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  • Day 472

    Mid Devon

    September 8, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    The countryside round here is beautiful. We drove from Taunton to our next campsite, advertised as being bang in the middle of Devon. The drive there was stunning, with beautiful views in all directions. The site we are on is a gem. Busy when we arrived, but many departed Sunday evening ready for work and school on Monday. Great location and facilities. We will be using the site swimming pool now that all the children have gone!!! There are two fishing lakes and excellent walks around the site, which we will take advantage of. We plan on cycling to a bus stop to take a bus into Tiverton. As this site is out in open countryside there are no buses out this way, but a 3+ mile cycle ride to a local village where there is a bus stop.
    The cycle ride to Witheridge was very pleasant - along the high ridge and between the valleys. The bus ride into Tiverton was interesting as we were on top of a double decker bus which was diverted from its normal route, due to a road diversion, through country lanes - the views were splendid. We had four hours to look around Tiverton prior to the return journey. It is quite a nice place located on the River Exe and is located at one end of the Taunton to Tiverton "Great Western" canal. The canal terminates in Tiverton but was initially meant to run to Topsham near Exemouth - a lack of funds and the coming of railways put paid to that. There is a stiff walk up-hill to the canal which is high above the town centre and the river. Tiverton, in its heyday, was a great lace making town and is still today the home of a large fabric factory located centrally in the town.
    Alan spent some time at the bottom lake at the site hoping to catch a photo of a Kingfisher - one had been fishing next to an angler the day before when we walked by. Apart from a very fleeting flash of blue very early on there was nothing but large fish feeding on the flies on the water to be seen.
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