The poets walk

I recently visited Lynton and lynmouth in Exmoor. The two quaint villauges are connected by a little tram that goes up from the coastal lynmouth and back to the cute village of Lynton. I took so many photos (as always!) that I will split them up a little. If you don’t want to get the little tram, known as the Cliff Railway, which is the highest and steepest fully water powered Victorian railway in the World, then you can also take the path up by foot. I did the walk as really fancied it and It’s not for the faint hearted it really is steeper than I was expecting! The walk between the two villiages is called the ‘poets walk’ and is adorned with poems and little stone statues. I’m assuming as they were all hand written on white boards that people can go up and add their own as and when.

You can stop midway and watch the cliff railway. During the 19 th century the high cliffs separating the two villages was becoming a major obstacle to the economic growth of the two villiages.
The villages mostly relied on sea transport to transport coal, lime and food because land travel was extremely difficult over Exmoor. On arrival the supplies had to be carried by packhorses or in horse drawn carts up the steep hill to Lynton. The cliffs were also problematic for the tourists who were beginning to arrive in the mid 1820's on paddle steamers from Bristol, Swansea and other Bristol ports... but any that wanted to walk up to Lynton were faced with a daunting Hill. Ponies and donkeys worked the route and could be hired for 6d per journey but the steep hill really tested the animals and they ended up with very short working lives. The building of the cliff railway alleviated the suffering of the animals and made transport better for both business and holiday makers.

The walk itself has poems and benches at many points along the walk to take a breather and take in some words of wisdom offered by other walkers.

Towards the top are lots of little stone statues, they actually feel a bit eerie if I was alone at night I would probably feel pretty watched 👀.

There’s also lots of places to stop along the way and take in the increadible views.