Devon, Part 3 (Exmoor, Lynton and Lynmouth, Tarr Steps)

Black oaks in Exmoor.

Our original plan was to make a side trip to Bath on our third day in Devon but all the traveling we had already done in such a short period of time necessitated a more restful day. I was really sad to have to cut Bath from our agenda but it would be a two hour trip one way so we decided to stay closer to our home base at Sannacott for the last day in Devon.

We stopped by the post office/grocery store and returned Collin's book to him and bought some of those heavenly smelling pasties that had our mouths watering the day before, to take with us for lunch. We were able to see a little bit of Exmoor and stop at Watersmeet as we drove to the two little towns of Lynton and Lynmouth. I had never heard of them, but they proved to be a really lovely spot to spend most of our day. Mom has even discovered since our trip that we had some ancestors that lived there.

Watersmeet in Exmoor

By the time we left Lynmouth the tide was out and all the boats were sitting on the ground.

Lynmouth is a great little seaside town, apart from the dangerous seagulls. There is a funicular (cliff railway) that runs up to the town of Lynton where there was a street market and lots of fun shops and places to eat.

View of Wales from Lynton at the top of the railway. Too bad it's as close
as we got on this trip.

This was the cutest little gift shop. I pretty much wanted to buy everything in it.

When one is in an English charity shop, one simply must try on the hats there.

I really wanted to bring this home to my husband as a souvenir,
but £195 was a little steep for my budget.

In Lynton we had fun browsing through some gift shops, a charity shop (i.e. thrift store) and an antique store and found a few treasures to take home with us. We decided to save our pasties for dinner and get some lunch at a fish and chips shop. We figured if we were that close to the sea that was the only logical thing to do. By the time we got our fish and chips a couple of hours had passed since we arrived in Lynmouth and we started to get nervous about our two hour parking. We felt like we had seen most of what we wanted to see, so after lunch we rushed back to our parking spot hoping all the way that the car hadn't been towed (it hadn't) and then set out for Tarr Steps. We stopped in Withypool on the way to get some Devonshire Cream ice cream and mail a couple more packages home--we figured the tank periscope we found for our dad at the antique shop in Lynton would be kind of cumbersome to tote around with us.

We had ice cream at the Withypool Tea Room, but I was tempted to try the
rock cakes and see if they were as hard as Hagrid's.

That evening, after we ate our pasties back at Sannacott, Anne and I decided to take a little walk up to the moor. We had no idea how far it was but we knew it was fairly close. We started walking but decided we needed the sat-nav because we had no idea where we were going so after a half and hour or so we went back and got the car. We drove up to the spot where Clare had taken us the first evening and got out to look around. It was cold--about 14 degrees Celsius (around 57 F)--and very windy. It was pretty easy to imagine Heathcliff wandering around all dark and brooding (the gypsy from Wuthering Heights, not the cat from the comic strip).

It was the end of the day, so we got to see all the sheep being gathered in by the sheep dogs. We watched for a few minutes until we were so cold we decided to go back to Sannacott for some hot chocolate.

I never did get to see the night sky in Devon. I guess it wasn't to be, but the next day I got to see something that I have wanted to see ever since I was a little girl.

To Be Continued. . .