Long Weekend in Devon
 

Spent a long weekend in Devon, last weekend, courtesy of a free ticket sent by my little brother as a birthday pressie. I visit Devon and Cornwall fairly frequently as I have both friends and family down there, but this was the first time I'd been to the North Devon coast.

Journey:-

Trains - NXEA , tube, FGW. I had to leave very early as the affordeable seats on the more civilised trains had already gone, but luckily my taxi turned up on time, and I was at the station for 5:30am (along with a handful of essential workers clad in high-vis vests and carrying bags of tools). It was still dark. Most of the journey was uneventful - at Paddington I spilt my tea trying to get the lid off to put sugar in and whip the teabag out. The bloke sitting next to me dashed off to get napkins from Upper Crust, so cheeringly, despite being 1 year older, I am apparently still not too decrepid to elicit male sympathy/assistance. Or he may just have been worried about the fact that a tidal wave of escaped tea was heading for his seat.

At Exeter, I changed to the 'Tarka Line' - this was like something out of the 1950s, with single track much of the way, tiny stations with picket fences painted in pastel colours, a guard on the train operating the doors, and 'request stops'. We travelled alongside the Yeo and Taw (I think), but disappointingly saw no otters. I got off at Barnstaple.

After a tour of my brother's new house and girlfriend(!) (Nikki, Australian, very nice), we drove to Lynton and Lynmouth. It poured as soon as we arrived , so obviously we had to take shelter in a tea-shop, and since they were going to chuck the last of the produce before closing, we felt obliged to have a cream tea, if only to ensure no food waste. By the time we finished troughing scones, the rain had stopped, so we took a walk inland from the coast, along a river gorge, toward Watersmeet. The gorge was very narrow, with pretty stone houses clinging to the hills either side, as the water rushed ferociously past over slippery rocks. The walk was very picturesque, with the houses eventually giving way to steeply wooded hills on both sides. A plaque commemerates a serious flood there in the 1950s, which swept several buildings away; a garden now takes their place. The path was very muddy from the recent torrential downpour, and I had blisters from new shoes a week earlier, but otherwise an easy walk. Apparantly you can get cream teas at Watersmeet too, but even my brother (who always orders those desserts for two) couldn't manage a second one within the hour.

Back at the seafront, there was a small harbour, funicular railway (now shrouded in mist like something out of a Japanese horror film) and cobbled street with a variety of mildly tacky souvenir shops. A number of shops seemed to specialize in wool and sheepskin, so I wonder if there might be some particular local breed?

Back home (about 30 mins down narrow, windy country lanes) we watched 'Strictly' and jeered at Robbie Savage, then some unintelligable Lottery gameshow, before demolishing salmon bake (with new potatoes, asparagus and balsamic vinegar), and fruit crumble made with blackberries from the garden.

Day 2 to follow....

hi RM - nice start. i love north devon and was very happy to have to go to work there a few times this summer.

looking forward to reading about the rest of your travels!

Day 2

On Sunday, we went to Clovelly, a privately owned village in another very steep gorge overlooking the sea. This place is famous for being inaccessible by motor vehicle (at least the main street is - I think they have Land Rovers that can use some hidden back route?). You park at the top, pay to get in (about £5-6), then walk down a very narrow and steep cobbled road through the village.

Clovelly was incredibly pretty (bordering twee or quaint), with the majority of houses being white-washed, and having hanging baskets or flower tubs outside. Many homes have been converted into shops or tea-rooms. There were two pubs - one right at the bottom of the gorge by the harbour, the other about half-way down. There was also a tiny museum, showing pictures of Clovelly in days gone by - apparently it was very popular in Victorian and Edwardian times, with many people making the walk down to the jetty to board pleasure steamers. The photos showed that some of the steamers were really quite big, and consequently were moored some way out in the bay - small groups of ridiculously overdressed women being rowed out to them in tiny wooden boats. There were also pictures of Clovelly in the snow (apparently this is quite a rare occurance). One house showed the typical living conditions for a fisherman at the time the properties were built (presumably sometime on the 19th century) - with small brass beds, a stove in the fireplace, and a general air of austerity.

The beach at the bottom of the hill was shingley, with a waterfall emerging from the cliffs above it. A few boats were pulled up on the beach, and lobster pots were piled up on the jetty. You can take boat trips here, either to tour the coast, fish for dinner, or to visit Lundy Island. The Lundy trip quite appealed, but we were too late to board.

On the way back up we passed a family moving in to one of the houses - they were bringing a sofa down on a sledge, and lost control of their furniture a couple of times at the steepest parts of the path! Just behind the sofa, a man was carrying a mattress down the steep slope on his back. All the houses had sledges of one sort or another in the front gardens - crate-like affairs on wooden runners. At the top of the hill a women was loading her Sainsbury's shopping onto a metal trolley ready for the descent. We also saw a lot of cats (it reminded me of Mousehole) and I will include some photos of them when I upload my pictures, as I worry that the internet is getting a bit low on cats!

Near to the visitor centre at the entrance there was a silk workshop and a pottery, though we did not feel sufficiently inspired by any of the goods to purchase. We did manage crab sandwiches and ploughmans though.

Back at home we had a very-un Sundayish (but tasty) stir fry and watched 'Paul, The Alien' - which I thought quite funny.

hi again RM.

Clovelly? years since i went there, before they started to charge. the place we used to stay [Appledore] was similar in that they used mats to transport the rubbish down the hill because it too was inaccessible to motor vehicles.

a near-by similar but less touristy place is Bucks Mills - very pretty and quaint but no pub!

Day 3.

I got dropped off at Barnstaple station quite early, so had about an hours wait for the first train. There was a small tea-room (like something out of Brief Encounter) so being mindful of the need to preserve our eccentric old institutions, I felt obliged to have a bacon roll and a cuppa. The station was very old-fashioned, with everything painted in green and yellow and all the signs in some ancient font, which I reckon probably even predates the Johnson London Underground one. Disappointingly, I was collected not by a steam train with curtained windows and glamourous fellow-passangers, but a two car diesel full of pensioners and students.

At Exeter I boarded a heaving FGW train to London without a seat to spare (thank god for reservations) and spent most of the journey annoying the bloke next to me by trying to read his Kindle over his shoulder. We were in the Quiet carriage, but they had removed the 'Quietness' as they sometimes do when the trains are packed and the rabble look uncontrollable, so it was ipods and mobile phone ring tones all the way home.

Here are a few pictures - mostly of Clovelly, but I will try to add Lynton and Lynmouth later. I think it works best as a slideshow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4945230...7627676483344/

Thanks Ann - I will pass the Bucks Mill info on to my brother - he will appreciate the tips, having just moved from the edge of Dartmoor to the north coast. You are so lucky to be that end of the country!

PS - I should mention that one of the best things about Clovelly is the amazing views along the coast and out to sea at multiple points on the walk up or down, with benches to sit on, or little 'lay-bys' alongside the cobbled path.

yes, we WERE lucky to live up there, or rather to have a house there that we used for holidays, but we sold it when we moved to Cornwall.

nowadays if I am lucky I get sent to Barnstaple two or three times a year so if I can i indulge myself by staying at the Commodore in Instow and admiring Appledore from across the Torridge estuary.

Last time I was there I had time to go to see Tapeley Park at Instow [fabulous views from the car park!] wander round Appledore, and go to Rosemoor - the RHS gardens at Torrington, which is worth a visit in itself.

your brother might also like to visit Hartland and Hartland Point [lovely spot, the pub is just about OK] Hartland Abbey, Docton Mill [great garden and teas] in an westerly direction, and to the north/east, Braunton, Hele Bay, Lee, Combe Martin, Parracombe and Hunter's Inn. oh yes, AND Appledore and Bideford of course. Hockings of Appledore make some of the best vanilla ice-cream i have ever tasted!

i hope he enjoys living in North Devon and that you get the chance to go back a lot of times.

RM67, you write very well. Really enjoyed your description of Clovelly, especially since I did not get to the bottom of the steep incline when I visited in July. The rain poured down, thick and fast, and (having broken my wrist last year in York on a clear sidewalk), I turned back. We did visit that workshop tucked away from the visitors’ center where I bought two lovely scarves.

Looking forward to following your report….

Thanks for the info, Ann, I will definitely pass it along.

I omitted Westward Ho! from my trip report, as it seemed to be mainly for the surf brigade and less picturesque than the smaller coastal villages (though even the least desirable Devon resorts look like St Tropez compared to my local Essex coastline!). We were going to go surfing, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you view things) the waves were about 10 foot and everyone was too scared!

Thank you latedaytraveller - I can remember seeing quite a few people with walking shoes, trainers or walking sticks for Clovelly (though also lots of brave/foolhardy souls in flip-flops, or with baby strollers!). And I'm sure there was a sign about taking your time on the way back up so as not to have a heart attack.

My car has been out of commission for the last three months due to needing an expensive repair - I've been getting the train to work every day instead, and walking about 3-4 miles to and from the station to do so. I'm sure that's the only thing that stopped Clovelly from finishing me off!

Very nice report, love Lynmouth and when you get back out there, let me know if the Rising Sun meals are still as good as they used to be in 2002.

oh, i omitted westward ho! too!

really it's not got a lot to write home about, but there is a great walk if you drive as far west as you can, park, and follow the coast path up onto the cliffs. and a great pub/microbrewery called "the Pig on the Hill" - terrific sunday lunches but you need to book.

also, going the other way, once past the golf course [what dedication!] and the municipal dump, you come to an area called the Skern, which is great for beach walking and bird watching.

they used to have a "pot walloping" ceremony at Westward Ho! every summer which involved chucking all the stones back onto the sea defences to try to preserve the ridge.

Another thing I forgot to mention - at Lynton/Lynmouth there is a tradition of dressing up mannequins and displaying them outside for some reason - they are quite creepy. We saw a parent and child couple attempting to cross a road near a junction, and along the river gorge there was a man entirely made of flowerpots climbing the stone wall that divided the gorge from the houses.

I sulked a bit because everyone spotted a mannequin except me. 8-(

I don't think I spotted any mannequins, did see a flower pot man at a pottery in the Cotswolds and thought it was a cute idea.

Cath, I think I have a picture of the flower-pot wall-climber so I'll try to add that to the Flickr folder if I can find it.

I enjoyed your report. Loved your pictures of Clovely, but I only saw one cat in the bunch. You can't have too many cat pictures!

Nearly 3 months down the line I've finally got round to adding the Lynton and Lynmouth pics (plus a couple more of Clovelly Bay).

The flowerpot man is also in here. So, both sets together:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4945230...7627676483344/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4945230...7628249727547/

Enjoy!

Worth waiting for. Great flower pot guy, love the Wellies!

yes, love the pics.

they brought back great memories of summers spent visiting the area with our kids.

did you spot the sledges used for urging things up and down that hill in Clovelly? we used to use ones like that in Appledore too.

I think there's a pic of the sledges in the Clovelly set?

They were in virtually every garden. Pretty good way to keep fit, lugging everything up and down those steep slopes manually!

annhig, RM - we were too poor to have sledges up in the grim north

We used tea trays :))

Seriously though , I'm loving the pictures - we spent every summer in Cornwall when I was a sprog.

So many good memories of camping with our kiddies - my Dad's ashes were spread on Hayle Towans. His favourite place overlooking St Ives

I have a few Cornwall ones as well Alya, including St Ives (taken a few years ago). They look a bit grey, which is odd, because I remember the weather being fairly decent.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4945230...7626765837439/

Lovely photos, I liked the ginger cat. I'm to visit Plymouth twice a year for 4 years and pleasantly surprised by my first visit - I'm reading up on the surrounds; any tips, RM67? Weymouth was featured fairly recently on Saturday Kitchen and that looked quaint.

RM - I did see your pics on FB, St Ives is my favorite town in Cornwall mainly because it has so many wonderful childhood memories.
I always remember the sun shining when we were there :)

We have a linocut original by Seb West that's a view of the harbour from the Slopp to the Georgian house. It hangs in our living room and I see it everyday. We bought it years ago and I'm shocked by the prices his original artwork fetches these days but it's a wonderful daily reminder osf carefree days.

http://www.sebwestgallery.co.uk/news...r/linocuts.htm

We used tea trays>>

you were lucky. we had to use beer mats!

alya - it's not m y favourite pub, but even so, i wouldn't call it the sloop - t think it's the Sloop.

i'm not familiar with Seb West but i recognise the style. A few years ago we went Christmas shopping in St. Ives and there were so few people that you could almost hear the village tom-toms going as each shopkeeper told the next one that some potential customers were approaching. it's much nicer in the winter than it is in the summer when it grinds to halt with all the visitors, even when the sun isn't shining.

I'm to visit Plymouth twice a year for 4 years and pleasantly surprised by my first visit - I'm reading up on the surrounds; any tips?>>

Steve, i have to go to Plymouth quite a lot too now, and for eating, can recommend virtually anywhere round the Barbican - a very nice range of restaurants from Nepalise to Italian with everything in between including fish and chips. as for staying, sadly the B&B i was very happy with has closed down for the winter so I'm on the look out for an alternative. If i find one, I'll let you know.

Ayla - I know it's a well used cliche, but I love the light in St Ives.

Stevelyon - I don't know the Plymouth area very well, but my closest recommendations would be the Dartmoor National Park (loads of great walks). I know the eastern edge of the park a bit better than the Plymouth side and recommend the Teign gorge and Castle Drogo as a decent walk/day out. You've also got Bigbury on Sea and Burgh Island not a million miles from Plymouth. Burgh Island has the famous art deco hotel loved by Agatha Christie, but if you can't afford to stay there you can always have a meal at the pub instead (the island is private so you might need to book your lunch in advance).

Further afield, I like Beer (sea-fishing, tearooms and antiques), the cliffs above Sidmouth for the views out to sea and the observatory.

In Cornwall (admittedly much further), my favourite haunts are Mousehole/Newlyn for fishing villages. Pothcurno (secluded bay only accessible on foot) and the Minack outdoor theatre in the cliffs. St Just (art and cafes), road from St Just to St Ives (standing stones and old abandoned tin mines overlooking the wilder, rockier parts of the Atlantic). St Ives itself is one of my favourite towns in Cornwall, but is always packed with people. Whitesand Bay is beautiful (just before Lands End). Praa Sands good for surfing (v friendly). I also liked Padstow, but again it can be rammed with tourists.

Porthcurno? Wonderful, wonderful memories - sifting through the sand picking the tiny seashells and trying to fill a matchbox, My Dad's idea to keep us busy :)

Looking at the house in the cliffs and trying to imagine how wonderful it would be to live there, especially in winter.

Climbing to up to Minack theatre and wishing that we visited later in the year so we could watch a play.

Trying to imagine where the cable went, what else was out there and future possibilities. Although as a child I never imagined I'd end up living in America.

Ann, I know it's the Sloop, damn spellcheck :)

I was also fascinated by the cable. Because I don't really understand how it works. Is it one long cable 3000 miles long? Or does it have joins in? Is it on the bottom of the sea (if so how did they put it down there??). O does it sort of float under the surface (if so, why don't ships catch on it and break it??).

Trying to imagine where the cable went, what else was out there and future possibilities. Although as a child I never imagined I'd end up living in America.>>

as i understand it [why didn't i pay attention in the Telecoms museum?] it does sit on the bottom of the ocean [some of it is even buried] - it would be far too vulnerable if it floated. I think that the ends are re-enforced but it is less protected on the bottom. they lay it from ships so it is more or less one long cable. here's a link to wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submari...ications_cable

we could have a GTG at Porthcurno and find out all about it!

and lol, alya, the spell-check worked too well for me, and spelt it "Sloop" both times!!