Day 11: Day trip to Westward Ho
After a long discussion about what or who made ‘Westward Ho!’ famous we finally gave up and asked Siri 😂 None of us guessed it was Charles Kingsley, who also wrote The Water Babies.
Unlike Kingsley’s novel, there were no pirates on the horizon yesterday when we toured Westward Ho!, the only town in England to have an exclamation mark in its name! It was only a short drive from our stay in Hartland and rain was predicted so we crossed our fingers and hoped the weather would hold.
We had a few spots of rain as we ate our lunch – Cornish Pasties overlooking the bay – and fought off the huge seagulls who wanted to share our them. Truthfully, they didn’t want to share it, they wanted it all!
As you can see the tide was out when we were there but it was a pretty sight – and the life savers flags were flying but no one was swimming between them or anywhere else.
A boardwalk takes you from the car park, along the pebble ridge to the main area of the village. The pebble ridge was fascinating!
The stones had been worn smooth and round by the sea and Dave & I wondered if they were a natural phenomenon or had been brought there to stop beachfront erosion. While we were contemplating this a knowledgeable chap walked past and told us that this ridge, (apart from the huge boulders, some the size of half a small car), was completely natural.
He also said that the tides swirl through this bay bringing the pebbles from Hartland and depositing them here at Westward Ho! During the winter the tides are high and wash the pebbles down onto the sand, eroding the ridge. When the tides recede in spring the locals come down to the beach and throw the pebbles back onto the ridge to build it up again. Over time, though, the ridge is not holding back the sea as it used to and waves crash over the top and claim more of the land.
Westward Ho! is apparently well known for it’s surf but today it was a long way to the water for those carrying boards. However there were surf shops along the shore for those keen to catch a wave.
It wasn’t a long drive but it was an interesting destination and there’s always something new to learn about everywhere we go. Today’s lesson was about the Pebble Ridge … and of course, Charles Kingsley.