An Exeter to Broadclyst birthday walk
Apr. 7th, 2015 06:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylYesterday we walked from Exeter through Stoke Woods and Columbjohn Woods to Killerton House, where we stopped for tea and cake — a really good gluten- and dairy- free lemon and cardamom cake from The Exploding Bakery. As might be expected, given my current enthusiasm for taking lots of photos, here are a few of the better ones.
A tree in blossom on the university campus
Gery and Clare posing by a stile on Belvedere Road.
What might just possibly be Brampford Speke.
Our Glorious Leader striding out purposefully in the hope that others will follow. Note the compass and the stick: he is clearly a man equipped for anything.
Stuart carefully negotiating his way around a downed tree in Stoke Woods. He makes it look easy, but trust me, it really wasn't.
We arrived in the usual place for lunch at around half-past one and an advanced party was dispatched to scope out the ground.
Lubo and Clare beneath what was to have been the lunch tree. Unfortunately the ground was too wet for sitting, so we migrated to a drier spot by the edge of the wood where there were old bits of wood to sit on.
Lubo rests his eyes after a long walk, a picnic lunch, and a glass of prosecco.
Gery looks terribly serious and Simon is obviously concentrating hard too, making me wonder quite what Frances has just said...
Clare has the knack of making practically everything look glamorous.
JC helps Anne-Christine bridge a huge chasm in the road. Not only did the ditch run across the entire road without a gap, but there wasn't even a plank to help pedestrians get across.
Columbjohn Chapel which, the internet informs me, is a 19th century creation in the grounds of a long-disappeared manor house.
Clare and Stuart leading the way up the trail in Columbjohn Woods. Paula is close on their heels, with JC and the rest of the party just visible in the background.
Looking south from Columbjohn Woods towards Danes Wood and Poltimore in the far distance.
Immediately on arrival at Killerton we ordered teas all round, shook out the picnic rugs, and broke out the birthday cake.
Clare gestures at the view in best, sweeping, aristocratic style. Or maybe she's just shading her eyes from the sun. It's hard to tell...
Gery and Lubo, always a photogenic pair, perfectly posed on the picnic pad. They weren't actually posing for me — JC was actually supposed to be taking a photo for them with their camera — but I ducked in under his arm and took this while he was setting up.
A detail from the entrance to the house. I rather like the juxtaposition of the pink facade and the blue of the sky, with the stark branches as a reminder that while it may feel like summer it's still very much spring.
Looking back at Killerton House from a path to the south. This works much better in higher resolution and I'd be tempted to crop it, if that wouldn't lose the shape of the hill behind the house and the faintest hints of cirrus in the background.
Finally made it to the Red Lion in Broadclyst after a nine mile walk.
From left to right: Mark, Gery, Lubo, Paula, Simon, Anne-Christine, Stuart, Clare, Frances. Behind the camera: me and JC. Note Gery's very muddy boots and Mark's incipient sunburn.
Clare looking extremely smart — unlike the men, the women brought changes of clothing and conspired to spend the evening looking elegant and relaxed, while the rest of us sat around in our scruffy trousers and muddy boots.
Gery seems to be channeling the spirit of a movie star with her scarf and bug-eye glasses.
Once everyone was ready, we moved inside for food. I had a vegetable enchilada but the fish pie was popular as were the steaks. And when Frances' pudding arrived, it came complete with a birthday candle!
Sadly I missed the actual moment of Frances blowing out her candle but here is the immediate aftermath. The framing and general angles show just what a terrible indoor photographer I am and just how bad I am at anything that requires flash...
Another shot of Broadclyst war memorial this time at dusk with Venus rising in the west above it. There was a certain amount of debate about whether the planet really was Venus or Mars — I checked and Mars rose later — and whether the photo was going to come out, but in the end it all came together rather well.
We caught the bus back to town — happily, I confirmed that my bus Exeter pass was valid all the way out to Broadclyst — and rounded off an absolutely lovely day in with an uneventful journey home.
A tree in blossom on the university campus
Gery and Clare posing by a stile on Belvedere Road.
What might just possibly be Brampford Speke.
Our Glorious Leader striding out purposefully in the hope that others will follow. Note the compass and the stick: he is clearly a man equipped for anything.
Stuart carefully negotiating his way around a downed tree in Stoke Woods. He makes it look easy, but trust me, it really wasn't.
We arrived in the usual place for lunch at around half-past one and an advanced party was dispatched to scope out the ground.
Lubo and Clare beneath what was to have been the lunch tree. Unfortunately the ground was too wet for sitting, so we migrated to a drier spot by the edge of the wood where there were old bits of wood to sit on.
Lubo rests his eyes after a long walk, a picnic lunch, and a glass of prosecco.
Gery looks terribly serious and Simon is obviously concentrating hard too, making me wonder quite what Frances has just said...
Clare has the knack of making practically everything look glamorous.
JC helps Anne-Christine bridge a huge chasm in the road. Not only did the ditch run across the entire road without a gap, but there wasn't even a plank to help pedestrians get across.
Columbjohn Chapel which, the internet informs me, is a 19th century creation in the grounds of a long-disappeared manor house.
Clare and Stuart leading the way up the trail in Columbjohn Woods. Paula is close on their heels, with JC and the rest of the party just visible in the background.
Looking south from Columbjohn Woods towards Danes Wood and Poltimore in the far distance.
Immediately on arrival at Killerton we ordered teas all round, shook out the picnic rugs, and broke out the birthday cake.
Clare gestures at the view in best, sweeping, aristocratic style. Or maybe she's just shading her eyes from the sun. It's hard to tell...
Gery and Lubo, always a photogenic pair, perfectly posed on the picnic pad. They weren't actually posing for me — JC was actually supposed to be taking a photo for them with their camera — but I ducked in under his arm and took this while he was setting up.
A detail from the entrance to the house. I rather like the juxtaposition of the pink facade and the blue of the sky, with the stark branches as a reminder that while it may feel like summer it's still very much spring.
Looking back at Killerton House from a path to the south. This works much better in higher resolution and I'd be tempted to crop it, if that wouldn't lose the shape of the hill behind the house and the faintest hints of cirrus in the background.
Finally made it to the Red Lion in Broadclyst after a nine mile walk.
From left to right: Mark, Gery, Lubo, Paula, Simon, Anne-Christine, Stuart, Clare, Frances. Behind the camera: me and JC. Note Gery's very muddy boots and Mark's incipient sunburn.
Clare looking extremely smart — unlike the men, the women brought changes of clothing and conspired to spend the evening looking elegant and relaxed, while the rest of us sat around in our scruffy trousers and muddy boots.
Gery seems to be channeling the spirit of a movie star with her scarf and bug-eye glasses.
Once everyone was ready, we moved inside for food. I had a vegetable enchilada but the fish pie was popular as were the steaks. And when Frances' pudding arrived, it came complete with a birthday candle!
Sadly I missed the actual moment of Frances blowing out her candle but here is the immediate aftermath. The framing and general angles show just what a terrible indoor photographer I am and just how bad I am at anything that requires flash...
Another shot of Broadclyst war memorial this time at dusk with Venus rising in the west above it. There was a certain amount of debate about whether the planet really was Venus or Mars — I checked and Mars rose later — and whether the photo was going to come out, but in the end it all came together rather well.
We caught the bus back to town — happily, I confirmed that my bus Exeter pass was valid all the way out to Broadclyst — and rounded off an absolutely lovely day in with an uneventful journey home.
