The romantic scenery of Lynmouth and Lynton is too well known to call
for any particular description here. Little wonder that one sees so many
honeymoon couples wandering everywhere about the lovely lanes. Lovers of
old oak, too, will find all that they desire at Lynmouth, for here is
the most tempting antique repository, calculated to make tourist
collectors of Chippendale and oak wish they had economised more in their
hotel bills. Motor cars sail easily down into the valley from Porlock,
but a sudden twist in the steep ascent to Lynton causes many a snort and
groan accompanied by an extra scent of petrol.
But we have overstepped the county line and are in Devon.
FOOTNOTES:
[24] See _Some Beauties of the Seventeenth Century_.
[25] See _Flight of the King_ and _After Worcester Fight_.
IN DEVON AND DORSET
Those who have never been to Clovelly can have no idea of its
quaintness, no matter what descriptions they have read or pictures they
may have seen. One goes there expecting to find the little place exactly
as he imagines it to be, and is agreeably surprised to find it is quite
different. It is so unlike any other place, that one looks back at it
more as a dream than a real recollection. We do not hint that the
everlasting climb up and down may be likened to a nightmare. Not a bit
of it. Though we gasp and sink with fatigue, we have still breath enough
left in our body to sing in praise. Were the steps more steep and less
rambling, perhaps we should not be so satisfied. What excellent exercise
for muscular-leg development. But how about the older part of the
inhabitants?
We had the honour to converse with the oldest Clovellian, a hale and
hearty fisherman, who, by no means tardy in introducing himself,
promptly proceeded to business. For twopence we might take his
photograph. We thanked him kindly, and having disbursed that sum
reserved our plates for inanimate curiosities.
It is gratifying to learn that there is no room for "improvement" at
Clovelly, and there are fewer houses than there used to be.
Consequently there is nothing new and out of harmony. The cottages are
really old and quaint, not as we expected to find them, imitations, like
half the houses in Chester.
Even the "New Inn" is delightfully old, with queer little rooms and
corners, and little weather-cock figures above the sign, of the time of
Nelson. It is a novel experience to arrive there in the dusk and
walk (?) down the High Street to the sea. The most temperate will
stumble and roll about as if he had sampled the cellar through, and ten
to one but he doesn't finally take an unexpected header into the sea.
But granted he reaches the end of the little pier (which projects after
the fashion of the "Cobb" at Lyme Regis), he will find a hundred lights
from the cottages as if lanterns were hung on the hillside, their long
reflections rippling in the water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account