We had more time for our walk today so we went a little further afield than usual. We started our walk at Countisbury which is just beyond Lynton. 
The cliffs at Countisbury are the highest in England and once we had walked out onto the hill we had amazing views of Lynton up on the cliff and Lynmouth at sea level.
We planned to walk round the coast path but we had to decide if we would walk right round The Foreland. This is one of a pair of signs at either end of the path indicating that it is not the sort of path to take your elderly aunt along, or even 2 wives both scared of heights and 5 children. But that is what Peter and Sam did one windy winter's day about 18 years ago. They strode off in front and Kate and I brought up the rear praying that none of the children would slip down the slope (only a few hundred of feet to the rocks below) and that neither of us would succumb to vertigo. We survived but it wasn't a pleasant experience. Today however the weather was fine and I am no longer worried by heights so we headed off along the path in the reverse direction to the one we took so many years ago.
At first the 1ft wide path is relatively easy though it is a long drop down to the sea.
But soon we were scrambling along scree slopes some parts of which were quite slippery because of the recent rain. It was very good for the leg muscles having to walk so cautiously.
Rounding The Foreland we were rewarded with more amazing views up towards Porlock Vale.
The path dropped steeply down to an automated lighthouse and we walked all the way round and up this tarmac road. We stopped for a few words with a local man out with his son and a 6 month lurcher pup which was very sweet and friendly.
The next section of our walk took us along the cliff face towards a place called Desolate. It was very peaceful walking along a wooded hillside with the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below.
After another mile or so we took a path that doubled back, winding its way up the cliff face until we were walking through farm land. (That's The Foreland in the centre of the picture.)
Once again we were out in the bright sunshine through typical moorland.
Down below us we could see The Blue Bull, an old coaching inn where we had parked the car.
We saw quite a few Exmoor ponies out on the moor and cliff tops.
Finally we stopped at this bench, which we had passed on our outward journey, for a welcome cup of coffee.
The cliffs at Countisbury are the highest in England and once we had walked out onto the hill we had amazing views of Lynton up on the cliff and Lynmouth at sea level.
We planned to walk round the coast path but we had to decide if we would walk right round The Foreland. This is one of a pair of signs at either end of the path indicating that it is not the sort of path to take your elderly aunt along, or even 2 wives both scared of heights and 5 children. But that is what Peter and Sam did one windy winter's day about 18 years ago. They strode off in front and Kate and I brought up the rear praying that none of the children would slip down the slope (only a few hundred of feet to the rocks below) and that neither of us would succumb to vertigo. We survived but it wasn't a pleasant experience. Today however the weather was fine and I am no longer worried by heights so we headed off along the path in the reverse direction to the one we took so many years ago.
At first the 1ft wide path is relatively easy though it is a long drop down to the sea.
But soon we were scrambling along scree slopes some parts of which were quite slippery because of the recent rain. It was very good for the leg muscles having to walk so cautiously.
Rounding The Foreland we were rewarded with more amazing views up towards Porlock Vale.
The path dropped steeply down to an automated lighthouse and we walked all the way round and up this tarmac road. We stopped for a few words with a local man out with his son and a 6 month lurcher pup which was very sweet and friendly.
The next section of our walk took us along the cliff face towards a place called Desolate. It was very peaceful walking along a wooded hillside with the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below.
After another mile or so we took a path that doubled back, winding its way up the cliff face until we were walking through farm land. (That's The Foreland in the centre of the picture.)
Once again we were out in the bright sunshine through typical moorland.
Down below us we could see The Blue Bull, an old coaching inn where we had parked the car.
We saw quite a few Exmoor ponies out on the moor and cliff tops.
Finally we stopped at this bench, which we had passed on our outward journey, for a welcome cup of coffee. It was a varied and interesting walk and we felt our muscles had been suitably exercised.
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