Exmoor is a Dark Sky area noted for an absence of light pollution. Soundscapes are much purer1 too, and here at the footbridge to the National Trust’s Watersmeet House the rivers cascade over rocks to join heading west, finding their way to the sea at Lynmouth.
A surprising number of people who cross the footbridge at SS743487 don’t look up from their phones to see the falls in the header picture. There is poor mobile reception at the Devon County council car park for the site (it’s not a National Trust car park) so perhaps they’re deep in the tribulations of the Ringo mobile parking app2. Reception seemed to improve for them by the bridge.
The circular walk eastwards along the East Lyn river to the footbridge and back along the other side is a charming mix of little cascades and slower pools, one of these at SS752488 just before the footbridge has a totally different sound
Watersmeet is a good soundwalk opportunity. I didn’t hear so many birds here, fair enough for midsummer, the forest gives me the feeling this would be a great Spring soundscape.
- Largely due to similar reasons: the low population density, but the terrain with deep valleys reduces acoustic spillover. Aircraft noise remains the usual pestilence, with Bristol Airport drawing it in. The terrain slightly helps with that, the high sea cliffs seem to shelter this a little ↩︎
- Coins are accepted OK, at the time of writing, take 50ps and 10ps as well as pound coins as it’s odd amounts and o change is given ↩︎
