Tuesday 30 June 2009

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.

2 comments:

Ramblings From Spain said...

Such a lovely day, and Boat Cove looked super.. as did it all. Send me a cakey please! x

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

What a charming day - there is just no end of the lovely views and walks that you have there - absolutely lovely.