Today Gill was having a girly day out with a friend, so I did a solo trip, on my buggy. Two thirds of the trip was on relatively quiet roads. The last 10 miles was on the Exe Estuary Trail, from Cockwood to home.
From home I headed to the Twisted Oak pub crossing the A30 into the village of Ide. Then I climb up through the village of Dunchideock to Lawrence Castle. I then went off road for a short distance, on my way to the Ashcombe Obelisk. I used Jackdaw Hill for my decent off the Haldon Hills, heading for Cockwood, where I joined the Exe Estuary Trail for the journey home.
From the Obelisk I headed towards Cockwood, from where I followed the Exe Estuary Trail back into Exeter. I stopped for lunch on the edge of Black Forrest, not far from Kenton. The area has a lot of pleasant memories, as I lived in Kenton from the age of nine, until I left home at the age of eighteen.
With fields of Oil Seed Rape on both sides of the lane, the fragrance was really strong.
Although it was a mainly sunny day, there was still a cold wind, so I was glad it was a tail wind for the Exe Estuary Trail section of the journey. The joy of traveling at 5 to 6 mph, I get to to enjoy the diversity of Flora in the hedgerows. Also being able to hear the birdsong, in the hedges and trees, at least twice I heard young chirping from their nests. The route can be viewed on the link below, my new GPS gives altitude readings as well as distance and speed. The lowest was 1ft, while the highest was 849ft, so quite a drain on the buggies batteries.
