Hartland Peninsular

Friday 01 August 2025

We often plan a weekend away to celebrate a birthday (OK, in my case, it's often 'travel to Vietnam' or 'celebrate in Chicago') and for JC's birthday he chose North Devon as his treat.  It was intentionally nearby as we'd been in Cardiff the weekend before and were also busy the weekend after. 

So, after work, we drove to Hartland.  I don't think I've been to this village - it's super charming and local, exemplified by us immediately getting stuck behind the tractor erecting bunting for the village carnival the following week.  I did discover two benchmarks - a flush bracket and a cut mark, beautifully painted.

Eager to try out his newly acquired drone, we went down to Black Rock for a picture or two. 

Saturday 02 August 2025

Today was photography day with intermittent walking ;-)  We parked at Hartland Quay and walked down to Speke's Mill.  The waterfall wasn't amazing due to lack of rain, we then strolled down to Docton Mill for coffee before heading north towards Hartland Point.

En route to Hartland Point we passed through Stoke which, unexpectedly, had a church open day.  Stoke Church has the highest (or second highest?)  bell tower in Devon with a heavy bell at 17 cwt. We were invited up into the bell tower for a ringing session which was fun. 

We turned west at Hartland Point.

I love this part of the coast path - such amazing geology.

And JC took some fun aerial shots.

We walked around to Hartland Quay and, after supper in the pub, went down to the beach to take sunset shots.   This is a great rock pooling beach and it makes watching the tide come in more interesting as the water rushes into the small pools. 

Sunday 03 August 2025

Popped into Arlington Court on our way back as we were in the vicinity.  We enjoyed a good hike around the estate, losing our signage at one stage and having to hop over a gate or two.  However, it's always nice to stretch those legs. But we never did make it to their carriage museum.