We took advantage of some recent good weather in the UK and booked a short caravan holiday, Mon-Fri, at Ladram Bay on the East Devon coast. A late booking discount meant we paid £360 for an eight berth caravan plus an extra £40 for the dog.

We knew we were in for a good week weather wise, but hadn’t expected the 35C we experienced last week. Luckily, being on the coast, we had sea breezes to keep us a bit cooler but, we did have to plan our week around the hot weather conditions, especially with our dogs welfare in mind.

Ladram Bay is located pretty much halfway between the seaside towns of Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton. Both towns are within walking distance of the site and it makes for a really pleasant three mile coast path hike in either direction. You can also walk into Budleigh following the River Otter, starting in the nearby village of Otterton. That’s just as scenic to walk with plenty of wildlife to see and it’s a flatter route.

With the dog in mind we drove to Bicton Botanical Gardens during our stay for a shaded walk under the trees there. I was really impressed with the gardens. There’s lots to see; some impressive trees and plants and lovely walks in the grounds. I’d recommend a visit if you’re in the area.

Ladram Bay itself is a great place to stay for a caravan holiday. The camp site is well kept and really clean. The on site restaurant food was really good so we ate there on two nights and really enjoyed our food. The private camp pebble beach is really safe with a clear blue sea. You can hire motor boats or paddle boards on the beach.

We had a great week although we were slightly hindered by the extreme weather. I know other places around the world get far warmer, but we’re just not equipped to deal with it here in the UK. That’s us though isn’t it, we moan when it’s hot and we moan when its cold.

Finally, before leaving we visited the Farm Shop in Otterton Mill, the closest village to the camp site. I’d seen that they had local gooseberries for sale so I popped in and bought a kilogramme to take home. On Friday I made them into jam and even if I say so myself, it’s pretty good. I’ll certainly be trying to source more gooseberries this week and make a few more jars.

Photography Notes: Nearly all the images here were shot with my vintage lenses. I did use my modern Sony zoom for a few shots. I’ve marked the images with the vintage lenses I’ve used.

I’ve come to the conclusion that my Auto Takumar 35mm f2.3 works far better as a 50mm on my Fuji X-T5 crop sensor camera as opposed to a 35mm lens on my Sony A7 full frame camera. It vignettes really badly on the Sony and needs a lot of work in post processing if I want to use an image, taken with it, on Alamy. I’d had the same feeling using it in Crete a few weeks ago. I’ve decided to replace it with a Nikkor 35mm f2 AIS.

Otherwise, things went pretty well. The hot sun meant that there was lots of haze, so my seascapes are, well, very hazy. I was swapping lenses a lot which led to the usual dirty sensor problem and I had to clean the sensor every morning. It was an ok week with the camera. I didn’t come away with any wow shots but I have a few that I can use on Alamy. I’ll report back on the new vintage Nikkor 35mm f2 AIS.

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All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2025 – All rights reserved.