Camaderry

My track 13.8 miles, average 2.2mph, gain 792m

This is a commentary on my Google album by the same name.

I biked to my starting point where St Kevin's Way crosses the Asbawn Brook, at the end of L8530. I followed St Kevin's Way up and over the Wicklow Gap, hence pictures of Kings River and a footbridge over same where it has dwindled to a mere stream.

I left the Way (there's a picture with the Way marker) to climb Camaderry East Top via the old lead mines. On the way I passed the controlled outflow via conduit from the lower reservoir of the Turlough Hill pumped storage scheme: picture with warning sign. There's a picture of what was a mine adit in the mining area. The track is good all the way and agrees with OpenTopMap. 

I took pictures from the East Top thence to Camaderry proper. Between here and Turlough Hill I enjoyed a quick lunch and was overtaken by a party of seven. They left me to descend by the ESB access road to Wicklow Gap, whilst I went on to beautiful Lough Firib. By this time I had dinged two toes, using insulation tape to bandage them. Hiking barefoot has its challenges as well as its rewards. From Lough Firib to Art's Cross and then down into the glen and back to base.

Formerly I have descended beside the stream - one gets wet but the route is fairly direct even if not "official". This time I thought I would follow the track marked in OpenTopoMap which first crosses the brook and then circles around before descending. Unfortunately this track is decidedly lacking in substance, although I had followed similar tracks successfully up until then.  I ended up clambering through thick heather which is always a bit scary because of the possibility of deer ticks. And I saw (and heard) plenty of deer.

A very significant time

The Coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952.

Although the very first transistor was created in the lab towards the end of 1947, production didn't start until 1951 and the first application to hit the masses, the transistor radio, was demonstrated in August 1953.

Cradled somewhere amongst those very significant dates the Irish Dodo was born,. He has seen the Queen continue her duties into her 95th year as the longest serving British monarch, and seen 50 years of Moore's law obeyed (that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit aka silicon chip should double every two year) so that last year 2.6 trillion transistors were integrated into a single integrated circuit to create a deep learning engine called the Wafer Scale Engine 2.

Back then such advances could not be countenanced. Check out this video The Transistor: a 1953 documentary, anticipating its coming impact on technology with the possibility that, using transistors, a computer might then be small enough to fit into an average room. Little did they know.

What marvels will my grandchildren see and enjoy?  Assuming things continue as they have these last 60 or so years. Things that we cannot even now imagine? A tower of Babel?

Exe cycle

It has been observed that, in the UK, there is a river Wye and a river Exe but, strangely, no river Zed. Or even Zee.

Today's ambitious cycle route took me to the mostly off-road Exe cycle way which runs either side of the Exe estuary.

I set out from Willand at about 06:45, to Exeter St David's (via Killerton) where the cycle way starts. I chose Dawlish Warren as my first destination but was quickly repelled by zillions of tourists (it was a bank holiday) so investigated Langstone Rock instead. This is a poor man's imitation of Uluru and, true to form, climbers are not encouraged. More important it hides a relatively quiet beach from the Dawlish Warren mob and, had I known then what Exmouth would be like, I would have stayed longer and maybe even have had a dip.

79.4 miles, 1403m gain, 10.2mph

I then retraced my steps (or pedals) back to the first bridge across the Exe (other than the M5 crossing) and thence down the other side of the estuary to Exmouth. Note to future ambitious cyclists: the route to Dawlish is fabulous, highly recommendable, provided you avoid the Warren. In contrast the route to Exmouth is rather piecemeal and poorly signposted, and Exmouth itself is to be avoided at all costs. There is a continuation of the off-road cycle way that follows a disused railway line and goes to Budleigh Salterton. Because of my infatuation with the coast I missed its beginning but thankfully stumbled upon it in my zeal to leave behind as fast as possible the Exmouth madding crowds. It (the cycle way) satisfied.

I tried asking Navigator (my freebie Android satnav app) for a bike route home and it kindly led me to a very narrow and very uphill road which degenerated into a track. I stopped and checked out my other maps only to find the track continued for many more miles, mostly uphill. At which point an angel walker arrived who replied, when I asked him if the track got any better "no, and I wouldn't want to do it on a bike".

I took his advice and will forever after bless him. Besides he reminded me of a colleague back in college days.

Needless to say the return to Willand was long and arduous and seemed to be mostly uphill. But I made it home in time for Afternoon Tea with Lemon Cake à la Ali.

River Culm just before it joins the Exe

Exe cycle way by the Exeter ship canal

The ship canal

Where the ship canal joins the sea

Dawlish - The sea, the sea!

The quiet beach - worth a return visit

Uluru

Powerham Castle estate on the right

Exmouth beach

The field I took my lunch in

Exmouth to Budleigh cycle way

River Otter, a rest stop on the way home