A walk through Devon lanes, farmland and woodland
An excellent circular pub walk was a 4 1/2 mile walk from Watersmeet, up to Hilsford Bridge, through Combe Park & then up to the Beggars Roost, then back down past East Lyn farm to Myrtleberry Cleave & then back to Watersmeet.
It takes in a bit of walking along rivers, Devon country lanes, open farmland & woods with spectacular views up on to the open moorland of Brendon Common & the Bristol Channel across to Wales.
In the woods, the Spindle berries are starting to form, though they are yet to take on their brilliant pink. Though Spindle trees don’t tend to grow very thick, the wood is great for turning as it is very pale & fine-grained – I made all our Christmas tree decorations from it last year.
Walking up Cheriton Road, you get to see a classic Devon hedge in cross-section, showing the stone-face bank, topped with a laid Beech hedge (though the majority of these hedges could do with re-laying)
Sitting outside the Beggars Roost, it was great to see that their Wisteria was alive with sparrows flitting back & forth between the wisteria & their roosts in the eaves of the pub roof
Walking back from the pub, I saw a pair of young red deer on the Cleaves grazing in the fields in the evening sun, then the final bit of the walk was timed perfectly with the sun setting over towards Valley of Rocks above Lynton and some great bracket fungi on the birch trees in the woods
