…Lynmouth is … picturesque, with its Rhenish Tower and funicular railway up to the resort of Lynton, 500 feet above. As you travel up the precipitous slope to reach that higher world you could easily be in Switzerland. There are fir trees in the hanging woods and some of Lynton’s boarding houses sport the chalet style, with deep overhanging eaves and wooden balconies. The former Royal Castle Hotel, a slate-hung Regency building with gothic glazing, commands a spectacular position above the sea. On the western edge of Lynton, the “Valley of Rocks unfurls a broad majestic sweep of extraordinary lunar landscape, scooped out during the last Ice Age above overhanging cliffs, leaving jagged pinnacles of eroded limestone. Caves and clefts pierce the sheer rocks below.

Read more about Lynton and Lynmouth in Candida Lycett Green’s new book Seaside Resorts, available now from Amazon (or from The Oldie website for £14.99).