Up on the common is a prehistoric earthwork called Woodbury Castle – a well preserved ‘camp’ in a wooded area protected by concentric ditches. Rather similar to Loughton Camp or Amesbury Banks in Epping Forest, but the banks here are much higher, probably because they are made out of the ‘pebblebed’ bit of the geological sequence.
A little way inland (but still within easy walking distance of the house) is Woodbury Common, an extensive area of heathland with bits of woodland. Great for walking and orienteering (if you can avoid the boggy bits and the gorse, not to mention commandos on training exercises!). The OS map is badly out of date, but we’ve got the orienteering maps of the common which are very easy to use.
The River Otter flows into the sea at the eastern end of Budleigh beach. There’s a lovely walk up the river and it’s an ideal spot for birdwatchers. One evening around dusk we watched an enormous flock of starlings wheeling and turning like a pulsating cloud as they played before bedtime.
The beach itself is stony- the stones apparently come from ancient rocks in Brittany which got eroded by some ancient huge river. There’s usually someone fishing off the beach – it’s a good spot for mackerel and John sees himself catching the family supper in future!
We are enjoying the coast and countryside around here. Two minutes from the house is the South West Coastal path – which runs all round the coast of Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. It’s an exhilarating walk along the Jurassic coast. This pic is taken from the path looking east towards the beach at Budleigh. The headland in the middle is where the River Otter enters the sea, and in the far distance you can see the coast sweeping round Lyme Bay towards Chesil beach.
