Herb Riddle's photos

A look at the deep wall of Minehead harbour. Being on the Bristol Channel it has one of the highest rise and fall tides in the world. Quite by chance the highest is at the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, a place I also visited only days ago. HWW, have a great day.

A last minute holiday to the American and Canadian East coast brings us on our first full day, to Newport, Rhode Island. This taken just after sunrise from our cruise ship as we enter this exciting port town. PiP shows more of the bridge. This is the Claiborne Pell Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in New England. The overall length of the bridge is 3,428 meters (11,247 feet). Its main towers reach 122 meters (400 feet) above the water surface, and the roadway height reaches as high as 66 meters (217 feet). The lighthouse is called: Rose Island Lighthouse. Enjoy

A wet miserable morning takes me down to Porlock Marsh. This big marsh area borders the sea to my left and the inland hillside and villages near Porlock to my right. I fell in love with this area which had many footpaths over the tidal marsh and border but it was the old dead trees that captured my imagination. A real sense of wanting more time in other seasons too so I could explore with different lighting and weather. That being said, I do like this subdued view here which would make a great setting for the Charles Dickens ‘Great Expectations’novel. Enjoy full screen

Seen in the front garden of one of the old cottages along Minehead promenade. I presume he went fishing from the old harbour just across the road from here and he’s had a successful catch by the look of things! Enjoy the weekend.

Another look at this lone tree and you can see now that it is not so lonely here in this windswept valley. To our left is the castle rock again but this time we see its proximity to the sea. Enjoy full screen

Another capture of the village of Lynmouth showing the harbour walls and old tower. The PiP (last photo) shows one of a number of flights of steps here that, allow boat and fishermen to access their craft. The harbour has been here a long time, in fact since Medieval days. It has been altered by floods, in particularly the 1952 one but there has floods here that devastated the village in 1607 too. In fact the word Lyn comes from the Old English ‘hlynn’ meaning ‘torrent’ HWW, have a great day.

One of a number of flights of steps that, allow boat and fishermen to access their craft here in Lynmouth

As we leave Lynmouth and the Valley of the Rocks we take a stroll over Foreland Point. This view is looking west over Lynton, the larger sister village to Lynmouth which lies much below that to our right. The Valley of the Rocks is just beyond the 'v' shaped cutting (see note). The road we see here is the infamous Porlock Hill road with its very steep 1 in 4 (25%) inclines at both ends. Enjoy full screen. Have a good day. ps Inspired by our Ipernity friend David G Johnson, below - here is that famous hymn, Jerusalem: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKRHWT6xdEU

Watch the goat droppings but do enjoy the view looking towards Lynmouth. A lot of seats around here which tells me something about the style of tourist they expect around here, but that suited us fine! We are looking east over Lynmouth Bay towards Foreland Point where we were to explore a few hours later. Enjoy full screen. Have a great day.

An autumnal view of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal near the Saddleworth village of Diggle. We are approaching bridge No.68 with its lock just behind it and a little further the very popular Grandpa Greene's canal side café. Some few hundred yards beyond that, the long deep Standedge Tunnel. Yes Autumn has arrived -this morning we have our first frost. Nice full screen.

Another view from this wonderful valley demonstrating the direction of the prevailing wind here. Below and behind the tree we see the flock of wild mountain goats that live here. Enjoy full screen

A view of part of this popular old village with its river and beacon tower. It’s difficult to imagine that this was the scene for one of our worst flood disasters (see below). Essential full screen. Enjoy the weekend. “ON FRIDAY 15 AUGUST 1952, THE TINY VILLAGE OF LYNMOUTH SUFFERED WHAT COULD BE DESCRIBED AS THE WORST RIVER FLOOD IN ENGLISH HISTORY. On the day itself, just over 9 inches (230mm) of rain fell, 6 inches (150mm) of which fell in a few short hours in the afternoon/early evening. Add in the 6 inches (150mm) of rain that had already fallen in the first two weeks of August, then it is no surprise that the top of Exmoor was unable to absorb the rainfall and was totally overwhelmed. A noted author, S H Burton, recorded that water stood 18 inches (450mm) deep in the area of the moor around the Chains – indeed, the road between Lynmouth and Simonsbath, ironically at a place called Dry Bridges, was reported to the Devon Constabulary in the early evening as being washed away and impassable. The road here is half a mile above Farley Water, the nearest river. It was estimated that 90 million tons of rain fell in North Devon and West Somerset on that day. This rainfall flooded into the many tributaries of the East and West Lyn rivers and, consequently, many tons of water, soil, boulders and vegetation descended through the narrow valleys (or coombes) of Exmoor from 500 metres up on the moor to meet at sea level in Lynmouth itself. On its way, various bridges blocked the flow until they collapsed and subsequently a wall of water and rubble hit Lynmouth in the late evening. Effectively, Lynmouth was destroyed during that night. The statistics make incredible reading. The West Lyn river rose 60 feet (18.25 meters) above the normal level at its highest point; 34 people in the wider area lost their lives – 28 in the Lynmouth/Barbrook area alone. In 1953, the “58th report of Scientific Memoranda of the Devonshire Association“, prepared by specialist Mr C H Dobbie, concluded amongst other points that “the flow (of water) in the tributaries and branches exceeded the ‘acute catastrophic flood’ definition for England. As assessed by a preliminary investigation, the flow could be included in the list of extreme flood discharges of the world. The tiny catchment area of 39 square miles yielded a flow that has only been exceeded twice by the River Thames with all its 3812 square miles since measurements started in 1883.“ Further, Mr Dobbie calculated that the water that fell in that one day would supply the water needs of Lynmouth’s total population for 108 years. Following the devastation, 114,000 tons of rubble was cleared from the village, some of it being used to extend the Esplanade Car Park, but most of it being dumped into the channel and dispersed by tidal motion. " visitlyntonandlynmouth.com/history-heritage/the-1952-lynmouth-flood-disaster

Posted here in response to Peter Castells comment on the previous page. to A bit stouter than desired she is standing just under that ramped stone by the cube. Sorry about the lower pixel count on this (it was going to be a PIP only).

A view from just a little higher than the bench I posted the other day (Pip) showing what is known as the Castle Rock. I can certainly see why it is so named. Behind that I see here another castellation which may be part of the Lee Abbey? There seems a constant haze in the deep valley behind the rock, as this channels sea mist up the valley from the sea to our right. I saw people on the rock at one point and so I presume it is not a difficult climb. Enjoy full screen

As the A39 road trundles over the river here in this steep valley at Lynmouth, I look back with some pleasure up the river where a pleasant walk through the woods on the left climbs up to a place called ‘WatersMeet. Here also, seen just before this bridge on the right hand side is the confluence of the West Lyn River. The two rivers have caused devastation to the village in the recent past. HWW, have a great day.

A look at this lift that quickly transports you to the top of this high cliff to the village of Lynton. Taken from the sister village Lynmouth harbour area itself, the LLCR is in fact the highest and steepest totally water powered railway (funicular) in the world. It was opened in 1890, rises 500ft (152 m) and is 862ft (262.7 m) long. - No, we did not go on it this time but we have done so in the past. See PiP for entrance view More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynton_and_Lynmouth_Cliff_Railway Enjoy full screen.

This capture belies the beauty of this place. The views beyond the trees and behind this hill to the right are breath-taking but that is for another day. ‘The Valley of the Rocks, is a dry valley that runs parallel to the coast in north Devon, England, about 1 kilometre to the west of the village of Lynton. It is a popular tourist destination, noted for its herd of feral goats, and for its landscape and geology.’ Wiki. Enjoy full screen. Have a great day.

We see here the end journey of the river Lynn. It rises in Somerset and flows through the Devonshire countryside before reaching the Bristol Channel at Lynmouth. Sitting in the distance is The Rhenish Tower that was used as a beacon for shipping for many years before its almost complete destruction in the 1952 floods. It was rebuilt two years later but the only original part here is the 'fire basket' sat on its roof. The harbour is to the left of the wall . Enjoy the day.