A day in Dawlish,

My first day off today, so we wasted no time in getting out and about. We drove over to Dawlish, which is a lovely little town beside the sea. To get to Coryton beach you have to cross a bridge over the railway line. Its not a huge beach, and the sand of course is red. The railway line runs behind the beach, and is a very busy line, bringing all the holidaymakers in.

The beach is also backed by these soaring redstone cliffs, topped with shrubs and trees..

Some had these wonderful patterns on which the gulls were using as nest sites. We could hear the babies whistling and fluting above our heads.

It was another one of those days that was a bit cloudy, but very humid. We had a coffee from the flask, then I left Pete to his fishing, and I went to explore.

Theres a nice old stone pier at the other end of the beach, so I wandered down the shore, looking for stones and shells and other treasure to the accompaniment of trains rattling along the track, I gave a wave to one and he tooted back lol...very railway children.

There was lots of seaweed by the old pier, all sorts, thick, thin, red, green, it smelt very strong, but I quite like the salty smell of it, I`ve never eaten it, but I would imagine I`d quite like it, but I wasnt going to have a nibble of that!

On the way back I found a nice spider crab shell which will go towards my `beach` just as I was putting it in my collecting bag, Pete gave a shout and pointed out to sea, and there was the most amazing pod of dolphins, there must have been about twenty of them, covering a huge area of the sea, porpoising in and out of the water, I was thrilled, at least I didnt miss them this time...I tried to get a picture, but it was very difficult, as they were quite a long way out, and moving all the time...

I walked on to the top of the beach, where there is a little cafe that sells, sandwiches and ice creams and teas, theres also a nice set of colourful beach huts.
at the end is this rather pointed redstone rock, with tufts of thrift growing out of it, and at the base some nice grey stone seats, not very comfy I should imagine..

round the corner is Boat cove, filled with little red blue and white boats, theres also a couple of old rusty winches, a relic of past times. The railway track at Dawlish is one of the closest rails to the sea in the country. In the winter the waves roar and crash over the track, and frequently close the line due to the salt. The rail journey from Exeter to Torbay is classed as one of the most pictuesque in the country.

I decided to walk back as it was time for a little lunch, the view back down the coast was really nice, with the rolling red hills and the little stacks in the water.

theres another little pier at this end of the beach too, I had a little walk down it, I could see lots of little fish and sand eels under the crystal clear water, I quite fancied doing a little spinning, but its a while since I have, and as there were a few people sitting at the cafe enjoying an icey, I didnt feel inclined to make a fool of myself!

After some nice salad rolls, mug of tea and abit of a sunbathe, I left Pete catching seaweed lol and decided to walk into town.

Dawlish is a very pretty little town, with lots of Georgian and Regency houses, painted in lovely shades of lemon, blue, pink and cream. It was a favourite haunt of Charles Dickens and Jane Austin, and its easy to see why...Theres a park in the middle called The lawn, filled with beautiful trees and flowerbeds. Running through the lawn is a river called The brook, strung with coloured lights and where the black swans live that Dawlish is famous for.

These two were feeding on the grass, they are so beautiful and graceful, and this year they`ve had three cynets..

which were all very busy feeding under the water, so I couldnt get a picture of their faces!

The Brook is also home to lots of other birds, whistling ducks, mandarins, pom pom headed ducks, and these rather grand chappies...

I followed the path to the top of the town, noting this beautiful thatched house, dont you love the gothic windows..

I came across a nice little bakery as well, so popped in for some cakes for our picnic. The bottom of town is more devoted to the holidaymakers, with amusements, trinket shops and fish and chips. The gardens are all kept in lovely order

and are very traditional sea side gardens which I love.

Evenually, the brook runs under the road and out into the sea

I made my way back to the beach, stopping to wave to another train, who merrily waved back, clutching my bag of cakes, having had a lovely day at the seaside.

A sunny walk.

It was very misty this morning when I walked to work, and very humid, but by lunch time it had brightened up to a lovely golden day. I went for a walk over to the park..

The flowers along the road are looking lovely now.

The Hebe in the park was out, mine in the garden are coming into flower too.

Last time I came, the gardeners were just planting up the beds, its always interesting to see what combinations they choose, Bergonias this time, they`ll be nice when they grow abit.

I was suprised how quiet the park was, especially on such a nice day, but it was nice to have a bit of peace...

this little moorhen kept me company, chugging around the pond.

I thought the `lambs ears` were very pretty..

the main beds have been planted in bright orange Geraniums, with marigolds and canna lilies around the edge..

I walked across the park to the other pond, which was full of the quacks of ducks, and these cream and pink flowers together were really pretty.

this Moses in the Bulrushes was such a pretty blue..

I decided to walk over to Corbyn Head to look over the bay, the little pavilion on the bowling green was looking very pretty hung with bunting, and the bed infront had been planted up with begonias.

It was high tide, so not much red sandy beach. All the beach huts have been brought out of storage now, and there were people in deck chairs enjoying the sun.

It was nice standing on the headland, looking out over the bay, which was very pretty in the sunshine. There was also a nice little breeze, which cooled me down.

I decided to go and get an ice-cream, theres a little shop by the beach, I wanted one of those tubs, where you get a little plastic or sometimes wooden spoon, nice and old fashioned...

and I tried not to notice that awful balloon was up.......

A bit of a buzz.....

Today has been a beautiful day, and this afternoon I sat in the garden and read my book..it was very peaceful till suddenly I heard this loud buzzing sound...and

this rather splendid fellow dropped in to visit...hes a Rose Chafer, and a lovely shiny green colour
he pootled about the flower for ages, theyre supposed to eat roses, so I dont know why he was in my garden, as I dont have any, but I`m glad he did, then he buzzed off!

This is my drift-log I lugged back from the beach yesterday, and some of the stones, shells and my hag stone I collected..

It has a lovely pattern at the top, I`m going to get some sand, and make a `beach` in a terracotta container I have, decorated with shells and stones. The ball of rice krispies on the top of the log is one of those egg cases of the whelk, strange eh..

Tonight, I was thrilled to see the first day moon, so thin and silver peeping out from behind the chimney.

Dawlish Warren.

Yesterday, we decided to go to Dawlish Warren, as we havent been for a while, its beside the sea, and theres a nature reserve.

Beside the car park is heathland, and I was amazed to see Evening Primroses in flower..

they emit a lovely perfume in the evening which attracts moths.

The beach is really nice here, very flat, so ideal for bathing with children, the tide was out, and the waves lazily lapped at the groynes..

there was a nice row of beach huts too...

We walked along the boardwalk, back to the reserve..

it was quite a sandy little path that wound through the reserve, which was open, with woodland, and bramble patches. The grass was filled with flowers, lovely yellow rattle..

and the little pink stars of Common Centaury, I`ve never seen this before..

and lots of butterflies flitting from place to place, this Small Skipper stayed long enough to have its photo taken..

a real treat to see, were the beautiful orchids amongst the grasses

.
there were lovely little waterways, fringed with reeds and willows

and a nice little family of Canada geese having their breakfast

it was so nice to see so many different flowers..the lovely little purple Self Heal.

Meadow Sweet, which certainly lives up to its name, as it has a lovely perfume..it was strewn on floors in days gone by, to sweeten the atmosphere!

Purple Loosestrife.

and Ladys Bedstraw, this was used as bedding in the middle ages..

Evenually we came to the end of the reserve, and climbed the dunes down to the beach.

there were the most amazing old posts sticking out of the sand, like ribs of a skeleton

they were beautifully worn and smooth...

some nearer the tide-line were draped in green sea-weed, and covered in mussels and barnacles, there was an old lobster pot caught up against it...it was like a sea side sculpture.

it was lovely on the beach, hot, although there was cloud about, the sea was still going out, so there was a huge expanse of red sand...

it had a very pretty pattern...

we walked to the end of the point, where the river Exe glides into the sea, seperating Dawlish from Exmouth across the water. It looked very pretty with its georgian houses in pretty pastel pinks, blues and creams...

I did a bit of beach combing, and found some pretty stones, shells and a nice hag stone...also not so much drift wood as a drift log!....well a small post really..it was so lovely I had to have it, so I put it in my `collecting` bag and heaved it back along the two miles of beach to the car park lol

We had a `tourist` lunch of chips, sitting looking over the sea, with the beady eyed gulls watching every mouthful, it made a pleasant change, then walked down to this rather wonderful rock formation known as the Langstone..

its red sandstone, and quite amazing with arches and twisty bits..

it would be inaccesible when the tide was in, the sea would swirl and fill all the little caves..

on the inside walls of the rock, were some wonderful Beadlet Anemones, they had their front doors firmly shut, but would wave their tentacles when the tide returned..

I was fascinated by this wonderful rock pool, I dont know if it was especially built for the purpose, or was used as something else and has reverted into one, but when the tide comes in, it obviously fills it, then recedes and leaves all the residents stranded till next time...

we decided to walk back, as the tide was beginning to come in, and would soon cut us off, but all in all, it was an interesting day.