Becky Falls, DevonThe first time I visited Becky Falls was with my first boyfriend, William (whose surname was Roberts, the same as mine, which led to some confusion...)
It's still incredibly beautiful, though more people visit these days (read: it was busy). There are three trails,
Blue, a gentle ramble for children, with a stampable card (find all the stamps on the walk, fill the card, and get a small free gift at the end: Kai chose a superbounce rubber ball),
Red, the one we took, (and that was bad enough, my legs were
aching when we got home), and
Purple, a more demanding walk/climb for the fit and determined.
The medium-difficult route was all steep woodland slopes, rocks, tree roots and very high rough steps - a considerable climb (I'm writing this on Sunday and my legs are still hurting - though the following day's visit to Cheddar Gorge didn't help!) All very
LotR-ish. Carol suggested I was thinking hobbits again: I was forced to point out it was Elves, not hobbits... Though doing a Gandalf on a little bit of broken path was amusing.
This bridge at the bottom of the boulder scramble was quite something. You can't see it from here, but it sloped
sideways, making walking across it rather interesting.
There were small caves (very small and shallow, child-sized) at the top of the slope, which Kai explored with considerable enthusiasm while I watched the pet dogs: they're welcome at the falls as long as they stay on leads. I have to confess I find it funny that all dog owners
know dogs love water and insist on shaking themselves when they come out, but still squeak and jump back when they're sprayed with cold water!
The main falls are beautiful, not terribly high nor overly spectacular, but lovely. They form part of the boulder scramble (exactly what it says, lots of large mossy boulders scattered all down the falls and along the riverbed that visitors can scramble over) that joins the main falls to the log bridge. Kai had a wonderful time, and made his way up to the top all along the boulders: Carol and I were a little more restrained (Carol particularly as she was carrying the camera) and finished the scramble along the path!
There are other 'attractions' - rescued owls, a pets' corner, café, pony rides, picnic areas and a puppet show - to keep the whole family entertained.
Afterwards we dropped into the
House of Marbles, a great place! There are some marvellous marble 'perpetual motion' machines (
here, top image) which Kai naturally fell in love with and is now working on his own design. A quick trip to visit Carol's friends and their two gorgeous sprogs, and we got back about 9.30 pm, so tired we had a quick dinner and then an early night!
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Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor
pontificated this at 9:34 pm
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