Monday 19 September 2016

around Chagford


More holiday photographs.

This is the cottage we stayed in in Chagford right the centre of the village. Its not obvious from the picture but it is built on a hill. It was a small cottage, only four rooms plus entrance but none of those rooms were on the same level, four or five steps between each one.

It was attached to the owners house at the back and we could use their garden. It was a long thin garden and when we walked the length of it, the furthest part through the arch, was just for us. This suited us because with my husband still not walking far after breaking his leg and ankle in the spring we spent more time at the holiday cottage than we would normally do. It was nice to be able to relax in the garden without intruding on the owners space.


There are two hills above Chagford and while my husband relaxed in the garden I was able to walk up both (on separate days). Meldon hill was the highest at  390m  and was a steep climb up through the bracken. It was worth it for the view of the village from the top.


I sat for a while on these granite rocks near the top. The path was steep and slippery with loose gravel so I made my way down very slowly grabbing hold of the bracken to stop myself sliding. Realising how much damage you can do after a simple fall ( my husband had two breaks in his leg and fractures in his ankle and after six months is still not able to walk far or to drive) has made me a lot more cautious especially when like this I am out on my own. On this day I didn't see anyone while walking up and down the hill. However if I didn't walk out on my own I wouldn't have seen these wonderful views and I do enjoy being out in nature. Its a difficult balance between being "sensible", not taking risks yet not being over cautious.


Another day I walked up Nattadon hill. This time I could walk up by the road. The next photograph is looking across to Meldon Hill and you can see the path winding up through the gravel on the right of the picture.


A slightly different view of the town.


I love the patchwork of small fields bounded by hedges in this part of Devon.


Just a few miles from Chagford was the National Trust property, Castle Drogo. As you can see from the photograph there is a huge restoration project on at the moment and the house wasn't open.


There were guided tours of the renovation work, so my husband went on one of those while I followed a circular walk nearby.


I walked down through the woods to the river in the valley, then along a shady path beside it


before climbing back up to the castle. It was a hot day but a lot of the walk was shaded by trees.


We met up in the castle gardens and enjoyed the sunshine before heading back to our little garden at the cottage.







1 comment:

Heather LeFebvre said...

What beauty! Love the cottage garden! The cottage, with the different rooms and levels, sounds so fun!