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Outside Mortehoe
Idyllic English landscapeAndrew dropped us off at the ice cream shop in
Mortehoe. (“Hoe” is a grassy field. “Morte” is French for death. Meaning?)
This is a big holiday Sunday, and it is sunny, so lots of people are out. All along, from
Woolacombe to Mortehoe, the cars shared the one and a half car-width road, pulling aside in specially widened spots in the road to allow for on-coming vehicles. We stopped a lot, because we were in a van, taking up more than our share of space.
We began by walking along tarmacked, but otherwise traditional village streets – narrowed with walls and houses. The road took us into the National Trust property of Bull Point, the entrance to the
Bristol Channel . The local
Bell Heather is beautiful – a vibrant purple, much brighter than the pale Ling or
Scottish Heather we saw later.
As the day went on, we saw more and more people out for a walk. We stopped down where a stream drained into the sea. The views were spectacular. Everyone walking stopped there for a break – a sit, a drink, a nibble. Of course, the problem with being way down is that you have to then
Slate fence
Rare skill now go way up.
The
gorse was in bloom – a penetrating yellow. The mixture of bright yellow, dark spiky green and bright purple (heather) was exciting.
Having gone up (and over) we went down again, to have lunch at the
Grampus Pub . (Grampus is a kind of dolphin.) We had beer and rolls (submarine-type sandwich).
Close by was a church, which we visited as a warm-up for the next uphill. The church was stenciled (paint) inside. The stonework is typical, being slate stone mortared together, thin edges forming a pattern, such as herringbone.
The afternoon was spent moving through beech woods and fields.
Rhododendrons (imported from South Africa) are talking over the woods and have to be taken out. Towards the end of the afternoon, we arrived at a “camper farm”, i.e., a sheep field temporarily let out for camping during the July holidays. No trees, just very nice trailers and tents, and extensive public lavatory facilities!
We ended at Morthoe for an ice cream. Then Jane drove us by “the sights”, being hundreds or perhaps thousands of people on the Woolacombe Beach.
View map of trip to date.
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Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro
Fun sign
I am going to add that sign to the sign forum. Hope that's OK with you. /Ake