Brunel Woods Rock! Valley of the Rocks... Rocks!!

After a morning coffee at Judy's Coffee Shop, Chudleigh (thanks mum!) we headed out to Watcombe for a visit to Brunel Woods. I didn't know this place even existed until recently; well worth a look by fans of trees, sculptures and Isambard Kingdom Brunel alike.

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The location was planned originally for his retirement in Watcombe; Brunel began building a manor house and gardens, but sadly died before its completion. Brunel Manor is still owned and run privately, but the land now known as Brunel Woods was purchased separately and now comes under the watchful eye of the Roving Rangers (of which I will sadly not be part) of Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust.

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The highlight of the woods is certainly Brunel's Dance, a totem pole sculpture carved from the enormous trunk of a giant Sequoia Redwood that fell in an early 90s storm. It depicts the various aspects of Brunel's life and career, from carefully carved structures such as bridges and tunnels to people - even Queen Victoria makes an appearance! Also present is a whimsical sculpture of Brunel himself (looking more like Carroll's Mad Hatter!) and two elemental depictions of fire and water.

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The original Redwood tree must have been immense!

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Though maybe not as spread as this Cypress we came across

- what a girth!

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The woods don't take long to explore, every path you follow seems to end up back on the housing estate that envelopes the woods. But an interesting place to visit, nonetheless. (NB park on Brunel Avenue)

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From there we crossed Teignmouth Road to head down the hill towards Watcombe Beach. A small detour from the car park took us along a section of the SW Coast Path through the Valley of The Rocks which is a pretty impressive place! High rusty cliffs on one side, sloping towards the sea on the other, surrounded by Sycamore trees and somewhere in amongst them a 16th century Judas Tree which we failed to find (sadly their spectacular blossom appears Feb-March so we were a bit late!). The Judas Tree is so called either due to it being the tree that Judas hung himself from, or a corruption of Arbre de Judee meaning Tree of Judea referring to the region where it occurs. Would have been a nice tree to see!

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We finished up by walking down to the beach at Watcombe where we had a quick look at the sea, but as the wind was cold and our noses were beginning to sniff we continued back up the hill to the car, and headed off home to hot soup and bacon sandwiches!

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