A June visit with friends

We had delayed our June visit to Parkham so that we would be in our home town of Knutsford for the Jubilee festivities. We thought it would be a great opportunity to get to know our new neighbours better as mention had been made of street parties etc. In fact very little happened in Cheshire and we missed out on the packed programme of activities in Parkham. Looking at social media it appears that the whole village joined in the celebrations and we were sorry not to be part of them.

The first thing that we noticed in the village was the change in the hedgerows. Where there had been cow parsley, campion and a few remaining primroses ; there were now foxgloves, honeysuckle and dog and field roses.  I have to admit that I have only just become aware of the difference between the two types of roses, to me they had all been dog roses up until now and indeed the dog rose is the more common but  both can be found in the lanes around the village. 

(An explanation of the differences can be seen here https://www.treeguideuk.co.uk/dog-rose-and-field-rose/).

The warm and sunny June weather also  brought out the hummingbird hawk moths which love the valerian flowers in the garden and I was able to take a few close up photographs.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

Friends joined us in The Granary for the first time in several years and it was their first visit to this part of North Devon.  This gave us the opportunity to revisit some of our favourite haunts.  This included a walk down the coast path to Peppercombe and again at Greencliff. Having visitors to stay means that you see these places through fresh eyes and appreciate even more why we love our visits to the area and they found their stay peaceful and relaxing. Having guests also provided the opportunity for another excellent meal at The Bell and the chance to catch up with a few more friends.  

Before the friends arrived we also had (for us) a long walk from the Brownsham NT car park around Windbury Head, along the cliffs, down to Mouthmill Beach and then back up through Brownsham Wood. 

A distant view of Lundy from Mouthmill

We returned to Cheshire feeling very refreshed and the four and half journey now seems quite acceptable and provides us with the opportunity to stop at the excellent Gloucester Services, which were too close to home before we moved further north.