Cool and green and shady

Well it was pleasantly so this morning when we walked across the road from our accommodation (extra) after breakfast to walk down the wooded ravine of the East Lyn river to Watersmeet.

Exactly one year ago we walked up the East Lyn river from Lynmouth to Watersmeet so it was nice to approach from the other direction. It was especially nice to be by the beautifully clear running water in the shade of the woods on a hot day like today.

When we arrived at Watersmeet I had an iced latte and a glass of water before we walked back up the other side of the river.
We commented on the amount of ‘tree’ litter there was, fallen trees, branches and logs. Hard to remove but a bit worrying. When in Lynmouth last year we visited the Memorial Hall exhibition of the 1952 flood devastation. We hadn’t heard of it before but extreme weather caused the East and West Lyn rivers to flood causing terrible destruction in the ravines and in Lynmouth where the two rivers meet. Buildings were destroyed and lives were lost as the powerful surge of water carried rocks and tree debris with it into the town.
We all know now that these things can happen anywhere and at any time, (Valencia, Texas) and there are certainly many fallen trees that would be brought down now should it happen again.

It was nearly 12.00 when we got back to the car so we put off a further visit planned on Exmoor as it was getting pretty hot. (A good reason to come back!) We enjoyed our drive over the moorland roads back to the main artery routes to take us north to Bath.

We’d had a message saying Jude wanted to know when we were going to arrive! We arrived in time for me to go with Grace to see both Eda and Jude’s open ballet classes as it’s the end of term. They were also having a final practice for their ballet shows which are on Saturday.

It really is hot here, 30C when we arrived and no cooling woodland shade but I was pleased it felt reasonably cool indoors as their house faces south and gets full sun all day.

We’ve enjoyed our mini break over the last three days, and more heat and fun to come over the next few days.