it is sooo good to have my 'extended lunch breaks' back on Weds-Fri! Yesterday, Ben and Iris came to meet me as I finished work for the morning; we then went home the long way round, along country roads and through the Devil's Punchbowl, making it about 6 miles in total. I learnt that trying to photograph from a bike is much harder than photographing from horseback or on foot. :P


Coming down the hill to meet me! :)





Iris wore her worry face for most of the lake* section; but she was exceptionally good, considering she has never been here before.
* Oki, not really a lake. Almost certainly a hammer pond - a medieval, man-made waterway used to hydraulically power the bellows in iron forges and blast furnaces.


Then she thought maybe it would be safer if she just kept her eyes shut.



Coming down the track (looking much calmer now!) with the flank of the Punchbowl in the background.



Out on the road. The trees look massive - or Iris looks small.



Leaving the narrow road for the slightly wider one; I personally prefer riding on the narrow roads, because they are effectively single-track and cars aren't tempted to try and squeeze past. Roads like this one have just enough room for a car and a very well behaved horse to pass side-by-side.



There was a scary bag.



Back onto the single track road.



The road takes us under the A3, a dual carriageway between London and Portsmouth. Take note of Ben's hi vis!



Then we begin our way up into the Punchbowl, following the route of the old A3 (which was not dual carriageway, and followed a winding route around the edge of the Punchbowl itself. The new road goes through a mile long tunnel, which is infinitely better for wildlife and scenic beauty in general!). Back in ye olde days, highwaymen were a serious threat along this section of road.



Following a byway that takes us down into the Punchbowl, in order to avoid a much rockier path. I love Iris's expression!



This little cottage up ahead (called Gnome Cottage, owned by the National Trust) was so lovely - and so tiny! A perfect little cube of a cottage. I loved it. It is approximately 280-years-old.



Exmoor ponies and Highland cattle graze the Punchbowl, so there are cattle grids and gates marking the boundaries.



Looks like more hail is on the way!



I think this photo makes the setting look oddly Spanish. :P



Another gate and another grid on the other side.



A lot of trees came down during the gales we had earlier this year; but I have no idea what happened here! Somehow this enormous tree has fallen and the earth beneath its roots has been gouged away??



And we're back in the village.