Autumn colours in the Blackdown Hills

With so many jobs waiting to be completed, it’s hard to justify spending time doing anything else. But as we didn’t want to miss the views of the valley getting into Autumn, we decided to spare a couple of hours this weekend to go for an early walk. I know we’re biased, but the Blackdown Hills really are incredible. We saw a local company describe walking in the hills walking through a painting – and it’s so true. Especially when the air is still and there’s a slight haze everywhere.  

This is one of our favourite walks – starting with a pretty steep climb along lanes and through a field (as long as the cows aren’t there). The view at the top looks along the valley and down to the sea on a good day. Then you make your way along the top of the valley ridge through a forest full of beech trees, firs and rhododendrons, with the towering trees creating a lovely panoramic view down the path.

The view opens out again at the top of the valley, again with the most amazing views (and probably my favourite spot). The route back to Yarcombe village goes through what feels like an ancient wood, with thick-trunked-trees and thick overgrowth (luckily dying back in the autumn, making it easier to get through).  

It was a particularly nice (and almost self-indulgent) way to spend the morning, before getting back to more bulb planting. We thought we’d been managing the number of bulbs fairly well, but as dusk fell on Sunday, we had a handful of bulbs remaining and at least another 10m strip to go. The effect we’re after simply wouldn’t look right with such a long gap at the end (plus it’s the part we’ve actually rotovated and should be easy to plant!), so we finished Sunday by ordering another 25kg of bulbs to fill the space. We had originally said we’d leave any more planting until next year, but the desire to finish it and not have the job hanging over us until next Autumn was just too great! 

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