This morning Peter had been invited to play golf which gave me the chance to go for a longer walk. First shock of the day, the parking fees had gone up from 60p for 2 hours and £1.20 for all day to £1.40 for 2 hours and £2.60 for all day. That's more than double! 
I headed out on the Bull Point track which does start off as a dark dank lane but soon opens up to this view of the cliffs and the sea.
I had intended taking the first steep path off the track down into the coombe but the presence of a vehicle and the sounds of industry below me lead me to believe that some repair work was being done to the path so I carried on along the main track. This lead me up onto high ground and magnificent views of Rockham Bay and the whole of Morte Point.
Instead I took the next path down to the coombe. This path is all earth and very steep and pretty treacherous in wet weather but today it was dry and I was able to carefully make my way down to the valley bottom with its stunted trees and rushing stream.
Alongside the stream there were swathes of native daffodils which are smaller and less showy than the garden varieties but looked just right in this woodland setting.
Out along the grassy valley to Bennet's Mouth where I made my first stop. As I sat I could feel the warm sun on my back and a breeze on my face. My ears were filled with the sound of the stream rushing out over the beach stones and in the distance I could see the occasional wave splashing over the rocks. And of course I had coffee and cake. A feast for all my senses.
Then it was time to hike up the side of the coombe. Mindful of my dodgy knee I am making a conscious effort to lead with my left so that I don't put extra strain on my right knee. It seems to have paid off as this evening my knee is no worse than usual despite the many steps I climbed today. Reaching the top of the cliff I had a great view along the coast towards Ilfracombe.
Round the headland by Bull Point and back to Rockham Bay. The tide was out so I decided to go down to the beach.
There were a few people on the beach and a lot of walkers up on the cliff brought out by the wonderful sunny weather. I began to wish I had, like my oldest son, declared the start of shorts season. (He will now be wearing shorts every day until the first signs of snow next winter.)
I had a walk on the beach, visiting the remains of a wrecked iron ship and walking to the water's edge before climbing back up the 92 steps. From there I carried on along the coast path soon coming to the point where we usually start our walk. I kept on going and stopped for a second coffee break at our usual bench near Morte Point. As I made my way up the final stretch I disturbed a 6" lizard which hurriedly scrambled back into the gorse. There is only one kind of lizard in most parts of the country so they are just called ....... lizards. We don't have many snakes either, only adders (poisonous) and grass snakes (not) which live in heath and scrub and not often seen with a third rare endangered species the smooth snake in only a few locations. We also have slow worms which look like snakes but are really legless lizards but again not often seen. So we are quite lucky here, not even any nasty bugs - midges, some mosquitoes, wasps, bees and occasional hornets are the worst that nature throws at us.
As I walked up the very final slope I turned to train my binoculars on Lundy and the Old Lighthouse when I spotted what looked like an enormous floating grey box. It was so big that it made a nearby container vessel look tiny. I went up to a stone wall to steady myself for a better view and fell into conversation with a couple sitting on a bench there who also had binoculars trained on the sea. They didn't know what it was either but pointed out that there was a helicopter hovering near the container ship. We watched both ships for a while and the helicopter moved right over the deck flying low, then moved astern. My guess was that someone, a medic? had been lowered onto the ship. In the meantime the big grey box carried on up towards the Bristol Channel. By zooming in with my camera and then zooming into the picture I got the above shot. A quick check on the web revealed that it was a Ro-Ro ship with this particular ship being capable of carrying 5,500 cars. The google image I found was of this ship entering Sidney Harbour.
I had a wonderful walk and was out for 3 1/2 hours. Even allowing half an hour for stops and chatting I must have covered a fair few miles. Maybe it is time to get myself a pedometer to see exactly how far I am walking.
I headed out on the Bull Point track which does start off as a dark dank lane but soon opens up to this view of the cliffs and the sea.
I had intended taking the first steep path off the track down into the coombe but the presence of a vehicle and the sounds of industry below me lead me to believe that some repair work was being done to the path so I carried on along the main track. This lead me up onto high ground and magnificent views of Rockham Bay and the whole of Morte Point.
Instead I took the next path down to the coombe. This path is all earth and very steep and pretty treacherous in wet weather but today it was dry and I was able to carefully make my way down to the valley bottom with its stunted trees and rushing stream.
Alongside the stream there were swathes of native daffodils which are smaller and less showy than the garden varieties but looked just right in this woodland setting.
Out along the grassy valley to Bennet's Mouth where I made my first stop. As I sat I could feel the warm sun on my back and a breeze on my face. My ears were filled with the sound of the stream rushing out over the beach stones and in the distance I could see the occasional wave splashing over the rocks. And of course I had coffee and cake. A feast for all my senses.
Then it was time to hike up the side of the coombe. Mindful of my dodgy knee I am making a conscious effort to lead with my left so that I don't put extra strain on my right knee. It seems to have paid off as this evening my knee is no worse than usual despite the many steps I climbed today. Reaching the top of the cliff I had a great view along the coast towards Ilfracombe.
Round the headland by Bull Point and back to Rockham Bay. The tide was out so I decided to go down to the beach.
There were a few people on the beach and a lot of walkers up on the cliff brought out by the wonderful sunny weather. I began to wish I had, like my oldest son, declared the start of shorts season. (He will now be wearing shorts every day until the first signs of snow next winter.)
I had a walk on the beach, visiting the remains of a wrecked iron ship and walking to the water's edge before climbing back up the 92 steps. From there I carried on along the coast path soon coming to the point where we usually start our walk. I kept on going and stopped for a second coffee break at our usual bench near Morte Point. As I made my way up the final stretch I disturbed a 6" lizard which hurriedly scrambled back into the gorse. There is only one kind of lizard in most parts of the country so they are just called ....... lizards. We don't have many snakes either, only adders (poisonous) and grass snakes (not) which live in heath and scrub and not often seen with a third rare endangered species the smooth snake in only a few locations. We also have slow worms which look like snakes but are really legless lizards but again not often seen. So we are quite lucky here, not even any nasty bugs - midges, some mosquitoes, wasps, bees and occasional hornets are the worst that nature throws at us.
As I walked up the very final slope I turned to train my binoculars on Lundy and the Old Lighthouse when I spotted what looked like an enormous floating grey box. It was so big that it made a nearby container vessel look tiny. I went up to a stone wall to steady myself for a better view and fell into conversation with a couple sitting on a bench there who also had binoculars trained on the sea. They didn't know what it was either but pointed out that there was a helicopter hovering near the container ship. We watched both ships for a while and the helicopter moved right over the deck flying low, then moved astern. My guess was that someone, a medic? had been lowered onto the ship. In the meantime the big grey box carried on up towards the Bristol Channel. By zooming in with my camera and then zooming into the picture I got the above shot. A quick check on the web revealed that it was a Ro-Ro ship with this particular ship being capable of carrying 5,500 cars. The google image I found was of this ship entering Sidney Harbour.I had a wonderful walk and was out for 3 1/2 hours. Even allowing half an hour for stops and chatting I must have covered a fair few miles. Maybe it is time to get myself a pedometer to see exactly how far I am walking.
Back home I did some weeding in the sun and have decided that it is finally time to chop down my big golden leylandii arch. I really like it and it only needs trimming 2 or 3 times a year but it is becoming too difficult for me to do the whole thing especially the very top. I'm scheduling that for the Easter holiday by which time I will have thought of some way of screening the scruffy woodshed behind it.
