Windback – South West Roadtrip 2020
Wild camping amongst the stones of Great Mis Tor. Spending time in the outdoors doesn’t get much better than this. 1/30s F4.0 70mm ISO 100.
To say my trip in the summer of last year to the South West of England was spontaneous would be a bit of an understatement. What started out as a day trip to Castle Combe slowly morphed into a several days long trip that took me all the way down to Land’s End and involved wild camping on Dartmoor. I guess in the brief window of freedom between lockdowns you had to make the most of it.
Most cars on track at Castle Combe were fully kitted out with mods to maximise their speed around the circuit. 1/1600s F2.0 105mm ISO 64.
The initial journey down involved a rather early start. The day of action at Castle Combe required me to be there at 7:30 when I lived about two hours away, but at least it meant the journey on the M25 was a quiet one, even if my journey on the M4 was blighted by road works. The original intention was that I would meet a few mates there but as they had bailed due to questions around Covid restrictions it was just myself and my cousin on the day. It was the first time I’d been there, and the day was an entertaining one, wondering around looking at the interesting cars people had brought as well as the on-the-circuit antics.
The Peugeot 205 attracted plenty of attention on the campsite and handled the rough road up with ease. 1/320s F1.4 105mm ISO 64.
Seeing as I had travelled all the way down here, I thought it would be a good opportunity to explore a part of the country I had spent very little time in, and so I carried on down to my campsite in the Mendip Hills. My car was the oldest on the turf by quite some margin and many people were impressed to see it there. What unfortunately was a lot less impressive was having my freezer blocks stolen from the communal freezer within twelve hours of arriving. The perils of camping!
Cheddar Gorge makes for an impressive backdrop no matter what you are trying to photograph. 1/60s F4.0 48mm ISO 100.
Cheddar Gorge was the first area on my mind the next day as I had often seen it featured as a backdrop in car shoots. This part of the country can hardly be described as mountainous, so it does loom large as you approach it driving through the village of Cheddar, and yes this indeed the place of origin for the nation’s favourite cheese. The cool caves were used in the storage and production. One thing you need to be very mindful of is the 30mph speed limit which is there for good reason. This great stretch of road attracts a lot of maniacs on four and two wheels that has led to many deaths and when you see how narrow it can get between the rock on either side, it is not hard to see why. I managed to get a single clear run in up but going down I got stuck behind a van before spotting a police car at the bottom, before 10am, on a Sunday. Did I mention this place had a bad reputation? I’ll definitely be back here in the future for photoshoots I am sure, by climbing up the banks there are so many angles you can get of the road below. Though it gets busy quickly so it would need to be another early start.
Find some elevation and you have a great vantage point over the road that runs through Cheddar Gorge. 1/160s F4.0 32.5mm ISO 125
The next day I made the questionable decision to head down the A39 to reach the seaside town of Combe Martin. My expectation from looking at google maps was a scenic country road where the coast would be visible in places. What I got instead was slow and painful progress behind a lot of traffic and muppets who didn’t know to change down a gear on steep slopes. Not one I recommend outside of early morning or late at night during the holiday season. Combe Martin itself was very picturesque, exactly the sort of rocky on-the-sea place you’d expect in Devon (or further down in Cornwall). However what little hope I had had for a beach day was quickly dashed when the mother of all rainstorms washed in not long after I arrived, though I did enjoy hearing the pre-emptive thunder out to sea. Still, watching the Kayakers frantically paddling back to shore as I walked along the coast did make for a relaxing day in the sea air.
The seaside town of Combe Martin. Kayakers frantically try and return to shore before the thunderstorm rolls in. 1/50s F4.0 36mm ISO 320.
Now this is where the trip got really interesting. I’ve always liked the idea of wild camping, but it is something I had not had much opportunity to do as it is technical illegal in England. However, there is one exception – Dartmoor, which was where I was headed too next. As I intended to go to Land’s End next it seemed rather foolish to remain camping in the Mendip Hills, so the decision was made to spend a couple of nights in the UK’s most southernly National Park. I had done some prep beforehand as you cannot wild camp in every single part of Dartmoor, but what makes this place special is that you can park up somewhere and then seemingly be in the middle of nowhere within 15-20 minutes’ walk. Deciding to cook my tea out of a tin beforehand, I foolishly left myself to put my tent up as darkness rolled in. I really did think in the middle of August that I would have at least seen a few camping lights in the distance on the moors but there really wasn’t. I was here on my own with only the sheep to laugh at my foolishness. Speaking of sheep, there are a great many of them and ponies wondering free over the land, but my fears of them stumbling into my camp in the middle of the night proved unfounded.
A quick meal and easy meal out of tins before putting up the tent. 1/50s F4.0 24mm ISO 160.
It was dark by the time I was fully setup. 8s F4.0 31mm ISO 100.
The final day out was down to Land’s End, somewhere I was very keen to get to having already been to John O’Groats twice before. At least the driving wasn’t as long today, as I left the Merrivale area of Dartmoor to head down the A30 which takes you all the way down. What struck me straight away was that this place was even more commercialised than John O’Groats. First off you had to pay to park up and even getting a photo with the famous sign required you to lighten your wallet. Settling for a local pasty (which was very good) and foregoing a rather dodgy set of souvenirs in the gift shop (including a pasty shaped pillow, yes you read that right), I decided to walk the coastline hoping that some of the current blanketing of fog would clear.
The attractive cliffs at Land’s End are enhanced by the colourful flora. 1/100s F4.0 42mm ISO 100.
Hopefully, some of you will have read my blog from a few weeks back where I go into the next part in more detail. My discovery and exploration of the German cargo ship – RMS Mülheim, if you haven’t then you can read more about it here: https://www.gregoryowain.co.uk/blog/the-shipwreck-of-rms-mulheim. Beyond that I’m not sure what else there is so say about Land’s End, it’s worth a visit at least once and checking out the wreck was pretty special but other than that it is just another coastal walk. You don’t have to park up at the official carpark however, for those with sturdier legs you can park further down the coast and simply walk a few miles over.
The wreck of RMS Mülheim which I talked about more in this previous blog: https://www.gregoryowain.co.uk/blog/the-shipwreck-of-rms-mulheim. 1/160s 24mm F4.0 ISO 125.
Thankfully, the weather improved in the afternoon and as the sun came out, I finally got a chance to have my day at the beach. Not far away is the ever-popular village of Porthcurno, but I decided to head to a more secluded spot off the next village of Treen. Often listed as one of the UK’s best beaches Pedn Vounder is not exactly an easy place to reach. Once you traverse the coastal path you then need to climb down steep rocks before you can get sand under your feet. Fear not, it is doable even by older people or those with dogs but don’t think you’ll be bringing the pushchair and full-sized BBQ unless you plan to arrive by the sea. Worth mentioning that as this place is so secluded it also functions as an unofficial naturist beach, so don’t be too surprised if the odd person has misplaced their swimming trunks.
The secluded beach of Pedn Vounder found just around the coast from Porthcurno. If you look towards the bottom left corner you can see the path that leads to the rocks you have to climb down to reach the sand. 1/100s 33mm F4.0 ISO 125.
I was very lucky that both nights I spend on Dartmoor the weather remained dry and, though the cloud cover meant I didn’t see a great deal of stars, it was special to wake up at dawn and see the sunlight burst through onto my tent nestled amongst Great Mis Tor. Waking up in such a rugged landscape without any amenities certainly makes you feel alive, and it is something I should definitely do more of.
The skies were cloudy for the most point on Dartmoor but every now and again a partial clearance gave you a glimpse of the amazing amount of stars beyond. 30s 14mm F4.0 ISO 6400.
With the final night of camping over I packed my stuff up one last time before making the long journey back home. I did record a load of footage to make a video of my trip but for some reason I still haven’t gotten around to editing it. Perhaps revisiting the trip will give me that little bit on inspiration I need to get it done and at the same time inspire you the reader to make the most of your summer holidays this year. Let’s just hope we get plenty of sunny weather this year.
Sadly there’s weren’t any crazy sunsets or sunrises whilst I was in Dartmoor but they were pleasant enough for me to kick back and enjoy. 1/100s 27.5mm F4.0 ISO 125.
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