely long stretch of golden sand – enough to go round even in the summer I guess.

We then had a wander around the neighbouring village of Appledore, a pretty village of painted terraces and narrow little streets.

The village runs along the tidal banks of the river Torridge, opposite Instow, and has a significant boat building history which remains active today. Again at low tide, plenty of exposed beach, though this appeared muddy in places and didn’t look that appealing (we are getting quite choosy!).

It was also very welcoming and the local advertising quite innovative!

Two thoughts of the day:

These little villages must really struggle to function in the height of the summer, the traffic jams must be horrendous!

I wonder if these huge beaches get packed in a nice day, or if you can still find some relative peace at the far ends?

Barricane beach in the rain…..

I know this isn’t a very popular thing to say, but come back snow all is forgiven! It has rained all day without any let up – still rather than let it dictate our day we visited Barricane beach, which was in my list of things to do, if we had time.

The beach is actually only separated from Woolacombe Sands by a rocky outcrop and at low tide, as it was today, it is possible to walk round for a short while. We used the concrete steps, set in the rock face at the back of the beach and were delighted to have the beach completely to ourselves.

We had a good wander around, taking in the waterfall at the back of the beach and the countless rock pools.

Oh to live in one of those houses, immediately above the beach, on days such as today, I could throw a ball out of the window onto the beach and let Poppydog exercise herself!

We lasted a good hour or so, by which time we were both soaked, my rain jacket doesn’t appear to be that rainproof any more and both wellies are definitely letting in water!!

Fortunately I have a new raincoat but it does look like I am on a wellie hunt – again!!! Roll on spring – it us time!

Two thoughts of the day:

I’m sure it has pretty much rained everyday since Christmas.

The van resembles a Chinese laundry (whatever one of them looks like!) and Poppydog is positively steaming, but we are warm and now dry, so we shall just have to turn the TV up to hear it over the rain!

Instow and along the bank of the river Torridge…..

Well we have well and truly thawed out here now and we ended up with quite a sunny afternoon. So after extending our stay here for another couple of weeks (the site at Dulverton that I plan to move to next has postponed their opening date until 16th March!) as we have so much still to see and explore around here, we set off bound for Instow.

The beach here was absolutely packed with sunny Sunday afternoon walkers, lots of dogs and at least two groups playing with a football, so I’m afraid Poppydog was way to wound up to be given any Freedombird!

The beach was not overly attractive, tending to run to mud along the edge of the river so we about turned and set off instead for a walk along the disused railway line, now part of the Tarka Trail, this particular section runs from Barnstaple to Bideford.

The trail took us inland of Instow, but after passing Instow signal box and Station (now a yacht club) followed along the bank of the river Torridge and very soon we left civilisation behind!

As we neared Bideford and the road noise increased, we took that as our sign to turn back and view the pretty villages of Appledore on the left hand side of the Torridge and Instow on the right.

Two thoughts of the day:

As far as signs go – how about this one?

We weren’t wearing any, but we would have!

Oh and by the way, the snow did not make a very good job of cleaning the car!

Aaah the sea again….

When we woke up this morning, as forecast, the weather had turned milder (well above freezing anyway!) and the snow and ice had started to thaw. The standpipe is still refusing to defrost, but the water container has thawed enough for the pump to start working again so we have running water for the first time in three days!

Having stayed put for the last few days, because of the weather, it was nice to get out and see the sea at Woolacombe again.

Out and about on the roads, though now mostly clear (albeit very wet), I was quite surprised to such big drifts along the roadside and hedgerows and it is easy to see how cars have been stuck. I wrongly assumed that as there was only a slight covering down here on the site, that the neighbouring roads would tell the same story! Didn’t stop to get any pics I’m afraid.

Woolacombe Sands was practically deserted and in this light taken on a very pastel appearance with the ship in the bay adding drama to the pale yellow sand, pale greens and blues of the sea and pale grey sky.

And of course Poppydog not wishing to be left out, with a rather attractive scrap of orange ball hanging out her mouth, adds the final definition to the scene – don’t you think?

We enjoyed a lovely bracing walk along the beach and then took a last look back, from the dunes, as I’m not sure when we will be back this way again. I will say, this beach has now taken the top slot with me and Poppydog agrees!

Two thoughts of the day:

Imagine having Woolacombe Sands on your doorstep and aside from the minor inconvenience of having to take quite early and late walks in the summer, when the place is heaving with visitors, a veritable dog walkers paradise!

Popped into Tesco’s on the way home and many of the shelves were bare! Am guessing, as well as the lack of deliveries, a bit of panic buying has taken place! Managed to get what I wanted, so not a bother here!

The Beast from the East missed and storm Emma flew right over the top….

Well after being pitched on the edge of the Red Alert area and well and truly inside an Amber Alert, I did not expect to sleep through the night! However, when we awoke at 7, it was clear that no more snow had fallen and being nestled in the valley, the high winds were clearly blowing over the top, as could be seen in the trees at the top of the hill. So apart from still being frozen, we appear to have got away completely unscathed!

As we are good citizens, on the whole, we again took heed of the sensible advice to not venture out onto the roads unless necessary and so, apart from a couple of walks around the site, we stayed home.

For myself, I watched a bit of day time TV and read, whereas Poppydog was much more creative and indulged in a session of bird spotting

And more creatively a spot of ‘Nose Art’ on the caravan window

Delightful! So a good, albeit, lazyish day was had by all!

Two thoughts of the day:

I cannot imagine how cold and desperate it must have been, to have been stuck overnight in a car but how wonderful of all those people who ventured out of the warmth of their own homes to take food and hot drinks to those stranded.

Did anyone who voted ‘out’ at the Brexit referendum have any idea how bored we would all become with the constant ‘yawing’ of our politicians? (Daytime TV!)

Winter without the Wonderland…..

Another cold night and indeed day! Had to thaw out the standpipe 3 times today and emptying the loo was interesting!

Well it snowed all day, but I’m not sure the ‘Beast from the East’ hit? Or maybe he is still on his way? Even though it has been snowing all day, it was very fine snow and is barely leaving us with a covering but boy is it cold!

So again we haven’t ventured far and taken a brisk walk through the woodland, but without the sun our winter walk lacked the Wonderland!

Just to prove we did venture out and it was very cold, with a biting wind shoving little flakes of snow in our faces.

And now back in the warm, looking out at the snow on the window.

Two thoughts of the day:

Might need to look for some sort of thermal jacket for the water container before next winter!

Considerably more thought and planning needs to go into making a cup of tea in these arctic conditions – who would be an Eskimo?

Winter Wonderland at Hidden Valley……

So excited to see the snow still here this morning, a little more had fallen, sometime during the night as all our footprints from yesterday evening had gone.

At first Poppydog just peered out the door at the whiteness, but once she realised that we were venturing out, she was off!! Scampering about like a pendulum at the end of the lead, so once we got to the unused field on site, I gave her ‘freedombird’ and she was away!

We watched the sun come over the hill, into the valley, Poppydog chased scents across the fresh snow (my ignorance but I didn’t think there would be any?) and the odd hapless small bird who happened to make their presence known until my toes and fingers said enough was enough!

On our return to the caravan, I realised the water container had partially frozen, preventing the pump from supplying us with water, as indeed had the nearby standpipe – shock horror! Anyone who knows me, knows I need my tea and that need can make me quite creative, so a kettle full of boiling water, fetched from the dishwashing area, poured over the standpipe soon had us back in business (and I am already prepared for tomorrow with a full kettle of fresh water on standby!).

I have decided that we shall stay put during this cold snap, as there is no point in adding to the traffic, if we don’t need to, also many of the lanes we have been travelling along to reach our walks are well off the beaten track and likely to be icy. Instead we took the opportunity to go for a long walk through the neighbouring woods (which we dismissed last week as being way too muddy) and enjoyed our very own Winter Wonderland.

On the way we captured this pretty lilac coloured heather, snuggling in the snow.

The moss growing on this tree stump, glistening in the sun.

And a lone random icicle just hanging from a branch.

And now we are back in the warm again, just as it starts to snow – I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Two thoughts of the day:

How nice to not be under any pressure to do or go anywhere in this weather!

If it snows enough, do you think the dirt on my car will just slide off with it?