Jam On Top Tour Day 2

The centre day of the RogueRunners miniature tour of north Devon, it was a bit of a dull start with rain threatening later, but we headed out of town heading south along some nice roads & after about 30 miles pulled into the quince honey farm, which according to its web site is:- "a working honey farm and a great day out for all the family. From guided tours, soft play and beautiful gardens through to exclusive bee keeping experiences, there’s plenty to keep everyone happy!" Well, it had two car clubs in the car park & cake in the cafe, so it kept us happy. There were TVRs & Austin Sevens, so a bit of a contrast.

After our refreshment stop we continued south on a straightish road (in Devon terms), before turning east onto Exemoor, the weather stayed dry as villages & farms passed on either side - and the engine stopped again.

Initially it looked like the wires were all still attached, so we checked the fuse but that was OK, so I went back to the pump. I stripped back more insulation & bent the black corroded wire into a shepherd's crook & put the nut back on. All the time I was faffing with it the Rogues stood loyally by (in case anything entertaining was going to happen), but the car started & off we went again, but it wasn't a happy car, so I stopped in a car park & put another couple of turns of the connector nut, which seemed to do the trick.

Which was just as well because I'd taken the route onto some very minor roads, this usually results in some "memorable" events, but in north Devon they were potholed, with long grass in the middle & pickups coming towards us quite fast, so I'd have been better sticking to the A & B roads. Oh well.

Then on a road seemingly only as wide as the Stylus, a milk tanker came the other way. What I really wanted to see about now was a white line in the middle of the road. Eventually there was one & we picked up the speed. A shower at a fuel stop made us put the hoods up & soon after that a road closed by the police gave us a detour, but after a spell on a fast trunk road the SatNavs found a way through & we were rewarded after a little more single track with a fantastic road running north into Dunster it was wide enough for two cars, it was very curvy indeed & wound through country very reminiscent of The Shire - no Elves or Hobbits though - and it went on for about 1/2 hour with nothing ahead. Glorious! 

After Dunster we turned right & parked up outside "the Driftwood cafe" right on the coast at a place called Blue Anchor, they had a spectacular Victoria sponge & we were just in time because they were closing as soon as the Government's emergency phone alert went off - no idea why that should be the signal to shut up shop, perhaps it's a Devon thing.

By now the sun had got his hat on & after the alert - and another one in Welsh, the roofs came off & we headed back west along the A39 which was lovely & at Porlock the £3 toll road was lovely, after that I'd taken the route along some small roads which weren't so lovely. Pot holed & rock strewn would be an apt description, but we re-emerged onto the A39 where at Lynmouth I had plotted a route twice round a loop that took in some good hairpins. There had been some trouble with the TYRE routing program not understanding, but other programs had been happy & the SatNav appeared so as well - but not on the day. There was some confusion & I'm sure we ended up going round the wrong bit of the loop in the wrong direction (sigh).

Next was "The Valley of the Rocks" above Lynton, chosen just for it's scenic value, but that road led us to another toll road that I wasn't aware of - £2 was the price for this one & it wasn't worth it, muddy & rock-strewn I was glad to get off it & into  Martin where there was a life size Tamiya Sand Scorcher parked!

Sand Scorcher - on the left

After a few more steep & wining roads we were back in Ilfracombe, where we wandered back into town to dine at the Smugglers again.