Way too many photos

Oops! 10 days have passed by and I have way too many photos and I have not posted! The weather has mostly been hot or very warm and humid with only one wet day.

Between Ilfracombe and Woolacombe on the north Devon coast is an area known as the Wrecker's Coast. People used to light lanterns to lure ships onto the jagged saw-toothed rocks so they could take the cargo which was permitted by law if all aboard had died. The 'lovely' Elizabeth Berry was known for using her pitchfork to hold sailors down in the water until they drowned.

Our walks have been done all out of order. We will complete every section but we have mixed up the order of our walks as we had to base ourselves in three places for a few days each as it was hard to find accommodation with twin rooms within budget, plus we discovered that many schools finish their holidays a week later than we thought and there was a long weekend and some buses don't run on Sundays and public holidays and the weather has been mostly very warm to hot so they all want to go to the beach. 

Hard to believe this is England!

So many little things happen or are seen each day. Things like pheasants running down the track in front of us, looking over their shoulders to see if we are still coming. This happened on two days. They seem to be England's version of our turbo chooks. Hilarious.

Playing golf with ponies at Westward Ho! On England's oldest golf course.

Bottoms up! Dinner time for a swan family between Braunton and Barnstaple. We hired bikes to ride this section along an old railway line. We rode it twice as we had to return the bikes to Barnstaple.

 We walked through an old train tunnel on the next section to Bideford.

And saw a bee meadow, intentionally planted flowers to attract bees.

In the tidal reaches of the Taw and Torridge Rivers there are dozens and dozens of derelict boats left to rot into the silt.

 And some that people have turned into homes. What a great idea.

The tides are very big at the moment. An ocean going ship being loaded up in Bideford in the Torridhe River at low tide. Amazing that it sailed away at all, but it did.

We couldn't take the ferry to Appledore.

But we walked there a few days later. 

Clovelly harbour. The village straggles up the steep slope above the harbour. No vehicles allowed on the one cobbled street.

We have walked on beaches. Saunton Sands is 5 miles long, Woolacombe Beach a little shorter.

 And through sand dunes

 Woods with some beautiful trees. This one has a face.

 And cliff tops! Big hills! Lots of up and down!

I hope Sheryl doesn't get blown off!

We are so small in this big landscape, so inconsequential.

Me taking one of the 226 photos I took on that day. I am averaging about 130 photos a day.

 Sharpnose Point.

Today, day 15, we had our first rest day. We washed clothes, caught up with internet things, repacked our suit case monsters, had a nap... Tomorrow we have an early start to  catch a 6.30am bus to the start of another day on the cliffs.

That's all from me for now.