#either that or it stays on the main blog and i descend further into posting about my own characters like it's

[jennablackmorebooks]

I think at some point, if she didn't already have one, Mirdri would acquire an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner. She might try to show Otto — after all, he has his own special ring — but I don't think it would be the best experience of his life. Can you clean an eye in an ultrasonic machine? I think Otto's ring would require a bit more delicate care. I'd like to draw this, but it's almost 4 am and I have a headache, so this maybe serves as a reminder to draw it when the daylight hours return.

[lambourngb]

re: your tags on that one post abt plotholes in rnm: what are the plotholes that make you lose the most sleep?

(this is my main btw, my rnm blog is @curlyguerin )

Hi! Okay... strap in, because there are a lot of little and big things that wiggle into my thoughts and makes me wonder ...am I the only one who couldn't follow that plotline?

In my opinion RNM suffers more from abandoned narratives and continuity errors than plot holes I guess, since we only have 2 seasons, with at least 2 more to go I guess I can hope they come back to these issues... but: [Under the cut plus some spoilers for season 3]

Things I would like explained :

1. What did Jesse Manes fund with family money in 1x08 ? I'm guessing it was surveillance of the town and the search for more aliens that could have escaped the military in 1947-1948. The idea that Jesse funded Caulfield is just laughable to me, along with how he was able to get his Army-assigned son moved from Germany to New Mexico for 5 years and no one noticed?? Caulfield has to be separate from whatever Jesse was doing in Roswell. Clearly there is still an ACTIVE military project focused on aliens because Flint isn't AWOL, Flint also takes Noah's body to Area 51, so where was Jesse in violation of his orders (Alex's threat to Jesse in 1x08 and then shipping him to Niger)? Surveilling citizens and setting up cameras all over town?

2. Did they ever build an Air Force base on the Fosters Homestead Ranch? (1x01-1x02) ...then it's never mentioned again.

3. I am aware I am the only one who cares about this little bit, but the show seemed to set up a narrative in season 1 about the spotlight Roswell shined white victims of crimes - like Katie and Jasmine, that the town of Roswell holds quite a lot of racism regarding justice- vilifying Rosa for over 10 years, ignoring the deaths of people around Ranchero Night, and then Noah kills Wyatt Long's best friend Hank Gibbons in 1x13. I dunno, I was expecting more from Wyatt in season 2 about this than picking a fight with Michael over Mimi's missing persons sheet and showing up with a crossbow in 2x04. And like, there was a theme of people going missing in season 2!! Mimi, Jenna, the weird twins from 2x06, Charlie -- but yet, no closer scrutiny by Sheriff Valenti other than her focus on Max Evans and the story about Mexico- Like this felt not like a plot hole, but a dropped narrative -- to wrap up the fate of Racist Hank in a missing persons sheet in 2x01. To treat him weirdly like all of Noah's other victims (who were women and men of color and poor), but for a few factors like he was white, he had actual lines in the show over a couple of episodes, and he's one of the few townspeople we learn his first and last name still sticks out in my mind as strange. The Doylist explanation is the actor wasn't available for season 2, but the Watson-perspective of this is just someone the in-show universe doesn't care about ...? Okay. I will keep that in mind, and try to ignore the fact that the town of Roswell swings wildly back to caring about white victims again in 2x13 with Jesse Manes.

4. The Alighting from 1x13 - just how far away was it from happening? Noah was ready to stick a sheriff's deputy, the town event planner and Michael (who probably would be been the only one to go missing without much fanfare, except maybe by Alex) into a pod...for how long? Months? Years? What was his endgame? how did he expect to go unnoticed by the town while he waited for his alien salvation/alien UBER to arrive? Could he just mindwarp everyone into forgetting about the pod squad? Since we didn't see any alien ships show up in the six months from 1x13 to 2x13, and no further follow up by any of our heroes about what Noah was babbling about... I'm going to say this should come back into play for season 3, otherwise it's the most egregious plot hole from season 1.

5. Why did Flint want to work with Helena? Jesse had this master plan that Helena knew all about apparently but she never shares the plan with Flint? Jesse never shares this plan with Flint either? Why? As far as I can tell from the plot of season 2, Jesse takes the console piece from Alex, he was going to kill Alex to keep him out of the way, use the console to blow up civilians, he created a paper trail that pointed the finger at Max, and then when everyone knew the truth about aliens, he was going to use HIS atomizer bomb to release the toxin that Charlie had already developed for Project Shepherd to kill all the aliens.... WHY would Flint want to stop that, especially since they fight in 2x11 over how slow Jesse was moving in his plans? Other than objecting to killing Alex, why would Flint turn Alex over to Helena to blackmail Michael into building a second atomizer bomb? He should have just kept Alex out of the way until it was all over and let Jesse proceed with his plans. Flint's desire to work with Helena Ortecho remains a plot hole to me, that is explained in the most flimsy way of he thinks his dad isn't serious about killing all the aliens even though he has the means? And if he takes Alex from Jesse's control so easily, why not steal the bomb Jesse had too?

6. These are more gripes about continuity, not really plot holes, but the fact we have this loose timeline of events but it doesn't match the weather of filming.... Like Heather Hemmens looked so gorgeous in that little silk outfit in 2x01, but she's wandering outside in Dec in Roswell New Mexico looking like that. I get that it was filmed in August/Sept of 2019 but come on... so my main frustration is I have no idea what season and month is supposed to be on screen. Universe timeline says Winter but filming schedule meant it was early fall with still having the heat of summer there...then the show ends in May/June in the universe, but we all know RNM wrapped in Dec 2019/Jan 2020 so they are all bundled up in winter again.

7. Also on continuity, small things like Rosa's birthday being wrong, the fact her astrological sign isn't Pieces for either date, openly letting Greg Manes see Rosa, not seeming to care that Liz's ex-fiance hears that Rosa is alive - like i'm sure her "dead" sister came up in conversation between Liz/Diego

- the show gives us this beautiful conversation with Michael sharing his background with Alex in 1x10, but then Alex completely forgets it in 2x04 by dropping some line like "this is what you do with family" when Michael expresses confusion about a height chart. Also, on the same note- the jabs about the Library being a dive bar, also felt like a drop in continuity because Alex knows that Michael just lost his mom (1x12) , the government IS studying aliens, and his brother is in a pod, so like, he has some very valid reasons to drink if that's what he wanted to do with in his life in early season 2!! but, also he knows Michael is a genius??

- Why Alex never mentions Rosa, Isobel's blackouts/why Michael gave up UNM, or even hint about what happened with his dad in the shed during his conversation with Maria in 2x05 is also beyond bizarre to me. It was an "information" dump conversation that Alex still doesn't share all the information he has about a situation and just ends up looking kind of judgmental in my opinion.

- the truck conversation in 2x06 between Maria and Alex, why Maria prompts a girl's name when Alex says he's never been in a real relationship INSTEAD of addressing the very real elephant in the room, Michael Guerin, that they had a conversation about in 2x05- also feels like a gap in continuity.

8. Science wise- the pathogen that Charlie developed? It was supposed to be so specific that it could kill a leader of Al Quada and all of their direct descendants but leave the rest of the population unharmed. [Which um, that's a war crime, but whatever!] How was Maria affected? the DNA they had at Caulfield to develop it - like, Maria was descended from Louise and Louise lived free. The only person that pathogen SHOULD have affected was Michael (if they used Nora to base it on) Unless you're telling me that there's some protein in "alien dna" that is so specific to aliens, that no other human shares it, but also so completely undetectable that Kyle couldn't find it in Maria's blood... ? I suppose it's possible. I hope we get more explanation about that in season 3. It makes me wonder why Caulfield/Project Shepherd ever let Patty Harris go after she volunteered for some study then, and remained content to just pay her medical bills through a fake insurance company? [But also didn't flag Mimi and all the doctors that Maria took her to???]

9. Michael's hand. I'm going to reserve judgment about this, because some of my salt on this is based on season 3 promo pictures, but I really thought that moment in 2x13 when he takes off his hat, while Alex is singing, you see him without the wrapping on his hand, that maybe he found some peace with Jesse dead and demolishing the shed with Alex. But then it looks like the hand-danna is all over season 3, right up until the finale of season 3, so... was that a mistake in wardrobe AND not a beautiful moment of character growth??? I wish I could extend some grace to RNM about that, but alas... see above for why I have trust issues.

10. Perhaps I wasn't watching season 1 closely, but I thought Noah's madness was brought on by the fact he was stuck in his pod? That it was "lower class travel accommodations" and Isobel's scream at 13 got his attention? I assumed that he stayed in the pod, possessing Isobel on and off, right up until he used her body to kill Rosa in 2008, absorbing enough power to break out. So how did Noah find Jim Valenti so quickly? If it was through Isobel's memories, then why did Jim not immediately have Noah, some random alien approaching him about his recently dead daughter, hauled off to Caulfield? Jim pays $1,000 for Rosa's body, putting her in a pod [Noah's broken pod??] and stores her, waiting for...something? An alien to come along to bring her back. So did Jim know about The Savior? Why would Jim work with Noah and vice versa? Again, I'm hoping we get more about this in season 3.

11. Was there a point of keeping Alex in the Air Force? He arranges a place for them to work on bringing Max back, but I feel like anyone could have done that? Like Isobel had money, she could have rented a storage facility. All of the equipment was borrowed from the hospital, not the military. The information about 1947-1948 was from the drives decoded from Caulfield or the AAR report left by Flint in the Project Shepherd bunker (which again was decommissioned, not an active military installation). I could support the decision if it had provided some richness to the plot or some conflict within the character, neither of which really happened. Alex hacking the government and going undercover in the Air Force to protect Michael is basically fanon. I love that fanon, but alas...

12. Finally, the time jump. What year are we jumping into? 2020? 2021? Why does it make me think none of those questions above will be answered.

[laurenworthymusic-blog]

Week 1 summary :)

25.09.18, Week 1

The past week has been really helpful to me. I have been able to see even more areas I need to work on but also productively worked on my short term targets which I will touch on throughout this weeks blog post. 

So my first weekly goal was to research into local places that I can get affordable guitar lessons outside of college. During my research I found two ideal places which I could further look into, however until I get myself a sufficient guitar I cannot begin professional lessons. Therefore, I will book some lessons early in the new year at either Harmonics Music store, or Bluenote Guitar School. Moving on, my second short term goal was to focus on microphone technique. I also did some research into this and figured out that distance from the microphone can sometimes aid in voice getting lost. Before performing it is important to have the microphone stand at the correct height and be stood the right distance from the microphone. My main criticism was that I had a timid voice, and a lack of confidence in myself when performing was not helpful. Neither is the fact I often shy away from the microphone when it comes to notes higher up in my range. As a way of also strengthening my vocals I have been singing scales with the sound “BA”. Overall I need to get closer to the microphone and have confidence in myself by believing I can hit all the notes I need to. 

My third, and most important, goal was to practice getting myself into a structured practice regime. Ideally I wanted to do 10 minutes warming up, then 20 minutes working on my current solo piece, and finishing with 20 minutes of practising my parts in band pieces every evening. I found that doing it everyday was quite time consuming, and to avoid fatigue I decided to change my mind and practise every other day in the evening with the same structure as before. This idea is working much better for me, although there is always room for improvement. Especially with vocal warm ups. When it comes to playing scales and arpeggios on the keyboard I seem to struggle, and initially I planned to practise quite intricate scales such as singing 1.5 octaves with a “GOO” sound which I was finding difficult to figure out. To help myself out I have simplified my warm ups to singing along to 5 degree major scales until I get the hang of more challenging scales. To help me towards that I will continue practising in my spare time and watch YouTube tutorials. When I am more confident with my keyboard skills I can go back to using arpeggios during my warm ups.

In regards to my solo performance practise I have been quite successful. I have focused mostly on my original solo song which was Happier by Ed Sheeran. This week, what I really wanted to work on was interpreting the song in my own personal style. The lyrics to Happier are something that the majority of people listening can relate to, which is one reason I chose the song as my first solo. It is filled with emotion and meaning and so I would like to portray that when I am performing it. Alongside that song I have also been working on another potential solo which is Turning Tables by Adele. Again this song is full of meaning and tells a story which I would like to be able to show when performing. Additionally, Turning Tables is a song that I find quite challenging to perform because Adele has a more powerful voice than I do, but pushing myself will help in the long run.

Since starting at Liverpool Media Academy, I can already see a development in my confidence when performing solo. I still have a really long way to go compared to my peers, and a long way to go until I have reached my full potential. Something that has also helped me confidence wise is band work. Prior to beginning this course I had never worked in a band situation and it was always something I had wished to do. At first I was quite awkward and nervous when wanting to put my ideas forward to the group, but i’m slowly coming out of my shell more and more. Throughout this weeks rehearsals, we have worked on One Kiss by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa. Collectively we haven’t exactly loved the song but we have worked well as a team to put our opinions to one side and make the song our own version. I would say that our biggest achievement as a band this week would be the dynamics of the piece. The song has gone from being a block of sound to a pretty enjoyable performance. As a way of taking a proactive lead in this weeks sessions I volunteered as lead singer instead of shying away as a backing singer like I would have preferred to do with a song like One Kiss. To ensure we all made steady progress, I made sure to stay focused and practise my parts as much as I could.

Where my long term goals are concerned, I would say i’m pretty much on track so far. My third goal was to have created backing tracks for at least 3 of my original songs. I have spoken about working with a friend on a backing track for a song I wrote recently called ‘Heaven Knows’ which we will be working on in the next few weeks. 

To finish off, my new weekly goals are as follows:

1. Be able to confidently play all major scales, ascending and descending.

2. Focus more on Turning Tables for my solo piece.

3. Work on posture and being more relaxed when performing.

[deanmullenfilms]

4 Days Cut Off - My Experience Of Storm Alex (Saint Martin Vesubie)

On Friday, October 2nd, Storm Alex was approaching the southeast of France. My girlfriend at the time and I were aware of the storm in the days prior as it had made landfall in the UK and Ireland before moving down to France. That morning, we were expecting a lot of thunder and plenty of rain, but we’d experienced many stormy days and thunderous afternoons before as our quaint village nestled in the Alps was prone to such weather.

The image below was taken around 7.30am on the Friday morning. I posted it on Facebook, and my caption was “ The calm before the storm.” 

Day 1 - Power Outage

My sleeping routine had become somewhat nocturnal by this time of year, the combined result of living through the Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that my girlfriend at the time enjoyed living by those hours. So naturally, I developed these habits, and as a result, I was taking this image shortly before trying to go to sleep.

During the night I had been watching a YouTube video that had a duration of about one hour, featuring a talk by a man who survived 9/11. The thought at some point crossed my mind, what if this storm became a disaster but it was nothing more than a fleeting thought, a similar type of thought to those I had experienced before in other scenarios and no such disasters had unfolded.

(Liquel sitting by a laptop on Friday morning)

By the following afternoon, the heavy rain was filling the valleys, and unknown to us, a once in a century storm/flood was unfolding. At this time, we were sleeping on and off. The electricity went and the water was working intermittently. Destruction like we could not imagine was taking place during these very hours and we had no notion that this was the case. The rain did sound heavy, and the thunder was exceptionally loud at times but it did not sound much worse than storms we’d already experienced that year. We had no idea.

With no electricity, it was hard to feel inspired to do much during the evening. So we spent most of nightfall trying to get more sleep. One of the house cats Sherbie came to cuddle and keep company, though his previous intense fear of thunderstorms seemed to have faded. There were a total of 8 cats in the house. At this stage, all 10 of us were safe, and calm but outside, people had already died.

Later that night, my girlfriend at the time and I went to the linen room and looked out one of the side windows of the house. Our home, like the rest of the ‘Place de La Fraire’ (a square that sits at a high point in the village albeit one that is at the edge of a cliff-like drop of roughly 20 metres) is just next to the river bed which sits below the village. The village is propped up in the mountainous area. We could not see much but the river was loud.

Suddenly, a man with a headlamp began descending the small road right outside our home. He was heading down to the bridge that crossed over the river, connecting the village to a road that leads to Nice. We watched out of curiosity. He began facing his headlamp out once he got to the bridge. Its brilliant bright light shun toward the river, a river that we could never see directly from our home. Yet tonight, we could see something flowing in the darkness, lit up by his headlamp. My partner asked, “Is that the river?!”. It didn’t seem possible given that we were about 20 metres above the river or more, and yet somehow, what is usually practically a tiny trickle appeared to be a monstrous river flowing rapidly down the mountain. Somehow it didn’t yet hit us that some serious destruction had taken place outside.

After, I went to the living room. I sat on the sofa and used a small flashlight to illuminate a book I was engaging in, which was Dune by Frank Herbert. I had recently bought it online alongside Artemis, a novel by Andy Weir, who was also the author of the Martian. Technically we are on to day two by now but dawn had yet to come. Conscious of trying to avoid draining the flashlight’s battery (as I didn’t know how long the power would be off), I decided to turn it off. I ended up relaxing on the sofa and accidentally nodded off. 

Day 2 - Seeing the Destruction 

Abruptly Alexandra came into the room. It was daylight and roughly a little after 7am. She was panicked and upset. I can’t remember exactly what she said but it was along the lines of “You have to come see this, I can’t explain it...” I got up and with intense emotion, she added “I hope everyone’s okay.” That’s when it first hit me that something dire has occurred.

We watched out the window we had peered through the night before and what we saw was shocking and difficult to comprehend. We knew that much of what was in view was not before. Clearly, a lot of trees had been destroyed.

There was no way to contact the outside world. The water wasn’t running either. We headed outside with our masks on and found several people gathered in the square. People seemed dazed. We noticed a couple with backpacks on. It was a tourist village (although not many tourists at this time of year). In the square, there was a small viewpoint looking down onto the river. And with that view, you could see a roaring river. As the water struck the rocks, it sounded like a very heavy wave crashing onto the shoreline. The power of this water was clear already, and it was frightening.

We headed down the side road that the man with the headlamp (in hindsight, possibly a rescue worker) had descended the night before. As we did, more came into view. And what we saw was an incomprehensible mass of destruction. It was just pure devastation. There was simply no way to grasp what we were seeing.

In this area alone, where the Vesubie and Boreon rivers meet, there was once a football pitch, tennis courts, and helipad as well as many, many trees and large walls too. Indeed, they had all been there the previous morning when I took the first image of this blog. We looked around for a few minutes in horror, and my partner also engaged in French with one of the locals, trying to understand what was going on. The village was stunned. It then occurred to me, and as my words conveyed “I think people have died.”

As we impossibly tried to digest what we were looking at, I suggested to my partner that we head up to the top of the village (that being the main square) since it would be the only place I figured we could access information. She too, was concerned and suggested that the area we were standing on might collapse. The bridge itself was evidently damaged as was the house next to it:

We headed toward the central part of the village where the shops, bank, and Mairie (town hall) are located. We found over a hundred people gathered at this spot. Though we had our masks on, it was hard to remain conscious of Covid as we went through the motions of picking up information while in a dazed state and perhaps a state of shock too.

There were several Pompier’s (firemen) in the village. However, they themselves had little information at the time (although incredible rescue efforts would soon commence and elsewhere a Pompier had already tragically died the day before during the storm).

As we arrived at the main square of Saint Martin Vesubie, we obtained limited information. One woman said that we were the worst hit the village although we had no way to confirm this at the time. Before this point, my partner and I had wondered whether there was destruction heading on for dozens of miles. I recall asking, “I wonder what it must be like in Nice?!” under the assumption that the destructive flood may have only accumulated the further the water headed down the mountains. This, however, would turn out not to be the case, and indeed, we were among the worst hit villages.

Listening in on conversations, my girlfriend heard a Pompier tell people to clear their cars from Place de La Frairie as it was under threat of collapse! That’s right, the place in which we lived, they feared, was at least potentially in danger of collapsing. My girlfriend at the time works in the holiday homes management sector and so thankfully she had the keys to a place nearby. We rushed back to the house, put the cats in their boxes, grabbed some essentials, and made our way to her client/friend’s house before my girlfriend at the time moved her car up to the main square of the village.

We stayed in this house for a while, but with growing apprehension and after talking with more professionals, we both agreed that we should sleep in the car in the central part of the village for the night (which is also roughly the highest point of the village). So we began a long and tiresome effort of carrying the cat boxes uphill to our car. Once the cats were in the car and with my partner staying there to take care of them, I headed back on two more trips to collect  everything else we’d put in her client/friend’s house.

We settled in, in the car. We didn’t have much to eat or drink with us, so we rationed things carefully as we had no idea how long we’d be staying there for. Anxiety rose at the thought of getting on a helicopter to leave the village (as one bridge was down and the other was yet to be assessed for safety), mainly because of the cats and our concern that their little hearts would not be able to manage the loud and dramatic sounds of a helicopter. 

(The tent the car was parked beneath. The car is just behind me, out of view)

Toward the evening time, my girlfriend managed to get a lend of a man’s phone which had a small bit of connection. She called her friend who became emotional as soon as she heard her voice, realising that she knew for sure that we were alive. Clearly, to the outside world, no one could know for sure what was happening. The message got out to our friends and family from there that we were alive and safe. 

On a positive note, some people in the village cooked up some gnocchi that night in metal pots atop a gas canister stove. The day was something of a blur overall, though. To be honest, it’s hard to give any good indication as to how long we actually slept, but the day seemed to fly in all the same.

The cats had settled in well. There were six boxes with three rows of two stacked boxes, four with one cat and two with two. We let them out, one or two at a time to get some freedom while we made sure to feed and water them throughout the day as well as comforting them during this stressful experience. The two Grey Persians kept warm together when they were outside their box. They usually preferred their space, but given the temperature, they seemingly just wanted to keep as warm as they could. An occasional growl toward the other when they moved was unsurprising, however.

(The ‘greybies’ cosying up together next to their litter tray).

The night was cold and eerie. Every time we heard a distant sound, our hearts jumped. Each of us asked “What was that?” several times during the night. There was an anxiety that anything could happen. Was the house safe? Were we safe, even at this high point? I couldn’t get the fear out of my head that the entire village could collapse. Looking back, that was an overblown fear but it was hard not to feel that type of anxiety given just how much destruction had happened overnight and considering that we had, had no idea just how bad it was until we witnessed the aftermath that morning.

Day 3 - An Absurd Twist

On Sunday, helicopters took people from the village to Nice Airport, rescuing them from what had effectively become our island village. I recall my partner talking to a woman in French who was passing by our car and finding out for us that they were going to let cars leave from the following day (via the bridge next to the house). We now hoped that we wouldn’t be stuck between a choice of staying behind in a cut off village and taking a helicopter, which could prove dangerous for the cats.

Day three was something of a blur too. We slept for a while, I think, although I can’t say for sure. We got some grub that evening as well. That night, however, had an unexpected turn. We had to take times going to the bathroom during the night, and on one occasion, we had a mix up that ended with us accidentally locked out of the car. In the end, the Pompier’s came to our aid and managed to pull the window slightly out of place so that with a metal hangar, they could hook the car keys and pull them up. 

One of the Pompier’s made the sounds of the Mission Impossible theme song. We all had tried to make light-hearted moments where we could. With special protective gloves, one of the Pompier’s got the keys and pressed down on the button to open the car. We thanked them repeatedly as we regained access to the vehicle and the cats! We agreed to ensure that there was always one person in the car at any time from then on.

Day 4 - Leaving

On Monday morning, we were officially told we would be given permission to leave. Several hours passed, and then around early to mid-afternoon, we got on the road. We found ourselves parked behind a line of cars leading from the main square down to the bridge. There was a queue, although we weren’t sure at the time whether they were letting several cars over a time, one at a time, or just waiting for some other reason.

A woman came by checking that our name was on the list to drive out. At one point, we saw a police office strolling around with a gun. Some time passed, perhaps almost an hour, and then we headed over the bridge once the traffic got moving, and we began the long journey to Nice (since the usual route was inaccessible).

On the way, we had to stop while a rescue helicopter took off from the road:

As I began to finally get some signal again, I called my family for the first time in days and contacted several of my partner’s friend’s. While everyone already knew we were safe, it was good to be able to communicate normally again. A little under halfway through the journey, we stopped off at a parking spot in the mountains to give the cat’s some attention since the road trip was stressful for them.

It was a lovely, warm October afternoon, and if you didn’t see the destruction, you’d think it was another typical day in the pristine and beautiful Alps. In reality, there was a deep feeling of darkness afflicting the valleys, and it will take a long time for the region to rebuild itself after the destruction of this extraordinary and arguably biblical flood/storm. After about a 90 minute journey, we reached the place where we were to stay in, in Nice.

I will never forget what happened that weekend in the Alps. Storm Alex took 16 lives in total across Europe. It was most destructive along the French/Italian border region. RIP to all who perished in this devastating storm.

(Image Source: FloodList... The other images are originals)

[paul-s-walks-uk-blog]

Walk 5: Start Point Lighthouse and circular walk

‘I can think of no other edifice constructed by man as altruistic as a lighthouse. They were built only to serve.’

George Bernard Shaw

‘Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.’ 

Benjamin Franklin

The tower of Start Point Lighthouse

This walk description is from my Tumblr blog ‘Dartmoor (and other) walks’, where you will find guides some of my other walks, and (eventually) hints, tips, for successful hiking and some of my favorite places

The photo album of this walk can be found by clicking here

There is always something attractive about lighthouses, standing a lonely vigil on windswept promontories,which is ironic, as their function is often to warn you to stay away. This is certainly the case with Start Point lighthouse. The stretch of coast around it is famous for shipwrecks. The last major wreak was the Dimitrios in 1992. The worst was that of the  HMS Ramilles which went down in 1760 with the loss of 700 lives. The seas around Start Point may be beautiful and dangerous, but the coastal around are beautiful and safe for any sensible walker.

Walk data

Distance: 10 miles (16.1 km), including the detour to the lighthouse

Grade:Moderate

Start and end point : Car Part at Start Point (SX821375)

Facilities: There may be an ice cream van at the Start Point car park, if you are visiting in Season. Pub, cafe and shop at East Prawle.

Transport: public transport: There is no direct public transport to Start Point. Journeys from either Exeter or Plymouth (or even Torquay) involve several changed, followed by a taxi from Kingsbridge, all of which are time-consuming and expensive.  driving: A bit complex to describe in detail, but easily enough using a map or suitable  software. About 35 miles from Plymouth, 45 from Exeter and 19 from Totnes. 

Ordinance Survey Explorer OL20. Coordinates are taken from this map

Walk overview

The walk is along roads and well defined footpaths. The coastal stretches of the walk are on the official South West Coast Path, and so are well signed and maintained. There are two particularly easy ways to shorten the walk if time is pressing. These will be indicated below. The visit to the lighthouse is a slight detour from the circuit. A map is needed, and is essential if you don’t know the area. It is not advisable to take the coast path in stormy weather or high winds.

One of the delights of coastal walking is trying to identify the places on the map: Almost every little cove, islet, cliff, rock or beach, has a name. The names are sometimes strange, sometimes obvious, always evocative of something indefinably maritime, and often on the coast around Devon, sounding as though they have been taken from a pirate novel. Here are some of the names to be found along the coastal stretches in this walk. I have put them in alphabetical order. If you go on the walk, see if you can identify them all

Black Stone

Bullock Cove

Chap and Crater

Copper Stone

Frenchman’s Rock

Gorah Run

Gull Island

Hare Stone

Limpet Cove

Lobster Rock

Long Cove

Ravens Cove

Stinking Cove

Route Map

The starting point for this walk is, appropriately,  near Start Point. It is the car park on the eastern side  of the map above, where a viewing point is also indicated. The alternate paths mentioned below are indicated with green dots.

stage 1:Start Point to Hallsands

View from the track by the car park, facing north across Start Bay

At the edge of the car park is a finger post with three directions. One pointing back to the light house, one to Minehead, which is helpfully designated as 462 miles away, and one to Poole, 168 miles away. We are following the Poole direction, if only for a couple of miles. 

The track heads more-or-less northwards along the cliff top. It is rocky, but easy to follow. On the left are the green fields of South Hams, and on the right, grassy slopes with scattered gorse bushes fall steeply down, terminated by rocky cliffs into the sea. Little patches of unreachable beach can sometimes be glimpses at the foot of the cliffs. 

The track rises and falls, but generally heads downwards, and soon you find yourself looking at the broken remains of cottages, their roofs gone and their tumbled down walls jutting precariously over the sea.This is the lost village of Hallsands which was destroyed by fierce storms in 1917. The story of the storm can be found here. Only two or so houses remain standing, These are now holiday homes. 

The Lost Village

There is a pleasant pebbly beach at the bottom of the dip, where the track meets the coastline. It can be a busy place in July and August, but often it is empty. There are several houses that are part of modern Hallsands, and quite a few further from the sea, like many tiny, peaceful villages on the south coast of Devon

Hall Sands

Stage 2 : Hall Sands to East Prawle

 As the trail descends to the level of the beach it joins a road with a row of bright white cottages, here our path diverges from the South West Coast Path and turns left to follow the road up hill, in a westerly direction. It is a shame though to miss the pebbly beach at Hallsands, especially is the weather is good, so go down to the beach and watch the sea. In the height of summer this is a very busy little bit of seaside, but most of the year it is quiet, and you can sit and watch the Brixham Trawlers passing in the distance.

The road is a typical Devon Lane, with high hedges on either side for most of the way. Occasionally there are breaks in the hedges, usually at gateways to fields, and one gets an unexpected vista of farmland or sea. Sometimes the lane is roofed by trees and the filtered light makes changing patterns on the road surface.

Pass by a junction that points to Lamacraft Farm. Very shortly after this is a four-way junction with a direction post called Hollowcombe Head, standing on a little triangle of grass. Cross the junction and take the load in the direction of Lannacombe. This is a ‘proper’ Devon lane. Although it is a public road, it is barely wide enough for a single car, and the hedges are tall and ancient. It is not a frequently used road. Where the hedges disappear and there is a gate or or a farm house, there is a clear view of the valley of Lannacombe that we are descending into.

The road reaches a bend, to the right under the shade of oak leaves, and there is a left turning, marked as going to Lannacombe, and with a dead-end sign. This is the first of the two shortcuts.

If you are taking this short cut merely follow the road in the direction of Lannacombe. This will lead you to the coast at Lannacombe Beach. Turn left and pick up the trail again. I have marked this point with an asterisk in brackets below like this (*) 

If you are not taking the shortcut, pass this turning and follow the bend in the road, taking the next left. Shortly after you will come to another left turning and on your left under the shade of trees, a gate to a public footpath, Take this track. (see picture below)

The gate from the road to the footpath to East Prawle (SX801383)

This footpath leads over fields and along farm tracks until it reaches the village of East Prawle. Down the valleys are patterns of hedges and walls, and glimpses of the sea between the gentle slopes of the hills.

The second shortcut, which misses east Prawle is at Woodcoombe Farm (approx SX789372). where the map show a footpath heading south east to the coast. After about a third of a mile (half a kilometer) this path diverges. At this point it joins the main trail again. I will indicate this with a double asterisk as (**) below.

View from the footpath to East Prawle

East Prawle is an ancient village. It’s name comes from an Anglo Saxon word  Præwhyll, which means a look-out place. Prawle (at least the western part) is mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1066, along with the following data

Hundred: Chillington

County: Devon

Total population: 22 households (quite large).

Total tax assessed: 1 geld units (very small)

Taxable units: Taxable value 1 geld units.

Value: Value to lord in 1086 £1. Value to lord c. 1070 £0.5.

Households: 10 villagers. 8 smallholders. 4 slaves.

Ploughland: 6 ploughlands (land for). 2 lord's plough teams. 4 men's plough teams.

Other resources: 0.25 lord's lands. Meadow 4 acres. Pasture 64 acres. Woodland 60 acres.

Livestock in 1086: 4 cattle. 15 pigs. 40 sheep. 15 goats.

Lord in 1066: Osfrith <of Okehampton>.

Lord in 1086: Odelin.

Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Baldwin the sheriff.

( There really was someone called Baldwin the Sheriff!)

It is still blissfully behind the times. It is only very recently that the pub started accepting credit cards. There is a little village green with geese waddling across it.

The pub is called the Pig’s Nose Inn and is worth a visit. It is a ramshackle building with little bars and odd places to sit. The food is excellent, and the only drawback is that it is often packed.

There is a village store and cafe combined called the ‘Piglet Stores’.

Stage 3 : East Prawle to Start Point and Light House

Head south out of East Prawle and then east on the public footpaths. The trail has now joined the South West Coast Path again, and the finger posts will have a little acorn symbol on them.

The view of the coast path from below East Prawle

The path climbs up and down many little valleys, some steep some not  After about two thirds of a mile ( 1 kilometer) the path passes into a protected area called Woodcombe point. (**) and then on to Lannacombe Beach. This is a small, rocky beach with a stream bisecting it. If it is off season,this is a lovely peaceful place to sit and watch the endless waves.(*)

Typical rock formations on the coast path

From Lannacombe Beach the path continues northeastward and then, following the coast, bends almost eastward. Just before Frenchman’s Rock (at approx SX818369) there is a path left that leaves the Coast path and climbs almost northwards along a shallow valley. From here the coast path is rugged and steep, so if you wish to avoid a strenuous stretch, the path up the valley will take you back to the car park. Otherwise the car park is reached by following the coast path around the headland

As the path takes a U turn you will find the road to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse was built in 1836. It (and the adjacent buildings) are painted white, and the tower has crenelations at the top, which gives it something of the appearance of a castle tower. There is a visitor center, and (if your timing is good) there are guided tours. Information about the lighthouse is here 

A short walk up the road brings you back to the car park fro where the trail began.

[ruanaich]

DAY 3 OF THE SCOTTISH SEASON 16/17

Earlier this year for my birthday, my wonderful sister and her family gifted a stay in a microlodge at Glencoe Mountain Resort. Knowing how much time I had spent there last season, this was the perfect birthday present meaning I could wake up with the ski slopes on my doorstep. As you may be able to tell from the (lack of) posts in this blog though, we weren’t having much luck with snow this year. The Hobbit House, as they are affectionately known was booked for the end of February, normally peak season, and I’d taken Monday and Friday off work to make the most of it. I’d had a stinker of a cold in the preceding days, one of the side effects of which seemed to be a zombie like eye. I’d burst a blood vessel, probably as a result of incessant sneezing. I couldn’t let this get in the way though, I was desperate for snow! Storm Doris had been forecast to bring tons of snow and plaster the hills in the north. This wasn’t to be as the storm tracked further south than expected, dumping the snow in Glasgow and further to the south. I had to take it on the chin and take my own advise, when anyone asks about Scottish snowboarding and skiing – “Always have a plan B”. This would take the shape of a possible hill walk or a photo adventure, but thankfully, at least for the Friday, I would be in luck. It looked like there was just enough snow to get the lower lifts running. I made my way up on the Friday morning, planning for friends to join me later. On arrival, I was too early to check in to the microlodge. So changed into my gear and made my way up the hill. Everything looked white, but it was fairly cosmetic. No real base to speak of, but the staff had worked their usual magic to provide some sport for visitors.

The plateau area was the main focus with heavy wet snow piled against the snow fences. For some reason no one was utilising this untouched bounty. It wasn’t quite powder, but more a buttery, creamy form of snow, but it was snow and that’s what matters. After several laps I broke for lunch to partake in the magical macaroni pies they do in the hall cafe. Waiting for a friend who would join me for an afternoon on snow and stay at the lodge. The visibility was OK. You could see the tops of the hills in the morning, although the cloud base did drop as the afternoon progressed. Some snow arrived later along with a strengthening wind. Along with my friend, we continued to make laps of the two small drag lifts that were open. The limited area wasn’t a concern as we were just happy to be on snow and the lack of people meant there was no waiting on the lifts either. The day turned out way better than I had expected and proved you don’t need to have the best conditions to have a fun day. The only non-fun part of the day was when I attempted to turn to a stop behind a couple walking down a path. I hit a rock mid toe-side carve and stacked into my leading shoulder and arm. For a short while I’d thought I’d done myself a mischief. I’d broken this wrist in the past, but after a short while my hypochondria passed, I think it was just a dead arm. I’m still feeling it a couple of days later though. This may also have something to do with falling out of bed and waking up on the floor at 7am, which in-turn had something to do with the rum and whisky consumed that evening. As the descended on the access chair at the end of the day, the wind was whipping up the snow, but a warmer wind was to arrive during the night. It would be a very different day that followed.

As I alluded to that evening staying in the Hobbit house we planned to have a game of dominoes which we borrowed from the cafe and didn’t end up using as the drinks flowed and we pout the world to rights. The microlodges are basic but cosy, plenty warm thanks to a little heater provided. When I did wake up, on the floor, The view outside had changed from white to grey and brown. The water was cascading off the hill. What had been buttery soft snow was now a cataract of proportions I have not seen before on that hill. Since there was no further opportunity for snow sport, we went for breakfast and took a short walk to clear our fuzzy heads. I would be staying on for another night at Glencoe and would meet another friend who had coincidentally booked himself and his kids in to one of the newer larger lodges they have. These lodges sleep more people with a higher rook to accommodate bunks. Definitely a great option should you want to stay in close to the slopes instead of making the long journey home. I had a couple more beers that night, but nothing excessive. The next day was due to be another wet one and I wasn’t sure what to do. If the hill was to open I’d promised to show the kids how to snowboard, but the forecast was correct and in the end, my day would consist of a drive to Fort William, where I would wait out the night to see if more snow would arrive for Monday. It has truly been a stop-start season so far. But the outlook is looking a bit better. You can never be sure though. This is Scotland.

Glencoe Mountain Resort DAY 3 OF THE SCOTTISH SEASON 16/17 Earlier this year for my birthday, my wonderful sister and her family gifted a stay in a…