Lynmouth and Lynton

After picking up Maz (our Mazda 3) we were on the move. The North Devon towns of Lynmouth and Lynton were our target due to the funicular that connects Lynmouth on the beach with Lynton 500 metres above it on the clifftop. Opened in 1890 the railway operates by pumping water in and out of tanks under the cars in an amazing engineering balancing act.

Lynmouth was almost destroyed in 1952 when 9 1/2 inches (24 cms) of rain fell on Exmoor in less than 24 hours. The water poured down the moor and through the town carrying huge boulders that devastated many of the buildings and killed 34 people. We were interested to discover, at the Flood Memorial Hall Museum, that two young Australian women travelers were among the dead. They were killed when they sought shelter from the storm in one of the homes destined to be destroyed.