I made my way to Exeter Cathedral. A very impressive building and one that managed to survive the war largely intact. Earlier this year the cathedral celebrated its 1100th anniversary and a lot of the banners used for the occasion have been left in place which added a lot of colour to the interior. One of the highlights for me was a papier-mâché life-size reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper by 13- and 14-year old students from Tiverton High School.
I took the guided tour of the cathedral which was really interesting, and though you could join and leave as you liked, most people (myself included) stayed on for the hour-long tour.

Afterwards it was time to head back to those shops I had ear-marked for a return visit. Loaded up with a some shopping bags, it was time to head back through the rain to the hotel.

Walking down was the easiest half of the journey. The route was cobbled in a sort-of-stepped fashion which I think helped make it easier on the feet. Once down at the harbour I could see that the tide was either half-out or half-in—at least it wasn’t fully out!

When it was time to head back up to the top, I decided I would give the landrover service a miss. On the way down I had walked past the gift shops that were open, so on the way back I used them to help break the climb up in to smaller sections. That certainly helped to make the climb less of an ordeal.

Once back at the top I had lunch at the café in the visitor centre. I ordered a bacon roll. I initially thought that it would be a bit like a sausage roll—bacon meat wrapped in pastry. Then I thought it might be like a filled roll—with bacon as the meat among the salad greens. When it arrived I discovered it was a couple of bacon rashers bewteen a toasted hamburger bun—and that was all!

Leaving Clovelly I headed toward Barnstaple and the route south to Exeter. After making good time I decided to turn off at Crediton and go and take a look at Bickleigh Castle. Upon arriving I discovered that it was open by appointment only, so it was back the way I came. Passing back through the village of Cadbury I noticed a sign mentioning Cadbury Castle, so I went in search of the iron age hill fort. I failed miserably (not least because the hill fort wasn’t noted in my road atlas) but I did succeed in finding out that country lanes in Devon can be every bit as narrower as Cornish country lanes.

Arriving in Exeter I found myself in the wrong lane at a roundabout and subsequently found myself on the wrong side of the city for my hotel. After a few consultations of my road atlas I managed to find the hotel and check in.