A selection of a few adventures and days out around Devon and beyond.
A muddy walk around Parke.
Despite the wet weather today, we weren’t going to let it ruin our day off. We decided to take advantage of our National Trust membership and go to Parke. Situated in Bovey Tracey, Parke offers plenty of walks through woodland, farmland and along the river. It’s also very dog friendly, which was what made us visit here again, as we had two dogs that needed a good walk.
We parked up and put on our walking boots, to prepare for the wet and muddy walk ahead. The car park is owned by National Trust, and charges do apply if you aren’t a National Trust member, but that is the only fee you have to pay to access the grounds. Once we got the dogs out, we started our walk, following the gravelled path towards the Parke Estate. From here there were views of the countryside, reminding you that it’s situated on the outskirts of Dartmoor National Park.
As we passed the main house at Parke, we also caught a glimpse of the Home Farm Cafe, which we had visited a year ago, and made a note to pop in after our walk, for a bite to eat and a drink to warm up with. But first, we had dogs that wanted to explore the woodland surrounding the estate.
Last time we visited Parke, we walked along the River Bovey, and did a spot of geocaching as we watched a heron trying to catch its lunch in the water. Below is one of the photos from last year, we weren’t lucky enough to see another heron today, but did see a lot of other wildlife, including some friendly robins following us as we walked through the woods.
Today, we decided to cross the river over an old stone bridge that joins the estate to the woodland walks. The River Bovey was flowing fast today, which wasn’t surprising, seeing as we’ve had a lot of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
Despite the rain, it was clear to see that Parke is a popular place for dog walkers. We passed several walkers with their 4 legged friends, as we walked around the woodland. Our dogs really enjoyed exploring the area off lead, getting muddy, and running off some energy. We didn’t do any geocaches today, but there are quite a few around the estate worth doing. Today we just followed a few marked footpaths around the woods and along the river.
We were treated to an array of Autumnal colour as we walked the woodland paths. It reminded me why I love this season so much. We realised that we’ve not visited Parke in the Spring or Summer, it would be interesting to see what the estate looks like at different times of the year, so we made a note to revisit again in the New Year.
As we walked along the main path, under stone bridges and alongside the river, we saw other walkers passing us by on lower and higher paths, through woodland, fields and over bridges. It made me realise, we could keep coming back to Parke, and be able to walk different routes each time, exploring areas we hadn’t seen before. It’s one thing I like about Parke, the grounds are spread over so much land that you won’t get bored if you visit time and time again.
As the rain started to come down a bit heavier, we decided to follow a footpath along side the route we were taking, that would take us back to the cafe, but didn’t mean we were walking back the same path. The path we walked back on had a lot of leaves underfoot, and was rather muddy, so walking boots or wellies are a must at this time of year. Some of the walks that came away from the main path were quite narrow and had tree roots along them, so wouldn’t be suitable for everyone, but the main path is easily accessible for pushchairs and wheelchairs.
We were glad to arrive at the Home Farm Cafe, to shelter from the rain, and warm up with some lunch. ‘The long room’ that is joined to the cafe, is the dog friendly area. It was really warm and cosy inside, and appeared popular with many dogs and their owners, stopping for a bite to eat.
Each time we visit a National Trust place, we always end up having a cream tea, so today we decided not to break tradition, although we did go for a ‘cheese tea’ instead, consisting of warm savoury scones, with cheese and chutney to add on top. As well as a pot of loose tea to warm us up. We enjoyed the scones, as well as the relaxing atmosphere in the cafe, with the heating on, comfy seating and soft lighting, it was the perfect place to enjoy lunch after a long wet walk around the estate. For those of you that like to explore different terrain with your dogs, this place is definitely for you. Especially if you like National Trust Estates like Killerton. We’ll definitely be back to explore again in a different season.
Climbing Peak Hill (Again!) And making it to Sidmouth.
Yesterday was a beautiful blue skied Sunday, no clouds in the sky, no wind and not too cold. So I thought it would be a nice idea to do the coast path walk to Sidmouth again, this time bringing Jo along with me, (and of course Amber!).
We set off from Ladram Bay again, seeing as it’s free parking over winter, we might as well make the most of it. It was fairly busy there today, a fair few people had decided to go walking like us, but most of the people there seem to be taking advantage of the swimming pool facilities at the holiday park. Today was a much clearer day than the last two times I’ve walked this path in the last couple of weeks. We had a really clear view across to Sidmouth and the rest of the East Devon Coast. As we were leaving Ladram Bay and walking into the woods before High Peak, I had to take my coat off as it was too warm to walk in it. It seems crazy to be wearing a t shirt in November and not being cold!
I couldn’t wait to climb High Peak again, it’s becoming one of my favourite places to be at the moment. Jo had never been up there before, so it was nice to show him how stunning the views were from the top, as well as reading about how archeologists discovered the history behind High Peak when they excavated it, showing it to be occupied during two periods of time; the Neolithic period (around 4000-2000 BC!) and the period between Roman withdrawal from Britain and the West Saxon conquest of Devon. I read all of this on the interpretation board at High Peak, I also found a copy of this online here for those of you that want to read up about it. It taught me quite a bit, and I was quite surprised about how much history High Peak had, especially back to Neolithic times.
Of course the views from the top of High Peak, didn’t let me down again. There’s a quick multi cache up here for those of you that geocache. I didn’t realise this until we were on our way back from Sidmouth, and too tired to climb High Peak again to do it (Next time!). As you can see from the photo above, it was a nice clear day that we were able to see the Coast of Sidmouth, Branscombe and Beer.
After taking in the views at High Peak, we decided to carry on towards Sidmouth. We passed quite a lot of walkers by this point, who must have been making the most of the decent weather like us. There are quite a few geocaches along this route, as well as along Mutters Moor, which joins Peak Hill from Sidmouth. I haven’t done them all, but it’s a fun way of exploring the area. There’s also a car park on Mutters Moor, for those of you that don’t fancy climbing the coast path to get to some of these geocaches.
There’s so many beautiful view points along this walk, and it’s really interesting to see how the view can vary in different weather conditions. Last time I came it was a lot more grey and rougher weather. Today it looked more like a calm Summer’s day when looking out towards Sidmouth beach. It also felt as warm as a Summer’s day too!
The low Autumn sun was a reminder that, although it felt like Summer, it was definitely an Autumnal day in November! As the day went on, it was beautiful watching the sun shine over the fields next to the coast path, making them glow a beautiful golden colour. It’s one thing us photographers obsess over: perfect lighting! It made the strenuous climb up Peak Hill more enjoyable that’s for sure. This walk does require you to climb quite a few hills, so it may not be suitable for everyone, and comfortable footwear is definitely a must. After testing our fitness up Peak Hill, we finally descended into Sidmouth.
Despite the weather being mild, it was quite choppy along the seafront at Sidmouth. The waves were crashing along the paths that connect one part of the beach to the other, below Connaught Gardens. We had to run at one point, before the waves hit us! Though for some people, these conditions were a positive, as there were a few surfers in the distance, taking advantage of the high waves today. After watching these surfers for a short while, we then walked the rest of the beach, before ending up in a pub having some lunch before heading back to Ladram Bay before the sun set.
On our way back along the coast path, we were treated to a beautiful warm glow from the sun as it was preparing to set. Luckily we got back to Ladram Bay before it got dark, and were able to see the sun setting, with a pink sky over the sea. We really were lucky with the weather conditions today.
Every time I walk this coast path, I really do enjoy it, but walking it with Jo (and of course Amber) made it even more enjoyable. We did a couple of geocaches on the way back, but there were still a few more to cross off our list next time we walk this way. I doubt it will be long before I walk this path again, seeing as I’ve already walked it 3 times in the space of 2 weeks! Hopefully next time we’ll walk further, this time we walked just under 6 miles. I would say this walk is best done on a cooler day, I’ve done it in Summer before, and it wasn’t as enjoyable, it was too hot and humid for my liking. Yesterday’s mild weather made it a slightly easier, and more enjoyable walk. It’s also handy to add, that once you’ve conquered the first hill out of Sidmouth, the walk back towards Ladram Bay is a lot easier to walk than the way in, as its mainly flat or downhill.