Bideford Devon,England

‘ Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The person who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.’

Robert Louis Stevenson

Let’s visit Bideford. We will use the weather, the Harvest Moon and a story from the town.

The town was once an important river port on the River Torridge

We walked along the quayside and this was taken at 17:54. There are a few elderly rusting boats to look at which have their rudders out of the tidal water as the sea goes out.
Then at 18:07 we were all wet threw…
… and by 18:20 our clothes were mostly dry in the warm sun.

I don’t understand I didn’t put the above photograph in. I chose something different. How does this happen?

It is forecast that our autumn changeable weather will be part of our travels here in the South of England.

Then later with clouds and rain we suddenly saw the Harvest Moon.

It was 20:25 when I was able to take this. The thick clouds had lifted a little.
… and the sun the next morning 8:04 in almost the same place!

The town had dry and sunny weather all morning. Its streets lead the eye to a twenty-four-arched six-hundred-year-old bridge.

That makes one wonder about ages past. Apparently, Hubba the Dane attacked Devon in the area of Bideford and was repelled by either Alfred the Great ( 849 – 899) or by the Saxon Earl of Devon. The town is also recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as held at some time in chief from William the Conqueror by the nobleman Brictric. ( I guess the one was working for the other.)

Now the story: The king’s wife Matilda of Flanders (1031-1083) really liked Brictic but he declined her romantic advances and she promptly seized his fiefdom. This may not be true but when Matilda did become regent in England she used her authority to confiscate Brictric’s lands and put him in prison where he died.

Let us look at the bridge and some of the town. It is late morning.

The 600-year-old bridge which links Brideford on the west side with East-the-Water on the right bank.

So the Moon was mostly stolen by the clouds and the rain hammered on the roof of Bugzy, not an unpleasant sound but Brideford was clean and sparkling in the morning.

I hope you enjoyed a short visit to Brideford in Devon.

SandyRoyBessbugzy 🙂❤️🥰🤗

Ps

‘ Summer ends and Autumn comes, and those who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night, and thus they would never know the rhythms that are at the heart of life. ‘

Hal Borland, ” September” 1900 – 1978 American writer, journalist and naturalist.

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