EXMOOR: Paths constructed beside the East Lyn a century and a half ago when Lynmouth first attracted visitors after the Napoleonic wars are the only man-made feature in a tough, wild setting. Passing at the water’s edge or ascending the side of a hill to avoid scree slopes or cliffs rising directly out of the river, they make good walking. What seems like a hundred thousand writhing branches of oak overarch the paths and rides. The river foams through narrow defiles, crashes over falls, and enters deep, transparently green pools. Ice cold and aerated it brings the mood of the moor with it on its rapid descent to a frequently sunless sea.

Source: The Guardian March 23, 2020 06:00 UTC