7 July: Exeter, the Estuary and Tintinhull

With luck this is Wednesday and we aim for Exeter: Cathedral and Estuary with a National Trust Garden en route.

This day was almost as delivered except we went to a different NT Garden on the way back.

Our route was also a bit different to that envisaged since I asked the publican of the George which way he would recommend to get to the M5.  His answer was that he wouldn't, as he thought the A 37 and A303 was a better option.  We took his advice and it was an easy drive: at least until we hit peak hour in Exeter.  Given my memories of BBC news covering the 10 mile  traffic jams on the Exeter by-pass every Summer weekend this wasn't too bad.  And the road signs were pretty good, apart from one case where 2 roads appeared to be signed with the same number!

As we drove along I noticed that the death toll for badgers was still high.  Given that I have never seen a wild badger I find this astonishing.

Today we were listening to the radio and there was a 'discussion' about whether artists in 2010 still go on the Grand Tour as did Turner.  One of the participants was a guy by the name of Brian Sewell: the link is worth following and he certainly gave conceptual artists both barrels (after explaining to the cretin interviewer that Turner never did a Grand Tour!). As a parenthesis - outside brackets - most BBC interviewers seem to be breathless  caricatures of themselves.  They should have a cliche and buzzword budget imposed, and if it was overextended an electric shock applied to the wobbly bits!

The first objective  was the Cathedral.  Before getting there we came across the shop for the SW edition of The Big Issue.  I suspect one of their sellers was having a kip on the grass outside the car park we used: it was good to see that they had a water bowl for the reseller's dogs inside the shop.

We got to the Cathedral 4 minutes after official opening time and were surprised to see a tour group (apparently from the Anglican Church of Italy) already leaving.  Whatever, the less folk in a place the more we enjoy it. 

After the vastness of Salisbury, Durham and York this place seemed relatively small.  It was very well done up especially with the roof bosses and capitals which were in very good nick.  (Unlike some other places there was no rubbish about no photography to boost book sales.)

The most impressive boss was one showing the murder of Beckett (tom not Sam).  I was intrigued to find another memorial to troops who fell in the Indian Campaign: I think I have seen such memorials in 3 or 4 of the Cathedrals and churches we have visited. 

As with several other Cathedrals this one had several exhibits by artists.  All were good and I was particularly taken with one of Angels and another - best described as an Altar piece - by a local (Tiverton) High School.

Following on from one other cathedral there was an old clock.  this one seemed to be a bit like the good old axe (2 new handles and a new head, but still a good axe).  What made this one good was the hole in the door next to it.  This was to allow the Bishops cat to chase the mice which fed on the fat used to lubricate the strings in the clock.  Hence the nursery rhyme about 'Hickory, dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock ..'.


After the Cathedral we headed to the Exminster Marshes for some birding.  I had already added a species to the trip list with a Bullfinch (excellent male)at the Barn.  We had a bit of trouble finding out exactly  where to go but eventually got to the Ford Lock to see a lot of low tide mud in the Exe estuary.  There were not many birds around, but there was a Spoonbill (not one of the Australian species) feeding which was as least an addition to my UK list (and possibly a lifer).

Then down the estuary a tad more to Dawlish Warren.  This is a National Nature Reserve but set around a really revolting 'seaside resort' and a golf club, which appeared really pushy with the rules applied to birders.  This was frustrating in the extreme since (after adding Dunlin to the trip list) a huge array of waders could be seen on the far side of the bay, well beyond bin-vision.  We wrote down some others (and marvelled at two other women in the hide who really had trouble with everything) and left for the next spot.

This was Tintinhull Garden, a National Trust place well back along the A303 towards Binacre.  It was a quite small place but beautifully organised around 6 or so 'rooms'.  This was all interesting and we enjoyed our half hour here.  For a change I couldn't find anyone to ask a question: in the houses there are volunteers in every room but few in the gardens.  My question here would have been how do they keep the weeds down?  At Carwoola we would have to weed every week for  several hours to keep the place weed-free.

On the way home we dropped into the local Tescos to get some beers.  After some confusion caused by the store running two promotions and me picking beers from each of them  headed for home.  The beers tonight were both from Wells

• Waggle Dance - a restrained Honey beer, rated as interesting but not amazing; and
• Bombardier, a good quality bitter.

It is interesting that a read of the GBG shows Wells (the name of the original brewer) to be a large national brewer.  They operate from Bedford, not the sign-post challenged town of that name a few miles from Binacre.  Greene King are in the same situation (of course, brewing from Bury St Edmunds not Bedford).    The article made several other interesting comments:

• Greene King IPA is the largest selling cask Beer in the country (with some justification IMHO);
• they refer to the "old national brewers who disappeared in the 1990s".  This is presumably the Watney, Truman and Ind Coope mob, whose products led to the formation of CAMRA;
• expading the previous point, Watneys was taken over by Anheuseur-Busch, who are responsible for producing American Budweiser.  Just think, a mixture of 'Bud' and Red Barrel: give that to someone you don't like!