Driving onwards from Padstow (Cornwall) in our motorhome Vtee, saw us move into the Devon
area again. Our first stop there was Clovelly, an early Saxon settlement nestled
in a coastal valley.
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| Steep streets of beautiful Clovelly, Devon |
We had to park Vtee at the top of the valley, and pay to get into this little fishing hamlet. Then we walked down its steep, narrow, heavily-cobbled street.
There was only one main street but it had a few narrow passages branching off it. The street is so steep and the cobbles so
rough, that the locals use sleighs with runners instead of wheels, to move their goods around.
What an amazing place - apparently it was once owned by William the Conqueror’s wife and listed in the Doomsday Book.
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| Clovelly's harbour and fishing boats, Devon |
Walking downwards, unsteady on the slippery cobbles, we eventually arrived at the wee harbour below. It is so quaint, with stunning views over the Bristol Channel.
The harbour and houses are constantly battered by the wind and sea here, and the wind and rain were getting up as we were leaving. Although it was a steep, wet walk down through the hamlet then up again, it
was well worth the effort to see this unique place.
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| Museum of Barnstaple, Devon |
Next, we drove through the small Devon town of Bideford. We had intended walking around the town, but the weather was deteriorating, so we drove on to Barnstaple. After admiring Barnstaple's historic architecture and river port, we carried on to our last place in Devon, the quaint town of Tiverton.
We drove a loop through Tiverton's narrow streets, then after checking out the interesting red brick Tiverton Castle, we got onto the M5, taking us out of Devon into Somerset.
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| Cheddar Gorge, Somerset |
Our destination was the Cheddar Gorge, a limestone gorge that was shaped by torrential floods of a melting
ice age. It is a very beautiful area, sitting on the edge of the Mendip
Hills.
However, by this time, the weather was so foul and persistently wet, that we
were only able to drive though it rather than walk it. So we carried on toward Bath City, to find a campsite for the night.
We found one that proved to be a quite basic affair, but it was well located for an easy drive to
a local park-and-ride. The next morning, we got ourselves to the park-and-ride, and caught a bus into Bath. The rain held off, but it was not warm.
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| Roman Baths (UNESCO) in Bath, Somerset |
In Bath, we particularly enjoyed our visit to the amazing Roman Baths, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A natural hot spring was apparently discovered here as early as 863 BC, then a temple was constructed over it in 60–70 AD in the first few decades of Roman Britain. Over the centuries, the baths have been redeveloped many times.
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| Leigh at the ancient Roman baths in Bath (UNESCO) |
Now-days, the baths are housed in an 18th-century building, accompanied by many relics and ruins from the Roman times.
The water in the baths originates in the nearby
Mendip Hills as rain. After seeping down deep into the earth, it heats and
rises again at Bath.
The Roman Baths are no longer used for bathing,
after dangerous amoeba were found in the water, but learning of its history was very interesting.
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| (L-R top): Bath Abbey and Sally Lunn's shop. (Lower), The Circus Georgian-style houses and local street, Bath (UNESCO), Somerset |
Georgian style architecture abounds in Bath and we really liked the imposing Bath Abbey which dominates the cityscape. Other highlights were Sally Lunn’s House which is now a coffee shop, the Circus residential area where the Georgian-style houses are built in a curve, and the many grand museums. We also liked the abundance of narrow and quaint shopping streets.
Wandering around Bath, soon found us to the Pulteney Bridge. The bridge straddles the Avon River and is quite beautiful.
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| Pulteney Bridge, Bath (UNESCO), Somerset |
It is reminiscent of an Italian city, with shops on both sides of the bridge, and apparently, is one of only four such bridges in the world.
We loved Bath, it is a very beautiful city with well-preserved
historic buildings, and a great arts and restaurant scene. We found it to be a very busy city with lots of tourists, but easy to walk around.
The next day we drove to another park-and-ride. This time we caught a different bus that took us to Bristol. Arriving in the city centre, we soon found the St Nicholas Markets
in the old Bristol Corn Exchange.
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| The Corn Exchange clock with two minute-hands, Bristol, Somerset |
The Corn Exchange has an interesting historic clock - it has two
minute-hands. It seems that, before Greenwich Mean Time, each English city kept
its own time.
However, once Bristol was connected to London by rail in 1841, another minute-hand was added to the city’s main clock to remind people of London time, so that they would not be late for their London train. How amazing is that!
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| Avon River in Bristol, Somerset |
Bristol sits on the Avon River and has a whole area based around the harbour which includes restaurants, bars, shops and apartments. We walked quite a way along the River, seeing a different part of the city.
Coming back into the city centre later, we saw the huge and impressive
Bristol Cathedral. Then we walked further into the old city, finding it full of historic buildings and
churches.
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| Interesting Architecture in Bristol, Somerset |
The architectural style is an interesting but eclectic mix of medieval to modern, including Georgian and a unique Bristol Byzantine style showing fabulous brickwork and arches.
However, even though Bristol and Bath are a 40-minute drive from each other, Bristol as a big city, seemed to us to lack the vibrancy of its smaller neighbour Bath. Overall through, we really enjoyed the architecture and history of both cities.
We've loved what we've seen of Devon and Somerset, but now it's time to move on. Our next stop will be in the Cotswolds.
This is part of a bigger blog on our travels around England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium and Luxembourg. The first blog is called "Off to do the UK in a motorhome".