Scarecrows in English Switzerland

On bank holiday Monday, after delivering Doris to stay with Joyce, we took ourselves off to North Devon to what the travel brochures call "English Switzerland". We stayed at a B&B in Lynton which is a recognised centre for exploring Exmoor.



On Tuesday we drove to the Valley of the Rocks and walked a small section of the coastal path which stretches unbroken from Minehead in Somerset all the way round Land's End to Poole Harbour in Dorset.



In the bright sunshine the "tallest sea cliffs in Britain" looked spectacular

Lynton was having its month long Scarecrow Festival which involves many houses and businesses coming up with inventive scarecrows placed in their gardens or fixed to the front of buildings

Jacqui made it into the sea at one of the few beaches - we 'discovered' this one after a hair-raising drive down a private road on which there was an honesty box toll of £1

As new members of the National Trust we wanted to "get our money's worth" and so we visited NT properties in the area - this is Watersmeet which offers a tea room converted from an old hunting lodge which was built at a confluence of the West Lyn and Hoar Oak rivers.

We also visited Arlington Grange (NT) and went round the house and gardens - and ended up in competition to get the best picture of a butterfly


On our last day we visited Dunster Castle - a stiff climb - and had the obligatory Devon Cream tea in a converted chapel in "historic mediaeval Dunster village with working water mill". Afterwards we visited Dunster beach and looking back we saw the West Devon Steam Railway in action.