Synopsis: One Roman Emperor, then a long haul up an ancient Holloway to Haldon. Peacock calls at the Haldon Obelisk. Possible encounter with an escaped Chinese goose in Dawlish. An eventful day!
(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)
What prompted this cycle ride was my waist measurement. I recently volunteered on the Exeter 10,000 health survey and received in the post my health report. Overall not too bad, with plenty of ‘good’ indicators. But apparently my waist is over the recommended size of 94 cm by 5 cm. I do think I’m in pretty good shape for my age, but my instant reaction to this was more exercise and less calories. Cycling up Haldon from home always proves a good calorie burner, so I slapped on a little sun lotion and off I set.
Whilst in Exeter Central Library earlier in the week, I picked up the book The Devon Village Book, and I read a little about a number of villages, one of which was Exminster. Despite having grown up in this village I learnt two interesting and previously unknown facts, namely 1): the largest gentleman’s manor house, one time pressed into service as a school, is that of Church Stile House, adjacent to the St Martin’s Church; and 2): the oldest building in the village is that of the Priest’s House, which is tucked away a little off the main street. As my way today took me through Exminster, I decided I would attempt to seek out these buildings.
At first I struggled to find Church Stile House (Listed Grade II). I parked my bicycle under a tree, got my tablet PC out, and examined the English Heritage Listed Buildings web site. It was where I thought it was, but I could see no sign of the Diocletian Windows which would set this building out from its surroundings. This is my first enigmatic reference in my blog post synopsis, in that these windows are named after a Roman Emperor. Viewing the map I could see that there was a road that looped around the house. Following this lane I reached a point from where I finally caught a glimpse, on tiptoe, of these windows.
I then walked through the churchyard of St Martin’s Church (Listed Grade I), back to the main street, and a little way back on the right I could see an attractive house built of Heavitree brechia. This was the Priest’s House (Listed Grade II), as declared on a plaque on the side of the house. A lucky survivor as the oldest house in the village, although its original purpose is uncertain, possibly the separate kitchen of a larger house no longer in existence.
Having completed this part of my ‘mission’, I set off on the next stage, which was to head for Kenn. A hill stood in my way, so this is where the calorie burning was to begin. I first sought out the wonderfully named Days-Pottles Lane, chosen because it ascends the hill to be traversed on a gentle incline. There was lovely Devon countryside to be seen all around. Sheltered from the breeze by high hedges, and with the sun burning brightly, the day had already warmed to become a lovely summer day.
As I dropped down into Kenn I could see the village church of St Andrew’s (Listed Grade I) and decided to take a little time out to wander around the churchyard. I was particularly fascinated, on this visit, by the yew tree, always a great marker of time. The enormous girth of this tree suggests to me it had been here an awfully long time. I understand it is estimated to be over 2,000 years old. The things this tree must have witnessed through all those the years. I didn’t enter the church today; I’d spent time in the church on a previous visit (please see ‘13 November 2010 – Walk: Exeter to Starcross’, from My Blog).
It was now time to clock some serious bike miles, as I was running a little late. I hoped to have climbed Haldon Hill before stopping to eat lunch, and it was now already 12:15. I whipped along a lane that follows the River Kenn, hopped down a short stretch of busy main road, and picked up the lanes again. I noticed this, what appeared to be a field of daisies (I later classified as Corn Marigold), to my left, and stopped to take a few photos. I’m out in the country quite a lot, but can’t recall seeing a field display quite like this before.
Next came a steep climb through a forest until I came to Hollow Lane. Thankfully this public bridleway had been cleared of vegetation which aided my progress, but it was a hard ride all the same. Hollow Lane follows an ancient drover’s ridge route along which livestock would have been herded to or from Haldon in times long past. Today, I feel the history of this old route as I cycled the hard, often bumpy, ride towards the top of Haldon. It’s not possible to cycle the last 100 metres of Hollow Lane as the going gets too rough and steep, so there was nothing for it but to get off and push for the final stretch.
I felt quite drained by the time I had reached the top of Hollow Lane, and flaked out on the grass with the thought of eating lunch in mind. Time had run on and I was feeling quite peckish. I had hoped to reach the Haldon obelisk, but that had to wait till a little later in the day. Just near the top of Hollow Lane I came across this lovely plant, which I think is Heath Spotted Orchid.
At the site of the Haldon obelisk there is a seating area that offers one of the best views in the county. From here the view stretches out over the Exe Estuary and further east along the Jurassic Coast, as it is so named. It’s a place to just stop for a while and soak in the atmosphere for a moment. I passed a little time chatting with an elderly gentleman (a spritely 83) who’d driven across from his home in East Budleigh. He was the only other person here about, apart from the occasional dog walker passing through.
That was the tough hill climbing done, but the way forward was not entirely an easy ride. From here I intended to use a route I’d used on previous occasions with my daughters, that follows a dirt track off Haldon leading into the back of Dawlish. This route is a bit of a challenging ride as it is quite rough in places, but it’s also rather fun and within the capabilities of my limited mountain biking skills.
On arriving in the outskirts of Dawlish I decided to dismount and walk through the grounds of the council offices housed in the Manor House, the gardens known as Manor Gardens. The little stream of Dawlish Water runs through the gardens and can be followed all the way down to Dawlish seafront. The stream, closer to the town centre, is home to countless ducks, geese and swans, the latter being the famous black swans of Dawlish. On this visit I came across these Chinese Geese, that I don’t recall ever seeing here before today.
I took a break on a bench for a few minutes to gather my strength. I then walked out to the seafront and decided to walk the seafront to the adjacent beach at Coryton Cove. I’d been down this way several months earlier, not long after the winter storms that gave this coast such a bashing resulting in the need for considerable repairs to the railway line. The beach huts had lain smashed on my previous visit, and today I noted that they’d been cleared but not replaced.
That only left me to top up my water bottle and then set off to complete the final stage of my cycle day, the route along the Exe Estuary Trail from Dawlish to Exeter. Relatively easy cycling, although a slight headwind slowed me a little. It was such a lovely evening, I really didn’t mind how long it took me to reach Exeter. I was very tired on reaching home, but it was the best kind of tired. It had been a great cycle ride.
Cycle Statistics:
Total Distance: 32.7 miles
Moving Time: 5hrs 54min
Stopped Time: 2hrs 03min
Total Ascent: 662 metres
Maximum Elevation: 255 metres
Buses: (none)
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