Lynmouth

Lynton is connected to its sister-village Lynmouth by an ingenious Cliff Railway, which, when it opened on Easter Monday 1890, was the first of its kind in Britain. A gift from Sir George Newnes, the publisher and newspaper tycoon, the railway is powered by water, or rather by two 700-gallon water tanks, one at each end of the 450 feet track. When the tank at the top is filled, and the one at the bottom emptied, the brakes are released and the two passenger carriages change place.

For centuries, the people of Lynmouth subsisted on agriculture and fishing, especially herring fishing and curing. By good fortune, just as the herring shoals were moving away to new waters, the North Devon coast benefited from the two new enthusiasms for ‘romantic’ scenery and sea bathing. Coleridge and Wordsworth arrived here on a walking tour in the 1790s, Shelley wrote fondly of his visit in 1812, and it was Robert Southey, later Poet Laureate, who first used the designation “the English Switzerland” to describe the dramatic scenery of the area. The painter Gainsborough had already described it as “the most delightful place for a landscape painter this country can boast”. One of the most picturesque villages in Devon, Lynmouth also has a tiny harbour surrounded by lofty wooded hills, a curious Rhenish Tower on the pier, and do seek out Mars Hill, an eye-ravishing row of thatched cottages.

Lynmouth’s setting beside its twin rivers is undeniably beautiful, but it has also proved to be tragically vulnerable. On the night of 16 August 1952, a cloudburst over Exmoor deposited nine inches of rain onto an already saturated moor. In the darkness, the normally placid East and West Lyn rivers became raging cataracts and burst their banks. Sweeping tree trunks and boulders along with it, the torrent smashed its way through the village, destroying dozens of houses and leaving 34 people dead. That night saw many freak storms across southern England, but none matched the ferocity of the deluge that engulfed this pretty little village. The Flood Memorial Hall has an exhibition that details the events of that terrible night.

Another testament to the ferocity of the storm can be seen in Glen Lyn Gorge where boulders and other debris still litter the ground. But the glen also provides some lovely woodland walks by the waterfalls and paths along the valley. An exhibition here demonstrates how water from West Lyn River now produces hydro-electricity. Children can have fun with giant waterwheels and water cannons. There’s also a collection of steam engines and models operated by water.

An earlier exceptional storm, in 1899, involved the Lynmouth lifeboat in a tale of epic endurance. A full-rigged ship, the Forest Hall, was in difficulties off Porlock, but the storm was so violent it was impossible to launch the lifeboat at Lynmouth. Instead, the crewmen dragged their three-and-a-half ton boat, the Louisa, the 13 miles across the moor. Along the way they had to negotiate Countisbury Hill, with a gradient of 1000 feet over two miles, before dropping down to Porlock Weir where the Louisa was successfully launched and every crew member of the stricken ship was saved.

Just to the east of the town is the popular beauty spot of Watersmeet where the East Lyn river and Hoar Oak Water come together. An 1832 fishing lodge, Watersmeet House, stands close by. A National Trust property, it is open during the season as a café, shop and information centre where you can pick up leaflets detailing some beautiful circular walks, starting here, along the East Lyn valley and to Hoar Oak Water.