Lydford Gorge

In 2017 we road-tripped to Cornwall and wanted a rest stop along the way, and we're always eager to explore new places, so we picked a place on the map and aimed for it.

We'd chosen an area in Mid-Devon called Lydford Gorge. It's a part of Devon owned and managed by The National Trust, and on past experiences we've found that The National Trust do an amazing job, so we were pretty sure we'd find somewhere special.

What it gave us was more than we could of imagined. The gorge is the deepest river gorge in the South West of the UK with a spectacular 30 metre waterfall called "The White Lady". There is a circular well maintained and sign posted walk around the gorge taking in the woodlands, farmland, river and waterfall. 

The first half of the walk takes you through the woodland, high above the river and to the top of the waterfall. We were lucky enough to go on a sunny day and enjoyed the golden light falling on us through the leaves.

Then you walk down a steep set of steps to the bottom of the fall. You follow the path along the rivers edge, some bits can get slippy here, so be careful, until you climb again to the Devil's Cauldron! This is a swirling pool of water through the cliffs which you can almost climb into. As you drop down to the Cauldron the temperature really drops and as it does the noise level goes up. You can sense nature's fury all around you so the name seems very appropriate! 

The total walk takes around an hour, but longer if you stop to take photos and have a sniffing dog with you, like we did! It is the perfect hidden retreat deep in the Devonshire countryside.