Adaliza

Lynmouth, in North Devon has always been close to my heart.  We holidayed there every year when I was a child, from the age of just 9 months old, until I was almost a teenager.  I even remember my first trip, in the back seat of our old A30 with my cot on board too!  Those were the days before any bridges over the River Severn – we crossed the river on a chain ferry!  

Lorna Doone Farm at Malmsmead, where I first sat on a pony aged 18 months!

I’m brimming with so many happy memories of umpteen holidays there, first with Mum and Dad and my Grandfather too, then later with my friends after I had learned to drive.  My best friend Beti and I used to go out riding from the stables at Malmsmead and I’ll never forget the black cob Tarquin carting me back up the river valley scattering tourists as he bolted home!  I couldn’t wait to bring my new husband here 30 years ago.  We visited when I was expecting our third child, and again the following year when baby Jack was carted around the village in a shopping basket as there was no room to pack the pushchair!

We have visited many times since as I adore this quaint seaside village in a part of Exmoor that is often called Little Switzerland. Last weekend, on a whim, I had an urgent need to return so we took a jolly jaunt to soak up all the charm of the place.

It was getting dark by the time I had my first wander down to the harbour

Dad has a photo of me standing next to the old bollard on the quay, when I was                                  no taller than the top of it!

Tide’s up and boat trips on October Morning and Balaena beckon

West Lyn river at Glen Lyn Gorge after heavy rain the previous day

amazing Exmoor

simply stunning wooded valleys

wild goats at the Valley of the Rocks

Exmoor ponies dozing as the groundsman exercises his labrador whilst cutting the cricket pitch

Oare Church where legend has it that Lorna Doone was shot as she took her wedding vows

everything a country Church should be

Barnstable Pannier Market had strung out the bunting, ready for our mooch around!

Robbers Bridge where the highwaymen held up the coaches as they passed carefully over the narrow stone bridge

usually just a trickle of a stream, but after the rain it was a torrent

tumbling down through the rocks and ferns

growing out from the river bank, a pretty little beech

View from our room at Shelleys Hotel

We stayed at the delightful Shelleys Hotel, just by the bridge where the West Lyn meets the East Lyn river.  The river course changed the landscape dramatically in 1952 in the devastating floods.  Shelleys Hotel survived – as did my uncle and aunt who were staying further up the valley at Watersmeet when the flood hit.  The welcome at Shelleys is warm and friendly and we had a charming room overlooking Lynmouth village and the harbour.  We’ve stayed in this small luxury hotel before and it’s definitely worth a visit – Richard and Jane are brilliant hosts – breakfasts in the conservatory are amazing!  We dined out each evening at Le Bistro, just across the road from the hotel where the food was awesome – absolutely perfect.  I recommend the scallops and pan roasted hake fillet!

Very Happy Me

Home again, and I delivered part of a quilt commission this morning, to a lovely lady who has asked me to make four memory quilts to mark her twins’ 18th birthday.  Two quilts had been completed before our jaunt so they formed the first part of the order.  This evening I’ll be starting on Catherine’s king-size quilt!  It’s lovely to be back home and I’ve a little collection of sea glass hidden away in my coat pocket that I must find a home for – to remind me of our weekend away.

What did you get up to over the Bank Holiday?  

Adaliza x