MONDAY 25TH AUGUST - Duckpool and beyond.

We live on the south coast of Cornwall which is extraordinarily beautiful but the north coast is wilder and much more rugged. We used to live on the coast where Devon and Cornwall meet so as S. and M. were home the decision was made that the good use of a dreary day was to go north. So we did!

Pasties were bought from a bakery in Bude and then we made for Duckpool a small cove very close to where we used to live. So here is Duckpool.

READ THE SIGN AND IT WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE TEMPERAMENT OF THIS COAST.

DUCKPOOL - so called because...............but today the ducks were absent.


Same place but turned through 180 degrees.



It looks good twice after all !!

Close up of the river.

Pasties eaten, stones thrown in the sea it was time to take the coast road north through Morwenstow, Welcombe and past Welcombe Mouth and along the cliffs where there was a hazy view of Lundy.
Then to Hartland Quay. This is a wild place and always amazingly impressive. All four of us just love it. You hopefully will see why.

The old street which is now incorporated into rooms for the pub.

The was a bank here which even printed its own notes. There is a lighthouse around the corner where the Bristol Channel meets The Atlantic Ocean and the colliding currents are ferocious.

Blackpool cliffs.

Astonishing geological features.

Now the end of the road.

In the 16th century Hartland Quay was a thriving port due to its remote position on the Devon coast this enabed it to service the hinterland of farms and rural occupations. In 1887 the quay was washed away by a fierce storm and then the railway was built to Bideford so all that is left today is the hotel/pub and of course the stupendously, breathtaking natural beauty of this piece of coast.

MONDAY 11TH AUGUST - 6 random things about me

Mountainear has tagged me so here are 6 varied and random things about me.



*1. I enjoy the smell of bacon grilling in preparation for the construction of a bacon buttie almost as much as its consumption unless I am ridiculously hungry.



*2. I wish I had a beautiful singing voice that would allow me to entertain audiences in enormous venues with the voice that everyone would delight in hearing. I have a voice where cats put their paws over their ears!



*3. I like to read widely and my next challenge will be the great Russian writers, Tolstoy,Dostoyevsky and so on but I will start with Boris Pasternak as a gentle introduction.



*4. I love to eat left overs cold from the fridge they always taste so delicious.



*5. With hindsight I wish I had gone into broadcasting, radio in particular or been a cartographer although my work as a primary teacher was rewarding and fulfilling.



*6. I have seen The Aurora Borealis from here in Cornwall one night when the conditions must have been freakish, the sky was a deep red with streaks of shooting light probably shooting stars. I have seen it from North west Scotland where it was green shimmering waves but all too transient. These two events were so thrilling I now would love to see it from the very far north, well Tromso in Norway. I have never been there so that would be wonderful.

THURSDAY 7TH AUGUST - RUNRIG & Edinburgh

This is my trip to Edinburgh. It was a fabulous few days. We have driven through this beautiful city many, many times but this is the first opportunity we have had to explore a little and enjoy a lot and discovered that Edinburgh deserves far more time than we had, so return soon we definitely will.
First we paid for a tour of The Scottish Parliament Building. This is a wonderful place we loved it.

As we left the building there was a pipe band just passing.

Then to the RUNRIG concert at Edinburgh castle,

this was the main reason for coming so far north.

Supprt act was Julie Fowlis - gaelic singer from North Uist. We know her music but this is the first time we have heard her live and she was lovely.

Then time for the boys!

RUNRIG played for a solid 2 hours and it was amazing.

The stage. The castle. The music. What fun we had.