The first destination on the agenda was a visit to Eastern Hill Woods. The woods used to belong to my late grand humans who lived in Noss Mayo for a while in the 1950s; they bequeathed the woods to The Woodland Trust.

The woods are on a hill, so we set off up some steps past the church.

I stopped for little break at the top and admired the view of the estuary.

After going further uphill along a country lane we arrived at the gate to the woods.

The Brooking Down Wood Committee look after the woods very well and there are several paths to wander around on. I found a bear sized hidey hole in a tree!

We saw a deer running through the woods but it was too quick to be photographed!

At the bottom of the wood there is another welcome sign.

After walking just a short way along the road it is possible to go back into the woods again and climb back up to the top.

The sprinkling of bluebells everywhere added to the peaceful atmosphere.

After climbing back up to the top I needed a little rest so sat in the sunshine and ate my orange.

We then headed back down to the Noss Mayo creek to walk to the coast.

The tide was out so I was able to walk across the voss.

We then followed the path towards Cellar Beach.

Lots of boats were moored in the area of the Yealm Estuary known as Thorne Pool.

I had a rest next to the primroses and just looked at the view for a while.

After walking another half mile or so we finally reached the steps down to Cellar Beach.

There are quite a lot of steps there for a small bear.

Cellars Beach looked very inviting in the spring sunshine. I suddenly realised that I was missing my cap! I had dropped it further up the hill. I would have to keep a look out for it on the way back up to the path.

In the distance there is a small island which is called The Mewstone.

There was a little waterfall at the back of the beach which looks bigger next to me because I am very small!

I found a cave too, which looked just the right size for me to go in, so I went in with the human following behind.

It was a very small cave and very dark; my human took this photo using the flash on the camera.

After leaving the cave I climbed back up from the beach and sat on a well-placed bench to eat a bun in the sunshine.

At the top of the steps I was jolly pleased to find that someone had placed my cap on a post.

I think the cap looks better on my head!

The next destination on the walk was The Warren, so I kept following the humans. A little secret, sometimes I do climb into the backpack for a lift as it would just take me far too long to walk 6 miles without a bit of help!

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the area known at The Warren.

Another beautiful view across the estuary.

There is a very good path for walking along this section of coastal path, so we made quite speedy progress.

I took my hat off and gave it to a human for safe keeping just in case it blew off in the wind.

Gorse is a bit prickly but not too bad when wearing clothes and it has an added advantage of securing me so that I don’t blow away or fall over! Behind me is The Mewstone and Wembury.

There were some inquisitive lambs in the fields who came to the fence when they noticed me.

Finally we arrived at the path leading back to Noss Mayo. I was starting to feel a tad hungry.

Our car was parked in the tidal car park next to The Ship Inn. If humans don’t watch the tide times their cars can end up in water.  Fortunately high tide at the Creek wasn’t for a couple of hours so we had time to get a meal.

The coconut weather station brought a bigger smile to my face.

It wasn’t long before I was tucking into Cumberland bangers and mash with seasonal vegetables. It was very yummy.

I was so hungry I had dessert too, a yummy dark chocolate brownie with ice cream.

We had a long drive back to Bristol afterwards after a really lovely day out.

Horace the Alresford Bear 18/4/2025