A Day In North Devon

On Monday I went to North Devon to attend the funeral of my aunt Do, who had lived in the Bideford area for most of her life, and passed on recently at the age of 88. I was grateful to my friend C. who accompanied me for support although she had never met my aunt or any of the many relatives in attendance.

On the way there we paused at the Grand Western Canal in Tiverton, where I found a regally elegant swan in display mode. I would have been pleased to make him my blip under different circumstances but link to it below as an Alternative.

After the funeral in Barnstaple there was a service of thanksgiving at St Margaret's, a church in Northam with which she had been closely involved in recent years (and in which I think I was christened), and one of the vergers gave a lengthy speech detailing her varied and exceptional careers including much about her early years about which I knew little, including her marriage to a test pilot who died young in a crash in 1953, and filled in many details of her subsequent life that I had either forgotten or didn't know, alongside more that was familiar, including her teaching at East-the-Water and Edgehill and her volunteering at Arlington Court NT and at the little museum in Appledore. I had had many a happy time holidaying at her home in Abbotsham Road and more often later at Durrant Lane.

We chose to forego the scones that followed an excellent buffet at the reception in the Riversford Hotel in Northam because of an urgent need to see the sea before the sun set, and drove to Westward Ho!, spending a valuable time amongst the glorious pebbles, sand and rock pools.

From there we drove on towards Appledore and were allowed to have a look around Appledore Fish Dock at sunset, somewhere I hadn't been before, before having a most enjoyable stroll along the Quay in light rain as the light faded.

I chose a blip from Appledore, because of Do's associations with the place.

Before I had finished work on all the pictures, I put up a 'Temporary Blip' as a place-holder with a note to say that it would be changed, so the first four comments refer to that (linked to below).

L.
6.3.2012

Blip #645
Consecutive Blip #066
Day #705

Tiverton Alternatives:
Moorhen On The Canal
Regal Mute Swan (Temporary Blip)
Swan Reflections

Westward Ho! Alternatives:
Pebbly Beach
Westward Ho! From Beach
Fish And Chips

Appledore Alternatives:
Instow From Appledore Fish Dock #1
Instow From Appledore Fish Dock #2
The River Torridge At Appledore
Appledore Quay

A Day In Devon, 27 February 2012 (Flickr set)

One year ago: Sunshine And Rain