West Down House Holiday Cottages Bradworthy Devon UK

02/06/2022

A glorious start here, so elevenses tea break on the front lawn!

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02/06/2022

View across the front lawn this morning...

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28/04/2022

04/04/2022

Well done North Devon!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-60979725

North Devon is named a World Surfing Reserve alongside Malibu and Santa Cruz in California.

03/04/2022

Some of our many different and long established daffodils nodding gently in the breeze and spring sunshine here in one of our woodland areas.

There has been a bumper display this year. The bright splashes of colour around the gardens are a welcome sight. Currently they can be seen alongside crocuses, primroses and anemones.

02/04/2022

The familiar acorn symbol & yellow arrow of a waymark post on the SW coastal path.

Another breathtaking stretch of our local coast offers amazing hiking opportunities in a spectacular wild and remote landscape.

Taken at Steeple Point, some 300 feet (91m) above sea level overlooking Duckpool beach, North Cornwall, SW UK (grid ref SS 200 116 for you map readers out there).

The spectacular South West Coast Path, a national trail, is 630 miles long. Starting at Minehead in Somerset it follows the coast through North Devon, Cornwall, South Devon ending at Poole in Dorset.

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26/03/2022

This week we were on the summit of Stowe's Hill approaching sunset on the beautiful wild and remote Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, SW England, UK. Unusually there was hardly a breeze in the air.

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You can see the wonderful weathered granite rock formations including the famous Cheesewring, Caradon Hill, the ancient stone wall enclosure of Stowe's Pound and the Phoenix United mine ruins in the distance. The Hurlers stone circles, the Pipers standing stones and Rillaton Barrow are also nearby. A fascinating landscape.

23/03/2022

One of the many surprise visitors we have had in the garden here at West Down House.

This very friendly tagged racing pigeon allowed us to get very close to get a 'worm's eye view'. It was having a brief rest and inspecting our lawn with its beady eye.

We also encourage shy wildlife visitors by creating wild areas in the gardens. We have recently made further dead hedge areas from brushwood taken from trees felled by recent storms. These provide shelters for wildlife whilst returning nutrients to the soil as they rot down.

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22/03/2022

Steps to Heaven...

Fun with washed up flotsam or jetsam to create this surreal image on the beach near Crow Point, North Devon, SW England, UK. It's amazing what you find sometimes whilst beachcombing. One of our more unusual finds.

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20/03/2022

A perfect sunset at a local beach. Calm conditions, water lapping at your feet...

📷 by one summer's evening at Crooklets Bude, North Cornwall, SW England, UK.

19/03/2022

The wonderful freeing feeling of solitude and peace on a large deserted beach away from our busy tech, work and consumer driven lifestyles. Nothing but the rhythmic sound of the surf, the feel of soft sand and the smell of fresh salty air. Breathing space...

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Lovely muted colours and the blurring of land sea & sky with the person walking their dog in splendid isolation enjoying the vast open space surrounding them.

A large beach makes you feel quite insignificant in the whole scheme of things. A chance to step back and maybe put things into perspective and consider what is important in our lives helping to recharge our batteries.

Shot taken on the huge expanse of Saunton Sands Beach in North Devon, SW England, UK.

With over three miles of golden sand, the beach is so huge the RAF has landed Hercules transport planes here to train for desert landings.

According to online sources videos have been filmed here for Robbie Williams (Angels), Ollie Murs (Hand on Heart) and Pink Floyd (The Wall) as well as scenes in films (Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society).

The beach is backed by the immense sand dune system of Braunton Burrows, part of a UNESCO world biosphere due to its unusual natural habitat ecosystem and the rare species of plant and wildlife that it supports.

19/03/2022

A beautiful and sculptural ancient beech tree, one of many mature trees we have in the garden and woodland here at West Down House on the border of North Devon & Cornwall, SW England, UK.

We encourage wildlife and nature by setting aside wild areas and have planted many new plants, shrubs and tress over the years. We have a lovely bluebell wood on the spring. Our shy garden visitors include hares, deer, woodpeckers, buzzards, owls, hawks, foxes pheasants, spotted flycatchers, nuthatches, treecreepers, goldfinches starling murmurations (autumn to early spring months) and many more...

As we have little light pollution nearby we are a good dark sky site for those who enjoy stargazing on clear nights. We often watch satellites going overhead and enjoy spotting shooting stars during meteor showers.

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11/03/2022

A breathtaking view of desolate but incredibly beautiful moorland and tors from the summit of Brown W***y (Cornish: Bronn Wennili) the highest point in Cornwall at 1,378 feet (420 m) on Bodmin Moor, NE Cornwall, SW England, UK.

Rough Tor, the next highest point at 1313 ft (400m), can be seen in the distance. A source of the River Camel, the De Lank River rises nearby.

The moor along with Dartmoor and Exmoor are within an hour's drive of us. They are popular with our guests for hiking or just exploring by car. Several classic novels and films have been set in these dramatic and wild granite upland landscapes e.g. Jamaica Inn, Hound of the Baskervilles, Lorna Doone.

📷 by late afternoon one February. Richard had the summit to himself and could not see another person.

According to web sources:

This trig point sits next to a man made cairn known as the Brown W***y Summit or North Cairn. Never archaeologically excavated, folklore suggests it may hold the remains of a Cornish king. Similar nearby cairns have been dated to between 2162-1746BC (early Bronze Age).

Originally Bronn Wennili ("hill of swallows") the Cornish name of the granite tor or peak on the moor, has become corrupted over many years.

Once relatively populated there are many Neolithic and Bronze Age prehistoric remains e.g. hilltop cairns, enclosures, stone circles, menhirs and hut circles. It is believed these had religious or calendar alignment significance.

Geologically, the moor is one of five granite plutons (bodies of intrusive igneous rock) in Cornwall, part of the Cornubian batholith intrusion (Cornubia = Cornwall in Latin). The batholith (huge mass of granite) formed 280 million years ago during Cisuralian epoch, the earliest part of Permian period.

10/03/2022

Nearby Virworthy Wharf on the long disused Bude Aquaduct Canal on the North Devon & Cornwall border, SW England, UK. The canal system is now part of a heritage aqueduct trail which links with the trails around Upper and Lower Tamar Lakes.

According to various online sources:

The unusual canal, active from 1823 to 1891 ran for some 35 miles. It used six inclined planes to haul tub boats and brought mineral rich sand from Summerleaze beach at Bude to improve the poor soils of the hilly hinterlands to improve agricultural returns.

The canal climbed from sea level to 433 ft (132m). This branch was a feeder for the canal system. Water was taken from a nearby reservoir now called Lower Tamar Lake which was constructed by building a dam for the canal in the 1820s - according to local legend - using Prisoners of War from the Napoleonic Wars.

Taken one spring. 📷 by

09/03/2022

Beautiful turquoise ocean views north across Tintagel Haven and several headlands including Barras Nose (closest) and Cambeak (far distance) from Tintagel Castle, North Cornwall, SW England, UK.

A popular place to visit with our guests, Tintagel has stunning coastal scenery and amazing clifftop walks along the coastal path. You can walk towards Boscastle one way and Trebarwith Strand the other. Tintagel is about a 45 minute drive from us.

According to the popular legend the castle is where King Arthur was conceived. It is said that King Uther Pendragon fell in love with Lady Igraine, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Tintagel.

Uther used a magical deception helped by Merlin the wizard to gain access to the castle. He was made to resemble Gorlois.

Arthur was the result of the tryst and the couple later married after Gorlais was killed. Merlin's cave is under the headland where this photo was taken.

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08/03/2022

Macro shot of a frosted sycamore leaf against a blue sky taken a while ago in the garden here at West Down House on the North Devon & Cornwall border, SW England, UK.

We have 5 acres of secluded gardens in which to wander and relax. Signs of spring are now well on the way with splashes of colour from crocuses, daffodils and primroses.

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flashphotography

07/03/2022

The wide open spaces of Dartmoor are about a 40 minute drive from us. In fact we can see the sun rising over the high tors in the distance every morning.

These beautiful and friendly Dartmoor ponies appeared on a walk to the summit of Gibbet Hill on the moor, near Mary Tavy, Devon, SW England, UK.

According to online sources in years gone by the area was notorious for highwaymen. Caught felons were put in a suspended iron cage on this hill and left to rot as a warning to others. The hill can be seen for miles around.

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03/03/2022

The wonderful Giant's Head artwork at The Lost Gardens of Heligan, near Mevagissey, Cornwall, SW England, UK. Definitely a cheeky or mischievous look.

A popular day trip with our guests and a fascinating story....

The gardens effectively went to sleep for over 70 years after the First World War. Like many similar places much of the estate's workforce went off to war and sadly many never returned.

Decades of neglect followed and most of the garden treasures were reclaimed and hidden by nature.

A massive restoration project began in the 1990s and was documented through a tv series and book.

Heligan is now a magical and inspiring place to visit with a huge selection of plants and many interesting renovations and restored garden features.

This imaginative living sculpture comprises mud and rocks and was planted with montbretia for hair and "Mind Your Own Business" for the face. The eyes are made out of a mosaic of pottery and china fragments (sherds / shards) found on the estate. It was created by talented local brother and sister artists Peter and Sue Hill in 1997.

A great story.

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03/03/2022

A spectacular view of the rugged coastline from the entrance to Tintagel Castle, North Cornwall, SW England, UK.

A popular place to visit with our guests.

According to legend, Tintagel was the place of the conception of King Arthur, legends famous for the knights of the Round Table and Merlin the wizard.

Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, used Merlin's sorcery to disguise himself as his enemy, Gorlois, to gain access to the castle. This allowed Uther to meet Gorlois's wife, Igraine, whom he loved, for their tryst.

The castle is located in a superior defensive position which straddles high ground and precipitous cliffs on the mainland across to an virtual island headland linked to the mainland by bridges.

This is taken from the entrance to the castle on the island and is reached by a steep climb up narrow stone steps.

Another of our favourite places to visit with breathtaking views of the beautifully rugged North Cornish coast...and definitely an air of mysticism.

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03/03/2022

26/02/2022

A magical moment as a figure of a woman or fairy appears dancing in the moonlight here in the garden at West Down House.

Is she really there or just an illusion and part of the trees or branches themselves?

This is a night shot of an artwork called the "Joy of Spring", a galvanized wire sculpture by talented Devon artist Ed Netley exhibited here on the North Devon and Cornwall border, SW England, UK.

The sculpture is in the form of a winged female figure, perhaps a mystical fairy, nymph or dryad.

We love the way the apparent movement of the figure as a celebration of spring has became part of the silhouetted trees.

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26/02/2022

VIEW NORTH FROM HIGHER SHARPNOSE POINT

One of our favourite views along a nearby stretch of coast. There are wonderful walks on the coastal path along this dramatic and breathtaking coast.

It is taken looking north from remote Higher Sharpnose Point to Lucky Hole & Cotton Beach near to Morwenstow, North of Bude in North Cornwall, SW England, UK.

On 8 September 1843 a brig, the Caledonia, was wrecked here and all but one of the crew perished on this treacherous coast.

The crew were buried in the local churchyard at Morwenstow with the ship's figurehead as a grave marker. More recently the original figurehead was moved into the church to preserve it, being replaced by a replica.

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23/02/2022

Displays of these beautiful groups of striking white crocuses have now returned to the garden here at West Down House. They are mixed in with purple varieties and drifts of snowdrops which carpet several areas of the garden.

The flowers are a welcome sign of spring returning and gardens starting the year anew.

The crocus is a member of the iris family growing from corms.

📷 Macro shot of this bunch taken in a previous spring here in the garden on the North Devon and Cornwall border, SW England, UK by

22/02/2022

Breathtaking Sandymouth Beach near high tide on the spectacular rugged North Cornwall coast near Bude, SW England, UK.

Perfect conditions highlight the jagged rocks, tortured geology and cliffs.

One of our nearest beaches and a favourite with our guests. Plenty of rock pools, pebbles surf and huge stretches of sand when the tide goes out.

The beach is under the stewardship of the National Trust.

Taken on a summer's day a few years ago. 📷 by

22/02/2022

The fantastic copper roof of the Core at the Eden Project in Cornwall, near to St Austell, SW England, UK.

A popular day trip with our guests, also a popular music venue in the summer months with the Eden Sessions.

The unusual architecture uses "biomimicry" i.e. using natural forms shown in plants etc for construction techniques. Apparently this roof uses Fibonacci spirals as found in nature in sunflower heads, pine cones and snail shells.

We loved the way the light played off the copper roof with the biomes in the background. All built within a forner industrial landscape by re-purposing a vast china clay quarry pit.

Now an extremely important visitor attraction showcasing different climate types under huges biomes (basically enormous climate controlled greenhouses). Quite a unique futuristic place. Like something out of a science fiction novel or film.

Taken several years ago, the roof has since weathered.

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20/02/2022

Some of the wonderful drifts of naturalised snowdrops and crocuses now carpeting the woodland garden here at West Down House on the N Devon & Cornwall border, SW England, UK.

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20/02/2022

The beautiful entrance to Port Isaac harbour, North Cornwall, SW England, UK.

A popular place to visit with our guests, this ancient fishing village is famous as being the location used for the fictional Portwenn in the TV series Doc Martin starring Martin Clunes.

It was also used in a 2005 tv adaptation of Rosamunde Pilcher's novel The Shell Seekers starring Vanessa Redgrave.

📷 by in warmer times!

20/02/2022

19/02/2022

Wow, the power of nature...

19/02/2022

Storm Eunice came through yesterday with wind gusts approaching 80 mph (129km/h) or more.

We are quite exposed at over 660 ft (200m) above sea level and only a few miles from the coast. You can hear the wind howling through the windows and debris bouncing off the window glass.

This was taken at about 9.00 a.m. yesterday during the red warning period as the storm was ramping up to its peak.

15 mins later we had a 9 hr powercut.

The local forecast said the wind was approaching violent storm force 11 on the Beaufort scale in places.