East Lyn River

Back blipping now as various reasons have contributed to my lack of entries.

Sunday was our first full day in Lynton and we awoke to fantastic seaview, blue skies and sunshine. It's great having our breakfast looking down to the sea.

We walked down to Lynmouth on the winding "Poets Path". Walkers are encouraged to write a poem, submit it to a nearby hotel who laminate and display it on a post on the footpath. It was lovely to read the different handwritten poems as we descended the very steep zigzag path.

Our main walk today was along the East Lyn River. This is a beautiful river with rapids cascading over huge boulders and waterfalls. Sadly it was a major factor in the Lynmouth Flood Disaster that occurred in 1952. Unusually heavy rainfalls and a storm caused the river to burst its banks and the waters crashed down carrying boulders and debris and flooded the village of Lynmouth. Overnight 34 people lost their lives and a further 420 made homeless.
There is an exhibition about this tragedy in the local memorial hall .

Our riverside walk talk us to Watersmeet and Watersmeet House ( see extra), a National Trust house that was once a 19thC fishing lodge. We abandoned the cheese and salad rolls I had prepared and had a cream tea in the gardens.

Further walks took us through woodland and moors and even an iron age fort. Eventually we returned to Lynmouth and the upward walk back to our house along the Poets Path was as exhausting as I thought it would be.

The evening meal at a Spanish tapas restaurant was very welcome and the Rioja Bianco much appreciated.