Holiday in East Devon, Part 2

I am sorry I have been so slow getting back with Part 2. I didn't intend it to be so long and I am not sure where time is going at the moment, I really must get back into a routine in writing my blog and also in reading and commenting on all the other blogs that I love to read. Please forgive me if I haven't replied to your recent blog posts, I will endeavour to catch up as soon as possible. 


Anyway, without further ado, here is a continuation of our adventures in East Devon.


After the beautiful weather we had on the Saturday, the following day was very dull and overcast although the rain kept away. We journeyed to Exmouth to walk to Orcombe Point, a geoneedle, up on top of the cliffs at the east end of Exmouth Beach. A zigzag path takes you from the seafront up to the top of the cliffs and then a short walk brings you to the geoneedle.

The views from up here were wonderful, looking down over Exmouth Beach and the far-ranging views down the Devon coastline past Dawlish and Teignmouth as far as Start Point. Unfortunately the overcast weather conditions didn't do justice to photography but hopefully we can return again one day on a sunny clear day.

We then walked back along the top of the cliffs that overlook the beach and conveniently the footpath bought us out by a refreshment kiosk where we enjoyed a smoked bacon bap ....

... before photographing the lifeboat station and some classic cars that were parked nearby.

It was then time to have a walk along the beach, the weather was continually getting colder and windier with families moving off the beach to wrap up warm as the day wore on and the sea getting rougher by the minute. I spent some time trying to get some dramatic shots of the waves but didn't succeed particularly well.

When we had had enough of the windy conditions we drove round to the estuary where conditions were much calmer before returning to Brackens to relax.

We had a very wet start to the following day so spent the morning chilling out at Brackens reading and crocheting.

However, the rain did eventually stop just before lunchtime so we ventured out to the pretty little village of East Budleigh to enjoy lunch in one of our favourite pubs, the Sir Walter Raleigh. Sir Walter was born and grew up in East Budleigh hence the name of the pub and the pretty garden commemorating him. 

We then drove on to Sidmouth where despite really dark skies we only had a few spots of rain.

We did enjoy watching these lads run along the sea wall and leap into the rough seas without a care in the world. 

After such a wet and overcast day it was a lovely surprise when we had a glorious evening so we headed to Budleigh Salterton beach for a walk. The evening light was fantastic for photography.

The following day dawned with dull skies with spits and spots of rain - not at all what was forecast! We caught a train from Exmouth to Paignton,
a very scenic journey all around the Exe estuary and then along the coast. Train fares are so cheap in this part of the world, the fare for both of us with senior railcards came to the grand total of £11.40 return for an hour plus journey! On arrival at Paignton we made our way to the steam railway station that takes you to Kingswear where we hit a snag - half the population of Devon had the same idea and a huge queue had formed and seemingly the staff were completely thrown by the number of people who wanted to travel. You would think in a peak holiday destination they would be used to the heavy passenger numbers but no! This meant we couldn't catch the train we had intended, which in turn meant that by the time we arrived in Kingswear and caught a ferry across to Dartmouth we had no time for lunch before our booked trip on the Kingswear Castle paddle steamer. However the paddle steamer trip was great fun and on arrival back in Dartmouth by which time we were very hungry and thirsty we headed for the Singing Kettle for a wonderful cream tea.

By the time we had enjoyed our afternoon tea it was time to catch the ferry back across to Kingswear, then make our return journey on a very crowded train!

A tiring day with some frustrations but enjoyable none the less, it is always good to make a visit to Dartmouth.


We enjoyed our walk earlier in the holiday from Exmouth to Lympstone along the Exe walk/cycle way so we decided to repeat it the next day. This included another lovely lunch in the Swan - antipasti was my choice - yummy!

Well, I think that is enough for this post, I hope it won't be as long before I am back again to finish off my holiday posts. It will be Christmas otherwise before I finish writing about my Summer!