I won’t try to deny it. It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post. This isn’t because we haven’t been doing anything exciting, it’s because we’ve been doing too many exciting things. In the last few weeks we’ve been to the Cotswold Water Park in Swindon, Flyboarding in Chepstow and had a visit to the aqua park at Retallack in Cornwall. Yesterday we finally found a full empty day to do our second ‘official’ South West explore day and wow what a great day it was.

We got up pretty early and prepared ourself for the two hour drive to the North coast of Devon. It’s only when you’re going from the South of Devon to the North that you realise how large the county is. We made it there in good time, parked up and very quickly realised how pretty the area is. Our first stop was for a walk to the Valley of the Rocks. The Valley of the Rocks boasts some of the tallest cliffs in the UK and some of the most dramatic scenery. I have to say, it didn’t disappoint. We started our walk from the Lynton Town Hall and climbed up Hollderday Hill. The sun was shining and the scenery was beautiful. The recent rain had left some muddy paths, but that just added to the fun. I have to admit, it felt amazing to be back on the South West Coast path. The North cliffs of Cornwall was always our favourite spot and this area definitely has a similar feel.

Soon the Valley of the Rocks was in front of us and wow it was stunning! We spent a lot of time just staring in awe at the area, looking across the Bristol Channel to Wales and just soaking it all in. Oh and we had a little bit of a photo shoot.

We headed downwards into the valley and came across a lovely little spot called Poet’s shelter, which showcased some poetry written by visitors to the area. There were some great ones and some pretty odd ones.

Next we walked along the path to Castle Rock and started the climb up. I’d read online that this was a pretty steep climb, but don’t let that put you off. It’s not anything dramatic and the views are completely worth it. As you will be able to tell from the photos, it was a pretty windy day. So much so, that at one point, my hair band completely blew out of my hair. We took some photos, Simon had a good old climb (scaring me senseless in the process) and we just took it all in.

We took the South West Coast Path back to Lynton, which was another beautiful path. Here I got overly excited about finding some wild goats grazing on the hills. Cue lots of photos…

As we came back into Lynton we had our first glimpse of the funicular train (more on that later) and then headed to the car to pick up our picnic lunch. It was hard to believe it was only 12pm and yet we’d seen so much already.

We were initially only going to take the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway one way, back up from Lynmouth at the end of the day, but it was only £3.80 each for a return journey so we decided to go crazy. We queued up in the cute, bunting filled ‘station’ and waited for our train. The cliff railway is the highest and steepest fully water powered railway in the World – super cool! It was opened in 1890 as a means for transporting goods between Lynton and Lynmouth, but now is solely used for tourism. In it’s busiest year it transported 470,000 people between the two towns. We didn’t have to wait long at the top and were on the next train down in no time. As a side point, we couldn’t quite believe how quiet the whole area was whilst we were here. Being a sunny Saturday in August, we had been worried that it was going to be super busy, but it was completely manageable the whole day. We didn’t get a great spot on the train on the way down, but knew we could always try again on the way back up.

Once in Lynmouth we had to deal with Simon’s hangriness. He was getting a little intolerable. However a few sandwiches, a packet of crisps and some fruit later and I had my happy go lucky Simon back. Our view wasn’t half bad whilst we ate and fortunately this was when the worst (not really bad at all) weather was and the rest of the day it was beautiful.

Our next stop was another long walk to Watersmeet. The town of Lynmouth is very picturesque and we found ourselves stopping often to take pictures of the river and the surroundings before we started. It’s super easy to get to Watersmeet as all you have to do is follow the East Lyn river and just keep going.

 

Soon the river entered forested areas and, as you can see, provided absolutely beautiful scenery. We enjoyed exploring the many bridges, rivers and caves that we found along the path.

After about 2 miles we ended up at Watersmeet Tea House. As the name suggests Watersmeet is the place where two waters meet. At this point the East Lyn river and the Hoar Oak water join and provided a secluded and fairytale setting for a cream tea.

There are a couple of waterfalls around the area which we explored and then we settled down to the largest pot of tea in the history of tea and some very scrummy scones. We had definitely deserved this after all the walking.

The walk back was equally as lovely. We took our time a little more, took lots of photos and stumbled across the largest heron we had ever seen. He even stopped and posed for a while.

 

Back in Lynmouth, we pottered around the shops for a while, but soon decided to take the train back up to Lynton, where we had parked the car (shopping has never been a strength of mine). There was quite a queue this time with us having to wait about 30 minutes, but there were lots of signs about the history of the train and some details about how the train came in very useful during a flood in the 1950s that we could read while we waited. Fortunately, we were able to get a spot in the front of the train on the way back up and got some beautiful views over Lynmouth Bay.

The whole day had been amazing and we were so glad we did it. All day we heard foreign languages and accents and knew that we had found a great little spot that people spent good money to come and see. As I’ve mentioned before in one of my blog posts, tourists to our country often see the best of what it has to offer and we don’t. I’ve spent around 10 years living in the South West (28 if you count Swindon as being in the South West, but there’s a big question mark over that one) and I’d never been to this area in my adult life. My Mum was telling me about how I’d been here as a child on a family holiday, but why had I not been more recently as an adult? If there’s one thing I’d love for you to take away from this blog post, it’s to explore! You never know what you’ll find in your home county. For us this journey cost £25 and the cost of petrol. For that price we made some amazing memories, got some amazing photos and spent the day feeling like we were on holiday. Bargain!

 

Back in July 2016 I was given 2 very amazing presents when I left my teaching job. One was a years adoption of a giraffe at a local zoo and the other was a trip around Falmouth on a rib wildlife spotting. Both were absolutely perfect. It’s like they knew me very well or something 🙂

Yesterday was the first day of July 2017 and 13 days before the trip expired we finally managed to go on the trip. We had previously tried to go on the trip at the beginning of June but it was cancelled due to poor weather, but wow we were blessed this day with gorgeous sunshine and some amazing wildlife.

The trip was lead by a company called Orca Sea Safaris. They were really helpful during booking and great on the day too. What this trip did do is make us realise, again, how little people explore the places where they live. I knew this already, but since traveling we’ve made more of an effort and more plans to travel around our own city, county, country and continent. I didn’t know any of the history that we were told whilst on the boat. I didn’t know that Pendennis castle has a twin in St. Mawes castle, that they are exactly 1 mile apart, built during the rein of Henry the 8th and designed to protect the 3rd deepest natural harbour in the World from attach by the French and Spanish.

As we zoomed past St. Mawes we ended up at a really interesting looking lighthouse. Turns out this lighthouse was used in the credits for Fraggle Rock.

On our 2 hour boat trip we saw cormorants, gannets and a peregrine falcon, as well as a HUGE pod of common dolphins. We were headed off shore and a very friendly fisherman boat signalled for us to come over. They gave us information about the pod of dolphins and we headed off to see if we could find them. They were working together to catch fish and we were told we’d find the pod below the gannets dive bombing into the water from above, taking full advantage of the hunting skills of the dolphins.

The next hour was amazing. Simon and I have both have been fortunate enough to have quite a few dolphin experiences in the past, with Simon even diving with dolphins in Ascension, but neither of us had ever seen such a large pod before, or spent that long watching them.

Here are some pictures of our dolphin experiences while travelling…

Hector’s dolphin in Akaroa, New Zealand

Bottlenose dolphins – Bay of Islands, New Zealand

A pod of dolphins near Byron Bay, Australia.

We also saw a pink bottlenose dolphin in Koh Tao, Thailand, but didn’t get a photo of that one.

On our trip now, the dolphins past by us multiple times with our boat keeping a respectful distance away at all times. The skipper thought there were up to 30 common dolphins in the water, which was just unbelievable.

 

After many busy and eventful days visiting family in Swindon and Rotherham, we had a welcomed day exploring the cathedral city of Lincoln with Julie, Charlie and Jack (Mother in-law and two brothers in-law). Julie had celebrated her birthday just before we returned and we wanted to spend a day all together as a family to celebrate. Unfortunately, it’s quite rare that we ever get any time when we’re up North to see new places, we’re too busy enjoying the company, but fortunately, the last couple of times we have been able to see a bit more of the surrounding area. We all pilled into my car and after a easy and smooth hour filled with music courtesy of DJ Jack, we arrived in Lincoln.

Lincoln is the county town of Lincolnshire and is absolutely rich in history. We parked up in the downhill area, walking along the river Witham into the main shopping area. Bars and restaurants line the river and with the sun shining it was a beautiful place to be. This area had a similar feel to Gloucester, which is a place we love spending time.

After walking through the town we started our journey up Steep Hill. As the name suggests, Steep Hill is very steep, at the steepest gradient, 14%. The street was recently named Britain’s Great Street in 2012 by the Academy of Urbanism, but historically was used by the Roman residents of Lincoln to expand the settlement down the hill. We started walking up the hill, quite successfully I might add, and decided to celebrate our ability to walk up such a steep hill with a stop in a quaint tea room, Bunty’s Tea Room. Here we all enjoyed some teas and coffees. I felt like we could have been in any tea room in Devon or Cornwall with the quaint and pretty tea cups and decorations. A really lovely place.

After 30 more seconds of walking, we made it to the top of Steep Hill. Julie got used as a photographer at this point by some tourists and the rest of us enjoyed some jazz music and had some photos taken at the famous gold postbox in Castle Square. For my readers around the world, after the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, any athletes that won gold were honoured by having a gold postbox put in their home town. This one was for Sophie Wells who won gold as part of the Paralympic Equestrian Team.

As we approached our next stop, Lincoln Castle, you couldn’t help put feel an overwhelming sense of history. Lincoln Castle was constructed during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. Google has informed me that the castle is unusual as it has two mottes, which only two castles in country can claim. Once in the castle, we walked around the medieval wall walk, which gave us amazing views of the cathedral, surrounding countryside and Lincoln in general.

After the medieval wall walk, we walked around the grounds and the Dowell boys, being the Dowell boys, decided they’d like to have a go at archery (I don’t think the Dowell girls were disappointed to be honest). We all had a go with a crossbow and also a longbow and we all agreed that the crossbow was easier, but the longbow more fun. We were all really good and had a lot of fun doing it.

Next we found a lot of medieval weaponry and decided to pose for some photos. Obviously!

The next stop was to see the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta is something I had heard about through school, but I entered the museum unable to remember much about it. We watched a video to start with which explained that the Magna Carta, meaning ‘The Great Charter’ is one of the most famous documents in the world. In a nutshell, the Magna Carta established that all people, including the King, were subject to the law. In 1215 it was a peace treaty between King John and the rebel barons, but has since acted as the foundation for modern rights. One of the main clauses that we all are aware of today is that all ‘free men’ have the right to justice and a fair trial. Lincoln Castle is the only place in the world where an original 1215 Magna Carta and 1217 Charter of the Forest can be seen side by side. The Magna Carta is listed on the UNESCO’s  Memory of the World Register, which recognises its importance to world heritage. Unfortunately, you are able to take photos in there, so all of you will just have to go and see it yourself.

Our last stop in Lincoln Castle was to see the prison.  Men, women and children were held here from 1848 to 1878 for crimes ranging from stealing to murder. During this time there were seven hangings of murderers at the castle. We walked around the prison and saw the standard cells as well as the dark cell where you would be placed in isolation for up to 72 hours. We trapped the boys in little church cells, which was fun! There were lots of stories around the prison of escapees as well, which I enjoyed reading.

Our next stop was lunch and that was very welcomed as we were starving! We walked back down to the river and had a lovely relaxed lunch at ASK! Italian. Pasta, pizza and some very tasty desserts, who could want anything more?

Full of food and pretty content Jack took us for a little explore around his ex University Campus. It was great to see where he’d studied for those 3 years and I can definitely see the appeal of the small and compact campus. Then we walked back up Steep Hill to spend some time walking around Lincoln Cathedral. The cathedral was commissioned by William the Conqueror and completed in 1092. The cathedral has been rebuilt many times due to fires and earthquakes and when the central spire was raised in 1311, Lincoln Cathedral was declared the tallest building in the world. IN THE WORLD! What an amazing fact! It stole number one place from the Great Pyramid of Giza and hold onto this claim to fame until 1549 when the spire collapsed. We walked around, enjoyed the Gothic architecture and took in the atmosphere that comes from being in a cathedral. Jack told us about his graduation which took place in the cathedral and then afterwards in Lincoln Castle. I can’t think of a more grand and impressive venue for a graduation ceremony.

Before leaving Lincoln we walked around the outside of the cathedral and came across the Tennyson Memorial Statue. At the time I had no idea who this person was, but upon doing some research it’s clear that Tennyson was a poet and the dog in the statue was his trusty four legged companion, Karenina.

We’d had a lovely day exploring Lincoln and it’s definitely a city I would happily return to in the future. Thank you Julie, Charlie, Jack and Simon for a great day!