On Tour: The Wonderful Red Cliffs of Devon

Occasionally we sneak over the River Tamar and out of Cornwall. On this particular trip we popped into the neighbouring county of Devon. I wanted to visit the red cliffs, sand and soil.

This is the beach where we started our short walk  along the coastal path, near Exmouth.

My shadow and I thought we would walk towards Budleigh Salterton - my wife agreed. So quite a special moment!

Yes, the cliffs are definitely red in colour with the occasional green of the seaweed.

The red is from iron minerals which have weathered over millions of years to produce the colour.

There are also the remains of fossilised roots to be found. These are whiter in colour against the red rocks.

As I understand it these roots go back some 35 million years to the Triassic Period. Ancient plants grew here amongst a desert river. The roots of these plants burrowed down into the soft red sand of the desert, drawing  up any water they could find.

Minerals that were dissolved in the water grew in crystals around the roots, encasing them. As time passed the streams moved and the plants died but the nodules that encased their roots remained.

Fossil roots like these can be seen on other parts of the Jurassic Coast. This, however, is the only place where they can be seen easily.

The photo above shows the view when approaching Budleigh Salterton and below getting nearer still.

The beach at Budleigh Salterton is now in view, plus some beach huts.

A closer look at the beach huts ...

... and the pebbles that make up the beach.

Further along the pebble beach with two people fishing in the distance.

The following photo is looking back to where we had walked along the coastal path with the red cliffs.

Before we retraced our steps we wandered around the small, but interesting, town. Unfortunately I only snapped one photo. This is of the museum, previously a cottage built in 1812.

Now we are heading back to where we began our walk.

The gulls were peaceful on the beach.

To finish: another look at those wonderful cliffs.

... and home we go. Hope you have an interesting week ahead. Good wishes ~ Mike.

Five Other 'On Tour' Posts

(1) City of Bath and the Roman Baths

(2) Glastonbury Abbey, Glastonbury Tor and King Arthur
(3) Visiting Wells Cathedral - 16 Photos

(4) Visiting Cheddar Gorge

(5) Alone with the Stones at Stonehenge

Newquay Harbour and Towan Island Cornwall

It was a bright, sunny day and we were in Newquay - by the harbour to be exact.

The story of the harbour goes back a long way. In 1439 a quay was built in the manor, then called, Towan Blystra. The quay though became referred to as the 'new quay' - and this is how the town of Newquay got it's name.

In the late 1700's it became an important harbour for the pilchard (sardines) industry.

In the late 1800's the harbour was developed as an alternative to Fowey and Charlestown. For a  period Newquay was used to export china clay.  

Nowadays the fishing boats mostly catch lobsters and crabs for the European market.

As can be seen below there are various fishing trips, Sea Safaris and cruises to be had from the harbour.

A couple of workers catching up with the local news.

To reach the town, from the harbour, can be a bit of a climb up lots of steps. The views are good though - so worth the effort.

From here the Headland Hotel can be seen on the hilltop, high above Fistral Beach - see my post Photos of Fistral Beach, Newquay, Cornwall.

Looking out to the hazy sea, in the distance we spotted a Survey ship.

Two photos follow of Newquay art work on display at the side of the steps. The second pic shows the fishing nets and sardines.

The next photo is of Towan Beach and the house on Towan Island, just along from the harbour.

Before anything else though, we popped into Nile's Bakery - for pasties ... 

... and later found a perfect seat overlooking the sea. Somewhere to enjoy our pasties and the view. 

Our seat also gave us a good view of Towan Island - which is available for holiday breaks if you have deep pockets.  I see their prices start at £1,830 for a long weekend or mid week break - see their website.

And moving on to something completely different, when even the weather had changed.

This time we were walking in a dull, damp Gover Valley. All was quiet as the trees reached out, not a squirrel or any other creature could be seen or heard.

We remembered an old man we met while walking the valley. He told us how his dog never wanted to walk the section of the valley, as shown below. It seems someone had once died here. The atmosphere was certainly damp and chilly - not a place to hang about, so we walked on quickly. Not that I was the least bit scared of course!

A farm house gate was in view but what on earth was the white figure lingering nearby. Looks like Halloween is approaching.

The next day all was bright and cheerful, so a couple of more colourful photos, snapped when out and about, to complete the post.

Thanks for visiting my blog, have a happy week ahead. All good wishes ~ Mike.

Walking Through Fowey, Cornwall.

The weather wasn't great but we poodled down to Fowey for a short walk, always an interesting town to visit.

We parked the car in Gallant's Drive - safe to do so this time of year - and wandered down the Esplanade.

The first view is across the Fowey River to Polruan. 

The river gently splashes the rocks below.

Now looking inland as the river meanders through the hills.

Another view across the river to Polruan. There is a ferry from Fowey to Polruan and vice versa.

We continued walking to the quay passing by the Fowey Aquarium.

On the quay the canons are at the ready - just in case they are needed!

We walked on through the town looking at the views when possible.

Another small quay. It appears that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert stopped off here for a cuppa back in 1846.

Next is a building I like: The Georgian Scallop Shell House. It has an interesting history. 

The story goes that there was previously a medieval house here. This was used by pilgrims on their way to the Shrine of St. James of Compostela in Spain. Records reveal that between 1412 and 1456 licences were granted to seven Fowey Shippers, who carried around 350 Pilgrims to Spain.

Going up Customs House Hill and the narrow road beyond.

Fortunately the road has one way traffic only.

Peeking across the river, with the lifeboat in position

Further along the river is the Bodinnick Ferry for cars, vans and foot passengers.

A pleasant house overlooking the river

Further along the river is the industrial sector, lots of china clay etc. have been exported from here over the years - see the 1904 photo at the end of this post.

Wandering back through the town there are various shops and food outlets.

Back to the main Fowey Quay and we succumbed to C0rnish pasties - mine a veggie option, being vegetarian.

We found an empty seat and a young seagull thought he would join us. He took a lot of persuading to go away - it seems he is addicted to pasties!

Lunch over we wandered slowly back to the Esplanade.

A final look across the river to Polruan and our car was waiting. A pleasant way to spend a morning.

That's it for today but there are more photos of Fowey on my blog post A Flavour Of the Old Town of Fowey, Cornwall With 24 Photos or, if you want a longer, proper walk I recommend The Magical Hall Walk at Fowey Cornwall.

P.S. I came across this old photo from 1904 of china clay being delivered to Fowey.

That's definitely the lot for today. All good wishes for the week ahead~ Mike.