Walking – turnrightoutofportsmouth

A New Discovery in North Cornwall – Porthcothan Bay :)

Cornwall – the most beautiful place in the world – especially North Cornwall 🙂
A new campsite found (to which we will return), and meeting with old friends.
This was a very special part of our trip 🙂

It’s been a few years since our last trip to Cornwall, but, considering it’s my favourite place in the world, it won’t be our last!

This trip in particular was a bit special. Not only was it wonderful to be out and about in the van again, but we were meeting up with friends who we hadn’t seen for nearly a year. AND we got to watch England beat Germany in the Euros together. What more could you want??

We discovered a site (Old MacDonalds Farm) that not only gave a wonderful first impression, but managed to build on that as our stay progressed – if we hadn’t had other bookings (due to worrying about being able to get in anywhere if we didn’t!) we would have stayed longer without a doubt.

We had 5 nights here and crammed a far bit in – here’s a summary:-

Looking out at the Petting Zoo (and the Alpacas) from the bar

Day 1 – Arrived (via a typical Cornish lane – meeting a tractor coming the other way!) We drove down (we were tired) to the Bay (it is walkable, but probably about 3/4 mile and quite a trek back up the hill!) There is a bus though 🙂

The beach is beautiful. The tide was out and we just walked out to the surf’s edge, exploring all the little caves and coves along the way.

We also noticed that all the beaches in this area have ‘litter picking’ stations, which is a wonderful idea. If we had been staying longer Calv would most definitely have got involved 🙂

Steps up to the South West Coast Path, Porthcothan

Day 2 – It rained all night and didn’t stop all day, so we pulled on our wet gear and walking boots and headed out to get some fuel for the little car at St Merryn. Calv said the shop was amazing! So any camping needs should be filled here 🙂 We then took the road opposite the garage (and past the chippie) down towards Harlyn Bay and Trevone Head.

Initially we kept going straight on taking us past the golf course and driving range, before turning round and taking a left down towards the 2 holiday parks. There are 2 national trust car parks down here to take in the views or visit the bays. At the end of the road is the Trevone lighthouse – but the road goes no further!

We came back to the 1st car park and walked, in the rain, down to the delightfully named Booby’s Bay, which links up to Constantine Bay. I scrambled down to the beach via some rocks only to walk around the corner and find some wooden steps! Beautiful golden sands and patrolled by lifeguards, this was a lovely find.

Then we got a call from our friends to say they were waiting for us at our van! So we headed back and had a lovely afternoon catching up before they carried on to their holiday home in Padstow (normally rented out – #seaviewpadstow).

Day 3 – We headed slightly south to Bedruthen Steps, from where we walked to Mawgan Porth and back, a total of 5 miles. We didn’t know we were going to walk quite so far, and on leaving Mawgan Porth we decided to try to avoid the diversion on the cliff path (they’re putting in steps) by walking up the hill on the road (next to the Pitch and Putt). We thought this had worked, but the path ended up taking us back down to the beach anyway!! Massive fail…

An evening at #seaviewpadstow (our friend’s holiday cottage in Padstow) finished off the day. A taxi back to the campsite cost just £15 (although the taxi driver was pretty miserable!!)

Day 4 – Steve and Denise bought our little car back and then we took them back to Padstow, via Padstow Farm Shop (very disappointing) and Tesco’s. They later joined us at the campsite to watch THE match of the Euros so far (England v Germany in case you’re wondering) in the bar. The evening rounded off with a buffet meal outside the van and a few games of boules.

Day 5 – Our last day on site. We had a lovely sunny day so lathered on the suncream and took the kayak down to the bay. Great fun, especially surfing the waves back into the beach and even though Calv then tipped me out into the shallows – bless him….

Our last hurrah was to go back to Padstow for a wander before collecting Marie and Steve to come to pick up their car from the night before. They had all been on a Boat Safari during the day – seeing lots of dolphins 🙂

This part of the country is simply amazing – beautiful beaches, country lanes and stunning landscapes. A new view around every corner (and a tractor of course!)

We Stayed: – Old MacDonalds Farm, Pothcothan

Next Stop: – Peter Tavy, nr Tavistock (Harford Bridge Camping)

Walking and Kayaking in Symonds Yat

I’m always surprised how many people HAVEN’T heard of Symonds Yat! Yes, I have childhood memories of trips here, but it is such a beautiful spot it should be on everybody’s UK bucket list (IMHO) 🙂

After our time in Lynmouth we headed north again for the stunning Wye Valley. We stayed at Greenacres nr. Coleford, which gave us the perfect excuse to walk 12 miles to take in Symonds Yat 🙂

We arrived mid-afternoon to find that our booking hadn’t been updated from the previous Saturday – oh no! Mild panic ensued, but we waited patiently until we got the good news that there was a pitch for us – phew 🙂

Once pitched up we headed off toward Monmouth to get in a few supplies for a bbq as my sister and her husband were joining us for a couple of nights. We were very confused on entering Lidls. I kept nudging Calv.. ‘They’re not very mask compliant here are they?!’ Then we realised that we were in Wales where (at that point in COVID history) they weren’t required to wear masks… We took ours off, and then found it didn’t feel right and put them back on again! (Who would have thought it?!!)

Back in England my sister arrived, we enjoyed our bbq and evening and in the morning we checked the route we needed to take for Symonds Yat. The footpath starts in the campsite and, although I’m pretty sure we took a few wrong turns, it was a lovely walk and we eventually made it to the river and the sanctuary of the ancient Saracen’s Head Inn, situated in front of the old hand-pulled chain ferry across the river (sadly not open at all during our visits). Here we navigated all the new rules and found a seat on the terrace for a drink and a spot of lunch.

On our way to Symonds Yat; followed by a drink in The Saracen’s Head 🙂

Debs and I set off up the hill to the viewpoint before the boys. Luckily I had forgotten what a hard trek this is uphill!! But it is sooo worth it as the views are truly spectacular 🙂

Heading up from the river to the Symonds Yat viewpoint; view from the Viewpoint; The Wye River

It was a very tired group of 4 that arrived back at the van late on, so we decided to eat out. We investigated many local pubs, finding most were either booked up or we didn’t fancy what was on offer. In the end we chose to head into the nearest town, Coleford, and see what we could find.

We found the town of an evening to be not particularly, shall we say, inviting… Lots of people milling around, drinks in hand, outside the pubs.. Anyway we found a little Indian Restaurant that had a few tables, Cinnamons, and decided to give it a go. Very pleasant it was too 🙂

I must say that Calv and I had visited Coleford before and did note one place of interest, which was just off the main car park, being the GWR Railway Museum. (Every town has something to offer 🙂 )

Having extended our stay at Greenacres by a couple of nights (we had to move all our bookings around suddenly when Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas had new restrictions put in place – meaning we decided to cancel our stay up in Ingleton), we didn’t need to rush off in the morning. This meant that Debbie and Paul were able to come back down to Symonds Yat with us (this time in the car) as we had missed Biblins Bridge the day before. This is a rope bridge across the river.

It’s a couple of miles back upriver from the car park, so was a decent walk. There is a tearoom on the other riverbank, which we took advantage of, as well as a campsite for tents and small camper vans (which looked absolutely idyllic – Biblins Youth Campsite). Obviously there was another visit to The Saracen’s Head involved as well…

Biblins Bridge and our walk along the Wye River

I need to just mention that the roads in this area are narrow and steep in places with some very tight bends – careful driving is required!!

Debbie and Paul headed off home on Sunday afternoon, and I’m pretty sure we just relaxed in the sun.

Monday was set aside for a spot of kayaking on the river, having discovered that we could launch from the carpark for just £2 (on top of the £4 per day parking fee).

Another beautiful day dawned, and we made our way down river, ‘beached’ for a short time (when Calv managed to drop his phone in the water – but don’t worry; he eventually found out that it’s waterproof (after a couple of days panicking), and he’s stopped telling everybody he meets now….!)

Once we’d landed and put the kayak away we headed back (yep, you’ve guessed it) to The Saracen’s Head – it would have been rude not to!

All in all another wonderful visit to the area, and we are certain that we will return again, and would highly recommend both the area and the campsite to others 🙂

Next up: A short visit to Shrewsbury and Oswestry

Where we stayed: Greenacres Campsite, nr Coleford

Walk Lynmouth to Watersmeet (just like Julia Bradbury did)

Perhaps a little more challenging than you would have thought from the ‘Best of British Walks’ on the telly… But what a wonderful walk. You do need a fair degree of fitness to tackle the 2nd part, but you could turn back after visiting the tearooms to avoid the steep bit!

A couple of days following our extended walk down into Lynmouth we felt ready to tackle the walk that we had seen Julia Bradbury complete on ‘Great British Walks’ – they showed the easiest bits of course!

Map of Lynmouth/Watersmeet walk – we did the whole thing but you could just visit Watersmeet Tea Rooms and turn round (making a nice easy walk 🙂 )

We drove down to Lynmouth, parking in the car park by the river. This is where the walk starts and we lost no time having breakfast or anything this time! We headed straight to the back of the car park to cross the river by the small footbridge. The river is so pretty here it’s difficult to imagine that this is the new course forged as a result of the flood in the 1950’s.

Looking upriver from the car park in Lynmouth, and across to the Middleham Memorial Gardens – commemorating the side of a hamlet washed away in the floods

The walk starts nice and gently, meandering along the riverside, through the trees with a choice after about 1/2 mile of continuing along the river or heading directly through the woods. We chose the riverside as we knew there were a few areas of interest to see.

A couple of views of our walk along the Lyn River towards Watersmeet

This part of the walk is easy and very pretty. We found the site of the Lynrock mineral water factory right alongside the river. They also made ginger beer here right up until 1939. The Atlee brothers who owned the factory lived at Myrtleberry which you pass a little further upriver. Read all about it here.

The Lynrock Water Fountain together with fireplace remains and preserved ginger beer bottle

After a couple of miles you reach Watersmeet House which is now a rather lovely tearoom. Unfortunately we visited shortly after businesses had been allowed to re-open and the Cream Tea available was not freshly made, which was rather disappointing. We shall just have to return in happier times 🙂 (Sounds like a perfect excuse to me!)

The Gardens of Watersmeet Tearoom and the waterfalls that you can take a detour to see

After our little break and a quick chat with a fellow camper from our campsite we headed off for the more difficult part of the walk (at this point we didn’t know just how hard it was!) But first we took the detour further upriver (and it was UP) to find the waterfalls. Which we initially walked straight past, only realising our mistake when we got to the road… (Incidentally, if you were to be staying at the same campsite we did – Lynmouth Holiday Retreat – you can see a sign on the road for The Beggars Roost (which is at the entrance to the site), so we think you could probably walk back from here if you wanted to).

Heading back downhill we spotted a small set of steps down to the river which led to a viewpoint to see the waterfall. Remember it had been a very hot, dry summer thus far, and as such the waterfall wasn’t flowing very strongly…. We think it is probably far better in the spring or autumn.

We got back on the correct path (behind the house), which starts climbing almost immediately. And keeps on climbing forever (well, it felt like it anyway – I did consider turning around and going back the easy way at 1 point….). Then, just when you think you’re at the top you turn a corner and, oh look, it’s still going up. Didn’t tell us about THAT did you Julia??!! No, I think you mentioned that there were a ‘couple’ of steep sections after the house. Hmmm…

Having said that once we finally reached the top the views were stunning, and then we had the pleasure of finding a rather nice pub, The Blue Ball Inn at Countisbury, for a well earned 2nd pitstop 🙂

Views from the highest point of the Watersmeet/Lymouth walk

Suitably refreshed we set off for the final section of the walk along the South West Coast Path. Accessed via the churchyard we visited the tiny church of Countisbury, which was rather charming, before picking up the path along the cliff.

Whilst we were glad to finally be heading downhill, it was quite steep in places of this narrow path on the edge of the cliff… Once again though, stunning views 🙂 culminating in a welcome return to Lynmouth to give a final total of 7 miles hiked.

Joining the South West Coast Path at Countisbury

And of course a quick drink in The Ancient Mariner topped the day off nicely!

We would highly recommend this walk even if it’s just to the tearooms and back to Lynmouth. We will almost definitely return and do it again!

Next time read all about our adventures (and walks…) in Symonds Yat!

Related Posts:

Walking in Lynmouth and Lynton

Travelling to Lynmouth? Don’t do what we did!

A weekend in Symonds Yat

Walking in Exmoor – Lynmouth, Lynton, West Lyn

A ride on the Lynmouth/Lynton cliff railway has been on my bucket list since way before I knew what a bucket list was! Recent appearances on travel programmes re-ignited my interest, plus a walk on Julia Bradbury’s Great British Walks ignited Calv’s interest too – so was the 1st stop on our UK mini road trip decided 🙂

After a slightly stressful run-in to Lynmouth (don’t take the A39 – read why here), we settled down for a few days of walking.

We arrived the day after a big storm and the weather was still a bit dull, but the following day was much better, and we set off, pretty early for us, at about 9.30am. The main reason for this is we were looking for somewhere to treat Calv to a big English Breakfast on his birthday 🙂

We found the footpath out of the site and set off down the lanes and across the fields to head down the hill. Some wonderful views greeted us even at this early part of the walk.

Once we hit the path we weren’t sure which way to go, so we headed left as this seemed the most logical direction. We were wrong as this took us back up the hill and around a gorge back downhill, before heading back up to meet the road skirting Lynton – meaning a walk along the road (some of it on the road) steeply downhill into Lynmouth. It wasn’t a problem, at least we saw more of the countryside!!

Arriving in Lynmouth we headed down towards the main area where there is a good selection of tourist shops, bars, cafes and pubs 🙂 We were here at the end of July so everything was open with social distancing protocols and masks in use.

At the far end of parade of shops we found The Ancient Mariner, just the right degree of quirkiness and a simply wonderful breakfast. We liked it so much we returned a couple more times during our trip 🙂

Revived by our breakfast we set off in search of the cliff railway that I had spent so many years wanting to visit. We first found the seafront and the Rhenish Tower (originally built in 1860 to store salt water for indoor baths, it had to be rebuilt after being destroyed in the disastrous flood of 1952). The historic cliff railway cannot be missed (both literally and figuratively), carving it’s way at a seemingly impossible gradient up the hill as it does! And it is still completely water powered.

At £3 each way for an adult (£2 per child, £1 per dog) it was well worth the total cost of £12 (we came back down later on in the day). A childhood dream finally realised!! I can’t wait to go back and do it again. And again. And again 🙂

Looking up the Lynmouth and Lynton cliff railway

At the top we took a walk around Lynton which is a bigger town than Lynmouth with more choice of shops and eateries. Perhaps not quite as charming though.

Completely by chance we looked at a info board in front of the town hall (and cinema. Apparently Lynton is the smallest town in England to have it’s own cinema) and decided to follow the walk up Hollerday Hill to find the old Hollerday House. There really was no evidence left of the house when you got there, the most complete area left was where the tennis court had been, although there is a really good information board.

Once you have walked up (and I mean up) as far as the house it is definitely worth walking the extra 5/10 minutes to the summit of the hill and the site of the old Iron Age Fort. It was VERY windy on the summit, but what a wonderful view we had – to the east the bay in front of Lynmouth, to the west ‘Valley of the Rocks’ and to the North the Welsh coast. We really wanted to visit The Valley of the Rocks, but simply ran out of time. Yet another reason to return 🙂

Once back down in Lynmouth we popped in for a drink in the Ancient Mariner before visiting the Glen Lyn Gorge . This perhaps feels a little expensive at £6 per adult, but it is privately owned and they have provided plenty of pathways up to the waterfalls, together with the loan of a mobility scooter that can get the less abled up to see these. The little museum is brilliant. Once the families left we had the place to ourselves (in these Covid times we waited for them to leave) and we were in there a fair while!

You learn a fair bit about the flood of 1952, which devastated the town, here. The other place is the Flood Memorial Hall which is near The Ancient Mariner. It’s free to visit but was unfortunately closed when we were in town (due to Covid no doubt).

So now we had to get back to the campsite. We knew we had to go uphill, but asked the guy in the Gorge what was the best way. The answer is to go to the right on leaving the gorge, and very soon there is a pathway up through the houses (we missed it at first, but I really don’t know how!!) You start off following the Two Moors Way (Devon’s coast to coast walk).

It is very steep, right from the start. And it doesn’t really get any better for a good long way…. Once off of the tarmacked path and into the trees you zig zag for what seems like miles (and not helped by people coming the other way telling you you’ve still got a long way to go!) before hitting the flattish path near the top. Here to get back to the campsite (Lynmouth and Lynton Holiday Retreat), you need to turn right. Then you will find the gate into the field waymarked for West Lyn. Good luck 🙂

This was a really long day and I’m sure you can imagine our legs were really tired, having walked over 11 miles – half of it up really steep hills. So we didn’t do much more that evening (not even a quick drink in The Beggars Roost...)

With tired legs the next day was spent visiting Ilfracombe. It’s so memorable that I forgot I’d been before….

Damian Hirst’s Verity in Ilfracombe Harbour

In my next post I’ll tell you about our walk to Watersmeet and back to Lynmouth (the same walk that Julia Bradbury did on the telly).

We stayed: Lynmouth Holiday Retreat

Lynmouth to Watersmeet walk

Our Next Stop: Greenacres Campsite, for Symonds Yat

Walking and Kayaking at Symonds Yat

Antequera and El Torcal

A little further east through the mountains (on very good roads it has to be said) we arrived in Humilladero for visiting Antequera and El Torcal, both situated a little way south of our chosen site (La Sierracilla – which was lovely despite some reviews almost putting us off..)

Humilladero itself appears to be a fairly new town, laid out largely in grids, with lots of plots that have not yet been built upon – great for a run! However, click on the link above to discover a little more about the town (something we failed to do during our visit 😦 )

What we did discover a little of was the recreation area located behind the campsite. We walked a little way in but if we had carried on we would, apparently, have scaled the mountain behind and had a good view of the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra. This was somewhere that we did manage to find 🙂

A couple pitched up next to us had cycled there the previous day but we chose to take the little car for the short (about 4 miles) trip to the lake which is famed for it’s flamingos.

There are miles of walks around the lakes, and we set off to our right, walking about a mile before we got frustrated at our inability to get close to any flamingos… We could certainly hear them. And we could see them in the distance, but there was no way of getting closer to the water. In frustration we turned around and headed back to the visitor centre, at which point Calv refused to walk anymore, so I headed off in the other direction by myself and phoning him 5 mins later to tell him I had found flamingos 🙂

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Definitely worth a visit 🙂 On leaving the visitor centre we drove some way further around the lake stopping off at various viewing points along the way (there are lots of these areas). Unfortunately we didn’t come across anywhere where we could see the flamingos any better than we already had. Overall we were a little disappointed if I’m honest.

This area is big on olives and olive harvesting (with lots of factories presumably producing olive oil). We saw a lot of harvesting going on which was fascinating – we watched the process of laying a massive sheet around the trees (using a tractor, you wouldn’t have been able to do it by hand), and the ‘shaking’ machines that clamp the tree and, well, shake it!

On the way home we were in search of a supermarket and google maps was telling us that we would find one in the village of La Fuente de Piedra (The Stone Fountain). This proved to be incorrect, but we did find a lovely little village centre where we sat for lunch in the sun. Again bordered by another olive processing factory (there are so many in the area).

We also visited Antequera and it’s Dolmens. Antequera itself is far bigger than I imagined but, apart from finding a Mercadona (there was more than 1, + Lidls etc.) we only visited the old town. We actually approached from the south having tried to visit El Torcal on our 2nd day. Being a Sunday there was no parking in the visitor centre car park, and we were directed to park at the bottom of the hill and take a bus up (there was, of course, a fee for this). We smelled a scam (it turns out we were wrong, but there are several parking scams operating in Spain) so decided to return another day.

On the way back to Antequera we stopped in a recreation area and headed off for a walk to take in the scenery. Calv was a little reserved and eventually, after about 10 mins, said to me ‘have you left things in the car’? Which I had. He was a bit concerned for some reason so we headed back. All was okay though. We carried on to Antequera, making our way through the old town (I think you could probably say we were lost) and eventually finding somewhere to park on Calle Fresca.

We wandered around finding the minimal remains of the old castle and then eventually finding the main plaza, Mirador Plaza de Santa Maria, on which stands the Colegiata de Santa Maria la Mayor and Alcazaba. After a bit of indecision we decided to visit the alcazaba (we have visited a fair number of alcazabas…) but it was worth it, with lots to see 🙂 The majority of the complex has been pretty much rebuilt, although there is a photo below that includes a small section of wall that appears to be original.

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Colegiata de Santa Maria

Roman Thermal baths of Antequera looking towards the Colegiata

Castle remains, Antequera

The Alcazaba walls of Antequera

From inside the alcazabar at Antequera

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Once again tired and ready for a relaxing evening in the van we headed back to the car. Where we were both surprised to find that we hadn’t locked our doors…. Very strange. When we arrived back at the van and went in the boot for something we found that the parcel shelf had been pulled out. Now we knew that someone had broken into the car (we then realised that they’d used a screwdriver on the passenger door, as we had a little trouble using the key in this side).

However, all’s well that ends well, as we had taken absolutely everything with us when we parked up (after Calv’s ‘feeling’ earlier when we were out for our walk), so the rotten b*****s got nothing 🙂 Small victories and all that!

On our way to El Torcal the next day we went via the Dolmens of Antequera, which are ancient burial mounds which are free to visit (although you must get a ticket first..!) There are 3 to visit – Menga, Viera and El Romeral. These monuments are UNESCO world heritage sites, and will take up maybe 45 minutes of your day (including the drive between them). Still, worth a look 🙂

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Finally though we made it the best visit (one of the best of our whole trip to Spain), El Torcal – a landscape of limestone rock formations through which there are several trails to walk. We had done the right thing in wearing our walking boots; the walk, of course, takes you through the formations and there are many areas never touched by the sun and so the mud never dries out! We did see a lady walking barefoot – she’d obviously worn completely inappropriate footwear and was with a much younger man; I thought maybe her son, Calv disagreed…!! Either way seeing here walking through this terrain barefoot made me cringe – it wasn’t always an easy walk and the mud itself (I don’t like mud) would have given me nightmares (yes, I have nightmares about mud 😦 )

We also spotted an ibex on top of one of the formations – it waited patiently whilst we scrabbled for cameras, but moved the minute we had them! Of course 🙂

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There were many other trails to walk and we will almost definitely return next time we’re in Spain 🙂

Next stop back to the coast at Cala de Mijas to meet up with Steve and Denise for a couple of days (they were still at Cabopino). I promise to be better at getting this blog up-to-date – please bear with me!!

We stayed: Camping la Sierracilla

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Return to the Dales with a trip to Malham

That’s me. Sitting on the very edge of the Malham pavement looking back down the valley towards the village….

No it’s not! Well it is me (of course), but I’m not actually sitting on the very edge. I’m not that brave (or stupid..)

If you’ve not heard of it the Malham Pavement is made up of a series of ‘Clints’ (blocks of limestone) and ‘Grykes’ (the gaps in between the blocks) and covers a large area at the top of the cliff at Malham Cove. Interestingly, both the Cove and the pavement are featured in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (only interesting, granted, if you are into Harry Potter. If you are look for my post on Goathland, whose train station doubles as Hogwarts).

Malham itself sits in the south-west of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. At the end of our trip around the UK we already knew that we would return to this area, but in the end chose to do so as a daytrip from the perfect little campsite that we had found in Knott End, just north of Blackpool (Bluebell Cottage – click for more details). It is about 50 miles away but the roads are good and it doesn’t actually take too long to drive it. We visited The Ribblehead Viaduct on our way home as well.

So, first stop Malham itself, a pretty little village popular with walkers and tourists, Continue reading “Return to the Dales with a trip to Malham”

What we learnt about the UK in 2017 – Part 1

We spent less time travelling around the UK than originally expected, and didn’t get anywhere near as far around the country as we thought we would.

We set off at the beginning of April and the weather finally beat us at the end of October. We arrived home on 23rd October, a few weeks before we were hoping.

Instead of making our way around the whole of the UK and spending a couple of months in Scotland, we explored the east coast fully, and just made it into Scotland (the furthest north we got was Dunbar, just east of Edinburgh) before we started making our way home via the Lake District and Blackpool. In this time we also had a week in Ibiza for a family wedding (and what a wonderful week it was too!), and a couple of weeks, in total, staying near home to catch up with family and friends. Meaning that our actual time on the road in the UK was 25 weeks (including a diversion to Cornwall).

Obviously we already knew rather more about the UK than about France, Spain or Portugal, but we did learn new things on our way around the country 🙂

So here goes! Continue reading “What we learnt about the UK in 2017 – Part 1”

Hadrian’s Wall Country

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After the North York Moors we headed back inland to take a look at Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.

By pure chance we stayed on a campsite, a few miles north of Corbridge and Hexham, that was right on the route of the wall – unfortunately there weren’t any sections of wall here, but it did mean that we weren’t too far from any of the main sights. For us these were: Corbridge Roman Town, Chesters Bridge & Chesters Roman Fort, Housesteads Roman Fort and Heddon on the Wall.

Our first full day saw us visiting Corbridge Roman Town and also Hexham. Corbridge itself is a very pretty little town which we drove through to find the old Roman town. This is an English Heritage site (as many of them are along Hadrian’s Wall) and we were really surprised by just how engaging our visit was.

The 1st item of interest that you come to is a Roman road that you can actually still walk along – the bit that is left is believed to be from the 3rd century AD. We had audio guides and along with the plentiful information boards this kept our interest all the way around the attraction.

Corbridge Roman Town

Before heading back to the van we headed to Hexham for a little look around. As usual we parked a little way out and walked back into town, where we were able to visit the abbey (free to enter), which was very interesting, but there was clearly an event being held that evening (and we were there quite late in the day). This meant that we weren’t able to visit the crypt which seemed to be a very interesting area.

There is also a moot hall and an old gaol to visit, but we were too late for either! The town is definitely worth a visit though, and not just for the fact that this is where you’ll find several supermarkets and takeaway options.

Hexham Abbey

Hexham Moot Hall

Hexham Old Gaol

The following day we headed in the opposite direction and found Chesters; 1st the Roman bridge remains (at the end of a 3/4 mile long footpath). It’s amazing to see how much is actually left and we could also see across the river to Chesters Roman Fort which is where the bridge led to.

So this was our next stop. Again an English Heritage site with lots of information available. Many of the Roman remains that we are able to see today in the area were saved due to the actions of 1 man, John Clayton, who inherited the land from his father and started excavations. He also bought up neighbouring estates when they became available in order to save the ruins from being lost completely.

In the grounds of Chesters there is a museum, built by his son, that houses many of the objects that he excavated over the years. We visited both at the beginning and end of our visit!

The stand out attraction on this site is the remains of the bath house which are quite extensive. We were also able to look back over the river towards the bridge remains.

Chesters Roman Bridge

Chesters Roman Bridge with added ‘sculpture’. Apparently these were common and were believed to bring luck!

Barrack remains at Chesters Roman Fort

Bathhouse remains at Chesters Roman Fort

We still hadn’t seen any of the actual wall so we carried on along the road and after a short while we caught our 1st glimpse. We parked up by the side of the road as soon as we were able and walked back along the Hadrian’s Wall path to see the wall.

The following day we continued further along the same road to visit Housesteads Fort. Once again we drove into and back out of the official car park (as it was run by the park authorities rather than English Heritage. NB: Corbridge Roman Town and Chesters car parks are run by English Heritage so these charges don’t apply). They were charging £3 to park regardless of how long you were staying.

The lady at Corbridge Roman Town suggested that we parked a couple of miles away at Steel Riggs where she said the parking was cheaper – we looked but it was actually £4 there! So we found a layby about a mile along the road from the fort and walked from there.

We made it difficult for ourselves, heading up the hill to join the main path (it wasn’t easy walking!) and when I saw 1 of the bulls at their feeding station staring us down I insisted on retracing our steps and going a slightly longer way around! We came across a structure at the top of the hill that was probably a part of the wall (there were milecastles along the route, and smaller watchtowers) which we explored a little.

On the way to the fort we came across a short section of the wall that is actually part of the path (much of the actual wall is off limits to walk on), and shortly after this section you get to the fort itself. This fort’s main attraction is the remains of the latrines where the flush system still works when it rains hard! We were expecting to be getting bored of the Roman remains by this point, but it actually wasn’t the case – each of the sites has a different reason to visit.

We found a quicker way back to the car by following the tarmac road past the education centre (so no encounters with bulls this time 🙂 ).

Next stop was the town of Haltwhistle, apparently the centre of Britain. There were a couple of points of interest, but unfortunately not an awful lot was made of these and overall the place was a little depressing.

Before returning back to the van we went off route and found a couple more sections of wall (and also more car parks where daft amounts were being asked to park – they were empty…)

At 1 section I was a little behind Calv in coming back down the hill, and spotted a cow keeping it’s beady eye on me (you have to be careful when they have calves with them). I had to move fairly fast to get to the gate before the cow got to me!!

We also spotted ‘The Tree’ from Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves!

We also saw another section of the wall at Heddon on the Wall; just a small section though and probably only worth seeking out if you’re actually heading that way.

In my next post I will tell you about the other things we did while staying here: Beamish Museum, the Angel of the North and Prudhoe Castle.

The Yorkshire Dales – Paradise Found :) Day 1

I know I’m out of sync (I’ve not yet written about Bolsover and York, Harrogate and Knaresborough), but this can’t wait!

We arrived in the Dales on Tuesday and as we drove towards our campsite near Aysgarth my breath was quite simply taken away by the beauty all around us. I could have cried 🙂 This was even though it was raining when we arrived!

Once settled in we set off further along the B road (and deeper into the countryside) to explore a little. We were just completely blown away by what we were seeing – water rushing along beside the road, falling over rocks and dropping from height – all around us! We had to keep stopping to wonder at it all and, of course, take photos 🙂

Eventually we found ourselves stopping just past the White Lion Inn at Cray, alongside part of Buckden Pike (712m). There were stepping stones across the water and a National Trust public footpath signposted up the pike, so, naturally, we decided to follow it.

I had it in mind to follow a shorter path towards Cray Bridge (1/2 mile) but Calv had other ideas, went the other way and kept on walking…! We almost made it to the top of what we could see, but were scuppered by a drystone wall (as we had veered dramatically off the path – and didn’t we know it!) This was quite hard walking (for me anyway!) and I was really proud to have got so far. Coming back down was at least as hard as going up.

One of the disinctive stile gates on Buckden Pike

View across Buckden Pike

Calv scrabbling up Buckden Pike (I did follow him 🙂 )

We had come out without a drink (not expecting to go for a long walk of course) so decided to have a drink in the pub. Naively I was expecting a pub in the heart of the Dales to be a little cheaper. Right….!! We’ll take our own drinks out with us in future!!

There was an interesting game on the wall here though, called Bull Ook, which involved swinging a ring to be caught on the hook of the bull’s nose. It was very difficult – in fact we found it impossible!

From here we carried on along the main road for just a short while before we saw a single track lane on the right pointing towards a pub, JB Priestley’s favourite watering hole according to a sign. So we headed this way, which brought us to the tiny village of Hubberholme, the main features of which are an unusual church, a lovely stone bridge over the fast running river and a pub (that doesn’t really look like a pub) with a history.

Hubberholme Church

Note the telephone number.. 🙂

Bridge over the river at Hubberholme with The George in the background

They call it the Hubberholme Parliament and, so my Rough Guide tells me, this relates to the practice of local farmers bidding to use 16 acres of church land for the year, the proceeds of which are used for the poor of the parish. A candle is lit and the auction overseen by the vicar in the dining room (The House of Lords), the farmers place their bids in the bar (The House of Commons) and the highest bid when the candle goes out is the winner! The auction is still held today – on the 1st Monday of the New Year.

The fact that the pub, having started life as a farm, was at one point the vicarage might explain why some church furniture had to be rescued from the pub where it was being used as a bar.

We continued along this back road, with no idea where we were heading! We ended up driving up and up, over cattle grids and finding ourselves in a completely empty landscape. By which I mean very few properties!

What we did see though were numerous birds of prey; sparrow hawks, kestrels and owls! Yes owls, 3 of them, in daylight! And the views!! Unfortunately we just couldn’t get any usable photos 😦

This road eventually brought us back to civilisation via Gayle, a village with some history as a mill area – there is a restored mill here which is open to the public. The road brought us out to Hawes, with a couple of museums – Dales Countryside Museum and Ropemakers as well as the Wensleydale Creamery where you can watch the cheese being made.

Tired now we headed back to the van, exhausted by taking in all the views along the way. But we couldn’t wait to get back out into the countryside the next day when we’d already decided to visit Aysgarth Falls themselves.

On the way back we found an excellent shop by Aysgarth Garage (although the fuel itself was very expensive), and also a shortcut back to the van through Thoralby village.

On the way up this lane we were held up by a herd of cattle being moved from the farmyard out to the field, at the back of which was one that clearly had a very bad hoof. I felt so sorry for her 😦

We’re also now back to feeding ourselves properly in the van, which saw me making a chicken, leek and bacon pie for tea 🙂

All in all ready for our bed! Day 2 will see me tell you about our walk to Aysgarth Falls 🙂

Clifftop Walks at Flamborough Head – we spotted a few puffins too :)

We are staying on the clifftop at Flamborough and the views are amazing! We have direct access to the cliffs and the many terraces full of seabirds, including guillemots, razorbills, gannets, shags, herring gulls and puffins.

On evening 1 we went out for a walk, taking our neighbour’s dog, Henry, with us. We ended up walking about 4 miles in the mud (it had been raining for a couple of days before we arrived). To get to the clifftop we have to walk through a field full of sheep belonging to the farm we’re staying on.

Calv with Henry

Crossing the field of sheep

An evening view over the cliffs

I’m not kidding you, I have never heard such noises from sheep! Ranging from normal baa’s to sounds like they’re barking and saying ‘no’ & ‘hear hear’. They’re clearly talking to each other as they’re quiet until people turn up 🙂

The following day we went out for a walk along the cliffs again. This time we turned left and walked about 3 miles to the RSPB centre. Along the cliffs here there are several platforms built for viewing the birds. It was a really nice walk, and even stayed dry for the majority of the time we were out! Calv enjoyed his cream tea at the café 🙂

We did find that, in contrast to everyone that we’ve encountered so far in Yorkshire, most of the serious bird-watchers we saw were actually quite unfriendly. They wouldn’t make eye contact at all, just kept their heads down and walked on past. We were pretty surprised by this. There were, of course, a couple of exceptions – like the guy we met on the clifftop on the 1st night who pointed out the puffins and lent us his scope to look through (I pretended I could see something, but I’m useless at looking through binoculars – and now I know, scopes as well!)

We did see puffins! They were at a distance in the crevices in the cliffs – but we could see them 🙂

Bempton Cliffs

By the Puffin statue on Bempton Cliffs

We were trying to avoid using the car for a couple of days and so the next day, Saturday, we went out for another walk. This time we were aiming for the lighthouse that we can clearly see from the campsite. The owner told us that it’s a 4.8 mile walk along the clifftop.

So we headed the other way via Flamborough itself and along Lighthouse Road. It took forever – we never seemed to be getting any closer to the lighthouse! Along the way we passed the original lighthouse, which is now sited on the golf course and we couldn’t access it. There’s doubts about whether the flame was ever lit at the top, partly because passing ships refused to pay the toll to help pay for it.

20170729_132110 — The original Lighthouse Tower at Flamborough

We eventually made it to the new lighthouse on the head. There is a very nice café here, The Headland, an ice cream kiosk and public toilets. The lighthouse is still operational, but is fully automated. We took the tour, £4.40 per adult, which allowed us to go to the top and see the views from there.

Looking up at Flamborough Lighthouse

View from the top of Flamborough Lighthouse

We went down to the beach, all the way down! There were people in the water, clambering over the rocks and kayaking from the beach.

From here we took the cliff path, which afforded us some spectacular views on our walk back to the campsite.

On the way we found North Landing where we stopped for a drink in the bar at the Haven centre. On the beach there were tractors ready to pull the boats that were out on pleasure trips back out of the water, people kayaking; on the steep slipway up from the beach was a lifeboat house which you can visit as well as a boathouse. It was really busy here as well!

Pleasure boat at North Landing

The Boathouse Cafe and Old Lifeboat Station at North Landing

A little further along the cliff was Thornwick Bay, where there is a café and limited access to the beach.

You have to be careful on these beaches as it would be really easy to get cut off as the tide comes in – from the safety of the clifftop we did see a number of people scrambling back around the base of the cliffs to beat the incoming water. It concerned us a little, but they seemed to know what they were doing…

So we’d had 3 days of lots of walking and lots of fresh air! Very enjoyable, but now our feet were hurting.

Therefore the car came back into use on Sunday with a dribble along the coast as far as Withernsea – read about in my next post 🙂