On a fresh and sunny morning ten Cirencester Ramblers set off from the well-hidden car park at Hillsford Bridge, with Clarice and Graham from the North Devon group, for a strenuous walk of about 9 miles.

The walk took them along the Two Moors Way, through woodland and on paths that seemed very steep to legs and lungs more accustomed to the gentler Cotswold slopes. There was time for a refreshment stop in Lynmouth, a popular little town devastated by a storm in 1952 and, since 1890, linked to Lynton, at the top of the hill, by funicular railway.

The walk continued up to Countisbury Hill where lunch was eaten in the sunshine, in a small natural amphitheatre with dramatic views of sea and heather-clad slopes.

Entering the woods again and following the East Lyn river, stopping to admire the clear water of Crook Pool, the weary Ramblers returned via Watersmeet, where some stopped for well-earned cups of tea.