Travelling South of the River Exe

Within minutes the cathedral is a small spike on the skyline and the air is clean. Clear wide cycle paths will take you all the way to the sea, with plenty to see and think about along the way.

The Exeter Ship Canal. Built by a Lord.

For the first couple of miles, you track beside the Exeter ship canal which is one of the most pointless canals in the country. It is short and has no connection to any other canal.

It was built by Lord Powderham long ago to improve his trade with Exeter. That is the trouble with Lords, they have so much money they have to keep building things in order to make more. These days they build housing estates wherever they want.

Anyway, we got a canal out of it and it is busy with water sporters, especially rowing clubs from the university.  Sometimes they crash into each other which is spectacular to watch. Everybody shouts a lot just before the crash but by then it is too late to stop it.

Exminster Marshes

Next, you pass the Exminster marshes. Devon’s premier wetland area, looked after by the RSPB and protected under European law. Well, it was, not sure how that works now? It has hedges, ditches, flooded marshland, happy cows, wading birds and wildflowers. 

Sometimes there is a rare bird. Birdwatchers from across the country flock to see it. Birdwatchers have huge telescopes and, if you ask them what they are looking at, they point excitedly to an invisible speck in the distance and invite you to look through their lens. If you do, you still won’t be able to see it.

Check out the Boats

At the end of the canal is the Turf Locks pub. A great place for spectacular views over the estuary or checking out the boats in the canal.

If you are unlucky it will be windy and there will be a noisy wedding going on. Make the best of it by walking slowly past the marquee and watch the guests looking self-conscious about their fine clothes. Try to do this when the first dance happens because it is fun to watch and nobody will notice you.

If you are lucky it will be quiet and the water will be like glass. You can check out the boats, wonder what they might cost and how it would feel to sail off to warmer places for the winter. It can start to feel quite serious because the boats look so nice. But there is no point buying a boat unless you know how to drive one and can live for months without your chickens and cats.

Lord Powderham Country

From there you bowl along beside the river on a wide flat cycle path with an exciting bridge over the railway track. The late Lord Powderham objected to a bridge on his land. He preferred the old way, where common people had to drag bikes and children across a busy railway line. Luckily Sustrans won and the bridge is here.

Now it only takes a second to get safely over the railway.

And the view from the top is always great.

Next is Lord Powderham country. The estate is huge.

Ancient trees, a high fence and grazing deer.

And the castle in the distance. The new Lord Powderham moved in a few years ago when his father died. He had to bring his family back from a happy life in America to run the estate and live in the draughty old castle surrounded by ancestor’s stuff. People say he is very nice, so we have a Good Lord now.

His farm shop sells expensive pickles in rustic jars, venison from his land and vegetables that look suspiciously like the vegetables from Lidl.  The castle is good for an interesting tour of old things or getting married. They don’t talk about the days when old Lord Powerham banned same-sex weddings and had his licence revoked.

Pumphouses and Pubs

Moving away from Powderham you have to dodge a bit of traffic in Starcross. 

By now the estuary is very wide and you are nearly at the sea.

Starcross is a tiny little town with a world-famous pumping station which was built by Brunel for his atmospheric railway.

It is satisfying cycling through because you go faster than the traffic. The road is narrow so drivers have to wait and get annoyed about giving way to camper vans.

Minutes later you are in Cockwood.

A sweet harbour and pubs with good food. The estuary is full of mussels and the pub in this picture does at least 30 different mussel dishes. Great if you like mussels but watch out for food envy when somebody else chooses better mussels than yours.

From there it is a short run to Dawlish Warren. More about that here.

Topsham and the 14 year-old who Sailed in this Weekend.

On the way back you can look across the river to the pretty port of Topsham.

This weekend a 14-year-old returned here after sailing single-handed around Britain. She is the youngest person ever to achieve this. You can read her blog on this link.

That’s the trouble with 14-year-olds. They are so full of energy you have to give them interesting projects. This one is extraordinary so, if you ever had a teenager and only got them a game console, try not to feel guilty. It wasn’t your fault that you forgot to get them a boat.

Meanwhile, the tip of the day.