I decided to get up for another early start for some sunrise photography in There was the huge Damien Hirst Verity sculpture. as in that people either love it or hate it. There was lots of apparent symbolism - standing on a pile of books, scales of justice, held behind her back, pointing a sword in the air and being pregnant. Typical Damien Hurst, if you look back at her from the sea wall, all the skin has been pealed back showing all her insides. Grim to say the least.
After breakfast, we headed off to the nearby Exmoor National Park and a place jointly called Lynton and Lynmouth. Lynton is at the top of the cliffs and Lynmouth is at the bottom. We walked down and concluded that it was way too much like hard work to walk back up again, so, after checking out the village, beach and harbour, and after a significant period queuing, we got the water powered funicular railway back up again.
one at the bottom and one at the top, which are connected together by a cable. Each has a huge, 750 gallon tank. The one at the top is filled with water and the one at the bottom is emptied. The weight of the water then moves both trains.
Given that the water is from a river (it doesnt need to be pumped back up), the trains naturally powered. Guilt free and carbon neutral, but Im just not sure how the principle could be applied to the roads?
I finally succumbed to one of the many fudge shops and carried away with all the different flavours. My wife was appalled.
Near to Lynton / Lynmouth is the Valley of the Rocks. The name kind of what it is. We went for a walk along the coastal path and the scenery was stunning. I also climbed one of the steeper, more hazardous points but I could only go so far. At that point, there were some professional climbers, with their ropes and crampons to get to the very top.
we were told is worth seeing. We did not get to see it though as the road through the valley looked to be closed to the public (actually we should have just gone for it).
We then had a drive through the stunning scenery of Exmoor and then headed to Wellington to see yet more friends that we had not seen for ages. The roads were a nightmare - narrow and winding, and we were not helped when some road closures forced us on to some even narrower and even more winding country lanes. Oh for the motorways of Hertfordshire! They might be congested, but at least they are wide and straight, with no risk of a local in a grey transit van ploughing towards you around a blind corner at excessive speed.
After a bit of time with our friends, we motivated ourselves for the narrow roads again and headed to Sidmouth where we were to stay for two nights - a luxury on this break.
