Ilfracombe

We had a very short and breezy stroll on the beach before breakfast and a much longer walk afterwards along the coastal path to Ilfracombe. It’s only a mile and a half as the crow flies but, if you’re not a crow it’s a pretty steep climb on the outward direction.

The main photo of Ilfracombe was taken from the top of the climb and gives a clear idea of why the natural harbour made it a strategic naval and commercial port at the entrance to the Bristol Channel.

The high angle extra of Damien Hirst’s sculpture, Verity, which stands at the entrance to the harbour, was taken from the same spot as the main blip, showing the scope of the telephoto lens.

We had a stroll around the harbour when we got down there, where I took the other extra of Verity with St Nicholas’ Chapel on Lantern Hill behind. The Chapel was decommissioned during Reformation and became a lighthouse and home to the keeper and his family of 14 children in the 19th Century.

We had a lunch of crab sandwiches outside the harbour side fishmonger’s, eschewing the incredibly large seafood platter, tempting though it was. The couple next to us had to leave almost half of theirs they were so full up.

We got back to the apartment mid afternoon just as the rain set in and spent the rest of the afternoon reading and enjoying the hot tub.

Just to prove we are creatures of habit, look where we were 8 years ago to the day

https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/4826198

I knew I’d blipped Verity before but couldn’t remember when it was!