18/03/17 - Lynmouth to Watersmeet

Distance - 5 Miles
Geocaches - 20
Walk Inspiration - Jarrold Exmoor, Walk 14
Pub - The Village Inn, Lynmouth

If you take Mrs Mappiman all the way to the seaside and don't have a coastal walk planned, there is only one way to save your bacon.  Make sure that there is a National Trust Tea Shop half around the route that you do have planned.

We start in Lynmouth for a walk that my guidebook describes as "one of Exmoor's classics".  I couldn't really tell you.  For the 2nd week running, low lying fog adds atmosphere but ruins the views.

Route finding is easy - follow the pretty stream into the moor.  Doesn't even matter which side of the water you are on, as there are frequent bridges but of course, we followed the unexpectedly high volume cache trail.  Thanks for the smileys, kevham1 and CeeKay1, they added to an already fine walk.

There could be loads of photos like this

With the odd bridge thrown in

Watersmeet National Trust is a natural stopping off point.  We are in Devon, but the debate on which order to put the jam or clotted cream was unnecessary, as I had been sold scones with neither condiment.  I was soon sent back on a rescue mission.

Clotted Cream - 25p a pot.

We lose the cache trail for a while, walking steeply uphill to Hillsford Bridge, taking in the best of the waterfalls.

Waterfalls

The height gaining continued, right into the clouds.  On another day, Mytleberry Cleave would have offered fine views over the gorge to the sea.  We make do with getting back on the cache trail, keeping our feet and navigating the wildly zig-zagging path.

Nothing much to see here but Lynmouth is in the distance

Back in the village to look at familiar land marks and trying to determine the number of elapsed years since we brought our kids to play in the stream. We agree on 11. All that remains is the post walk watering hole. We remember the Rising Sun from before and in the interests of variety, try out the Village Inn.

Made it to the Coast

The Village Inn

Sharp's Atlantic

Unfortunately, the Village Inn contains the Village Idiot.  But not from Lynmouth.  This particular loudmouth is from near us in Worcestershire and spent 5 hours yesterday on a coach to sit at the bar in a strange town to laugh at his own Monty Python impressions, in-between goading other customers about their accents.

It can't have been long before he was chucked out.

But there was no chance he was coming back home with us.