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| Devon | From our Cornwall home we can be in Devon in the hour. From time to time we like to vary our sightseeing so ... over the Tamar we go. Here are reviews of places we have enjoyed. As with Cornwall, we make regular additions to these reviews. |
REVIEWS INDEX and SITE CONTENTS
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| To the English Sir Francis Drake is a real national icon: round the world navigator, scourge of the Spanish and hero of the defeat of the Armada in 1588. But to the Spanish he is 'El Draco': the Dragon who Spanish children were threatened with and a bloodthirsty pirate. He bought Buckland Abbey from Sir Richard Grenville with the fortune plundered during his amazing three year circumnavigation of the globe. Inside, the National Trust has created a superb exhibiton about Drake, his life and times. Outside there are impressive monastic farm buildings, a scented flower garden, an unusual herb garden and well waymarked estate walks. You can eat at one of two good pubs nearby - at Drake's Manor in Buckland Monachorum or at the Who'd Have Thought it, Milton Combe. |
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Grocery magnate Julius Drewe convinced himself that he was descended from Drogo (or Dru) de Teign, a Norman baron with property in Devon. He determined to build himself a great Devon castle and hired leading architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to fulfil his dream. The grey granite building, seeming to grow out of the rock, was completed in 1930 and, although now in the care of the National Trust, is still home to the Drewes. The interior arouses mixed emotions. Lutyens' austere but detailed architecture is superb - exposed stonework is lovingly finished; shapes are beautifully conceived - and Sir Edwin designed everything down to door furniture and kitchen utensils. On the debit side, the clutter of furniture detracts from Lutyens' work. Outside, formal terraces are planted with perennials, herbs, wisteria, magnolias, azaleas, lilies, roses, white plants, lupins and hollyhocks, while a valley garden (best in spring) is planted with cherries, maples, azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias and camellias. |
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Far off the beaten track in a remote corner of north west Devon, Hartland Abbey is the home of the Stucley family, whose ancestors acquired it from Henry VIII. Georgian Gothic outside, restrained Victorian inside, good contents include Elizabethan and Victorian linenfold panelling, entertaining murals and some good furniture by Chippendale and Hepplewhite. Best of the widely spread gardens is the walled garden with luxuriant perennials. Hydrangeas abound elsewhere. In spring walk to the coast - through woods carpeted with daffodils, primroses and bluebells - to visit Blackmill Cove and enjoy rugged cliff scenery of Devon's north coast. We have visited twice: first in 2003, when we enjoyed house and garden; then in 2007 when we walked the estate and saw Hartland Quay and Hartland Point. |
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More Images taken around Hartland Abbey
| We parked at Hartland Abbey and walked down through the woods (no bluebells in late July) to Blackmill Cove, a pleasant tranquil spot except when busloads of foreign touirists walk down from the Abbey. The coast path southwards towards Hartland Quay passes a strange tower. Once the home of the official who managed and policed the abbey's rabbit warren, it was turned into a folly tower in Vistorian times. |
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Killerton House, Garden and Estate
| Visited on our way
to Sidmouth, the National Trust's Killerton House
and Garden arouses mixed feelings in us. Standing in a large park,
the Georgian exterior and Edwardian interior are rather undistinguished.
Nonetheless there is some good Arts and Crafts decor, fine family silver
and an important collection of costume. A Chapel in the grounds is
based on that of Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury. Immediately
behind the house are lawns, terrace beds and colourful summer borders.
On the hillside above, paths run through mature plantings of oak, maple,
beech and England's first Wellingtonia, creating a delightful walk.
Killerton's best seasons are spring for the rhodos and autumn for the leaf
colour. The less able can take a buggy tour of the garden.
Catering is good and there is the usual shop.
In our view some of the greatest pleasures of Killerton are elsewhere on the estate - a medieval cottage and water-powered mill in Broadclyst, Newhall Equestrian Centre, with an exhibition and carriage museum, and most particularly Budlake Old Post Office. The latter is a charming but substantial two storey cottage, yellow-washed beneath a thatched roof. The front room remains as it was when it was a post office in the 1950s. The garden is a delight and there are pig sties and a two-holer privy. |
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| Signed from B3161 which links junctions 28 and 29 of M5 |
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We were pleased to
be able to visit the National Trust's Knightshayes on our way to a short
break in Sidmouth. We had first visited many
years ago when restoration of the original decorative scheme had been far
from complete. We were delighted to find that it is now.
In the 1870s Sir John Heathcote-Amory employed William Burges, high priest of the Victorian gothic revival to build him a new country house, set in lovely parkland with views over the Exe valley - and his lace factory. I had always assumed Burges' interior (he was sacked), was a riot of fantasy and that the J D Crace completion was more restrained. It was the other way round. One room commemorates golfer Joyce Wethered, Lady Amory. Delightfully informal gardens are at their best in the spring and early summer. Attractive bordered terraces, with views over lawns to parkland, lead past a pool garden and an elaborate 'fox hunt' topiary to Knightshayes' glory - its spring garden. Protected by mature trees and served by winding paths, the area is full of magnolias, azaleas, rhodos, acers, tree peonies and many other rare shrubs. The Victorian walled garden has recently been restored and is filled with fruit and vegetables. Catering is good; usual shop and good plant sales. |
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Signed from A396 and from A361 just north of Tiverton |
Powderham Castle, Gardens and Park
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On one of the few fairly fine days in July 2007 - at least it didn't rain - we had one of our occasional Devon outings. We planned to visit Powderham Castle and Ugbrooke, using our HHA passes. With a drive of over 1½ hours each way we decided we wouldn't have time for the guided tour at each home as well as gardens and park, so we opted for the morning in Powderham's gardens and park, a picnic lunch and then the full monty at Ugbrooke. It turned out that the best thing before we headed off to Ugbrooke in the afternoon was the picnic. The Rose Garden was somewhat disappointing: roses attractive enough but no underplanting meant it looked a bit bare. The Secret Garden turned out not to be a garden at all but rather the former walled kitchen harden housing a collection of small animals to amuse the children. The Woodland Garden had some handsome mature trees, a gothick summerhouse in need of restoration and a canal covered in weed. The walk to the Belvedere - a mile from the rose garden - was through uninteresting woodland and, when we got there, the Belvedere was clad in scaffolding and surrounded by scrubby trees, long grass and weeds. The Earl of Devon's Powderham has been open to the public for a long time. I don't know what the castle tour is like but I would have expected the gardens and park to be much better presented and maintained. Thank goodness we weren't paying! |
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And thank goodness, too, that our Ugbrooke visit made up for it |
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We live less than
an hour from Devon and like to visit sometimes. The was the first
of a few 'over-the-border' Devon reviews. In the 1740s John Parker
extended his house, creating a fashionable Georgian home using the renowned
Scottish architect Robert Adam. High points are Adam's elegant Saloon
and Dining Room. The Saloon has beautiful windows, delicate plaster-work,
magnificent mirrors and its original Adam painted ceiling and furniture.
Local boy made good and family friend Joshua Reynolds helped with the selection
of paintings. As well as his own works, you will find a Rubens, Dutch
and Flemish pictures, an allegorical Stubbs and local views by Devon artist
William Tomkins. One room is hung with old Chinese mirror paintings
and there is a Chinese Chippendale bedroom and dressing room. The
old chapel houses exhibitions of local arts and crafts. There is
a small garden behind the house and large pleasure grounds are filled with
colourful shrubs and mature trees. A leaflet suggests walks around
the estate and above the River Plym; we have enjoyed these.
We have also enjoyed the restaurant in the stables. Oddly, access
is by a private bridge over the busy A38.
There is ample parking. |
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Signed from A38 just east of Plymouth |
Ugbrooke House, Gardens and Park
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What a great place.
We knew we would enjoy Ugbrooke when we drove past immaculate out buildings
and neat trees and grass to a friendly greeting at the ticket booth from
a smartly dressed gentleman who said "you are in for treat".
Indeed we were. Our guided house tour was by the (again smartly dressed)
double act of Bill and Peter, who entertained and informed us for 90 minutes
- usually 45 minutes is enough, not here. All the staff we met, including
the administator and the lady in the tea room, clearly love the house and
respect the owners, the Cliffords.
The Cliffords trace their descent back through Rollo the Ganger, 10th century 1st Duke of Normandy, to earlier Danish kings. Collateral ancestors include the 'Fair Rosamund', Jane Clifford from the Welsh borders, lover of Henry II. The parents of the present Baron Clifford of Chudleigh returned from Australia to restore the ancestral home after WWII; restoration continues under interior designer Lady Clifford. The originally Tudor house, remodelled by Robert Adam, is beautifully presented, some of its Adam interior and furniture remaining, other parts recently restored in sympathy. We were most struck by the lovely dining room, the Adam library, the Norfolk bedroom and superb Adam chapel. |
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Ugbrooke's Park and Gardens |
| It is amazing that not only did Robert Adam venture so far south-west but Capability Brown found his way down here, too. The 18th century Cliffords must have been both wealthy and influential. The area of park rhat you see is relatively small but a pleasing walk guides you around Brown's lake with a small cascade at one end, a water-splash at the other. All is immaculately kept and there are fine specimen trees. The 1990 hurricane did immense damage but you would not know now, though replanting continues to restore Brown's original plan. Small individual gardens charmingly surround three sides of the house. Good teas are served in the handsome Georgian Orangery. We enjoyed ours sitting outside it by the colourful lavender beds. |
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Set in handsome mature woodland, you will find a Hermitage Garden, a rather bare Italian Garden, a Fountain Pool, an American Garden, a Secret Garden, a Stream Garden, a small Mediterranean Garden, an excellent Pinetum, a lake and an Orangery (now the café). Highlights are traditional and modern roses, some good herbaceous borders, more than 2000 heathers, perhaps the oldest Chinese wisteria in England and National Collections of agapanthus and pittosporum. An exhibition hall houses a Countryside Collection - tractors, traction engines and vintage farm machinery. There is nothing outstanding here so this is a place for vistas not detail. Eat at the Sir Walter Raleigh Inn in East Budleigh. |
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| The Endsleigh Charitable Trust has been doing its best to restore the magnificent landscape that Humphrey Repton created for the 6th Duke of Bedford in the early 19th century. Many magnificent specimen trees still stand on the steeply sloping site above the River Tamar and there are some fine rhododendrons. Sadly, years of neglect meant that most views of the River Tamar have been lost and Endsleigh Garden is not really worth paying the entry fee for. Worth walking around if you are staying at the Duke's former cottage orné, now a charming country house hotel as Hotel Endsleigh, a close relation of Tresanton in St. Mawes. |
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In 2007 we saw a report on local TV about Lukesland and promised we would go some time. Later Mark Camp - creator of the Copper Trail - recommended it. At the beginning of June 2008 we were lunching with a friend in Topsham - we can strongly recommend Dart's Farm - and took the chance to visit Lukesland on the way home. There has been a house here since at least Tudor times though the present one is Victorian. The garden was created between 1862 and 1880 by James MacAndrew and, since the 1930s, has been extended up the valley by the present owners, the Howells. Lukesland lies in the fairly steep valley of the little Addiscombe Brook which is a major feature, crossed by ten bridges and incorporating two ponds.and a bog garden. Don't expect the kind of immaculate, clipped maintenance that you get from the National Trust. The delight of Lukesland is that, instead, it is lush, slightly unkempt and filled with wild flowers. Woodland is superb, full of mature beech, ash, rowan, oak, maple and horse chestnut. We were there too late for the rhodos and the Champion magnolia but we did see the Handkerchief Tree in full fig. At trhe end of an enjoyable couple of hours we chatted to the family and had tea and cakes (great value) in the conservatory to the accompaniment of guitarist Oliver de Peralta. We shall definitely visit again. |
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In Ivybridge, take a lane north, following signs for Harford |
| We know Rosemoor well, originally from its 8-acre days as Lady Anne Palmer's garden, later from its amazing transformation by the RHS to a 40-acre garden of many parts. We used to visit when we were first house hunting in Cornwall; now we visit from our home there. There are formal and demonstration gardens, bog and stream gardens, fruit and vegetable garden, Lady Anne's now revitalised original garden and woodland garden, and a new arboretum; all are luxuriant and in immaculate order. Rosemoor is one of the few gardens that is truly beautiful in all seasons - we have visited in mid-winter and loved it. We can recommend both café and shop. |
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Clovelly - Picturebook Harbour Village
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Jane remembers Clovelly from visiting as a child with her father. Even then it was known for its picturesqueness but was very drab, run-down and almost in its death throes, fishing barely supporting a large village community. It was then, and still is now, privately owned by one family. Modern tourism has saved Clovelly, so perhaps one should not mind its commercial aspects but just enjoy its steep cobbled street with quaint flower-bedecked cottages on Up-along and Down-along and a small sheltered tidal harbour below. There are two small museums; one a fisherman's cottage, the other remembering author Charles Kingsley whose childhood was spent here. Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins stayed, the result their joint novel 'Message from the Sea'. You need to be fairly fit; the half mile from the car park is down a steep cobbled street - no cars here! There is transport - a rattling Landrover - down to the harbour but that way you miss the quaint street. Two small hotels, both with bar lunches, and a good tea rooms. There is a movie in the visitor centre by the car park; a silk-screen printer (silk for sale) and potter are nearby. For those seeking photographs, Clovelly is best visited on a sunny high-tide morning out of the tourist rush of high season. |
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Signed from A39 10 miles west of Bideford |
East Budleigh - The Sir Walter Raleigh Connection
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Sir Walter Raleigh was born in 1552 at Hayes Barton farm, in a handsome whitewashed medieval house just to the west of East Budleigh. In the village, take a look in the church where the two front pews on the left were the Raleigh family pews; there are also some handsome carved bench ends. The pub, the Sir Walter Raleigh, is opposite the lane to Hayes Barton; it is well worth a lunch visit for its good conventional food and its welcoming staff. In the lanes around the church there are some attractive Devon cottages of cob and thatch. Just to the north is Bicton Botanic Garden. |
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Neither Jane nor I had ever been to Ilfracombe before but we had always hankered to do so as our Wroughton friends the Phillips family took all their summer holidays there. So, when Mary was with us in September 2004 we decided on an outing to Ilfracombe, some 80 miles away - stopping at Bideford's Atlantic Village for coffee and cheap CDs. It's a fairly down-market little resort with very ordinary hotels and guest houses but, for all that, we found it to be a very attractive place. The resort side is to the west and we have to admit this looks rather run down - and its Landmark Arts Complex looks rather like a power plant! Our preferred part is the east side around the harbour; few fishing boats now but plenty of small leisure craft and a ferry that runs to Lundy Island. The sheltered harbour is overlooked by the high cliffs of Beacon Point to the east and by a chapel atop Lantern Hill on its north side. Buildings along the Quay are mostly 18th and 19th century and painted in restful colours. St. Nicholas Chapel was built around 1320. At the Reformation it became an odd small home and soon after acquired a lantern-tower lighthouse on its roof, which still operates. Place to eat is 11 The Quay, owned by artist Damien Hurst; both evening restaurants have views; downstairs on the harbour side is an excellent Tapas Bar, which is where we had lunch - the red brick building below and left of the chapel |
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From M5 junction 27 by A361 to South Molton, then best by A399 |
| The last time I had been in Okehampton was in the 1950s, staying overnight on the way to a family holiday in Falmouth. So it was a pleasant change to be there in March 2009 with the busy A30 no longer thundering through the centre of the town. The area has been settled since the bronze age but the town grew up in Saxon times, named for the River Okement that flows through it. The castle dates from Norman times and became a defended home of the Courtenays, Earls of Devon; it is now a picturesque ruin, open to the public, above the West Okement River. .The Museum of Dartmoor Life covers the history of the town and the moor, its industry and agriculture. The Dartmoor Railway operates as a visitor attraction between Meldon Quarry and Viaduct and Okehampton. There is said to be an extension to link with the Tarka Line but I am not sure about that. Restored Okehampton station has an excellent cafe while at the Meldon end there is a visitor centre and another cafe. I.m not qualified to comment on shopping but there looks to be a good variety of shops - and there is certainly no shortage of inns and restaurants. To me the biggest attraction is the proliferation of walking and cycling trails - the Tarka Trail, the Two Castles Trail, the West Devon Way, the Dartmoor Way and a short section of the Devonshire Heartland Trail. |  |
| A Round Walk from Okehampton - by Meldon and Belstone |
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A Round Walk from Okehampton - 13 miles
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This walk was an unexpectedly enjoyable bonus as part of my March 2009 research of the Land's End Trail stage from Tavistock to Belstone. I had previously walked from Tavistock to Lydford and Lydford to Okehampton. Now, needing to check out the section from Meldon Bridge to Belstone, I devised a round (really morre triangular) walk from Okehampton that included the ground I needed to cover. This is a very easy walk to follow as it uses parts of five different trails, all shown quite clearly on the OS map. I left Okehampton on the West Devon Way as far as Meldon Bridge, followed the Granite Way to Okehampton Station and the Devonshire Heartland Way to the East Okement River. There i joined the Tarka Trail up the river and to cross Belstone Common to Belstone. From Belstone I made my way back to Okehampton on the Dartmoor Way (not waymarked) and the Tarka Trail. It proved to be an unchallenging but delightful and walk with a lot of interest along the way - Okehampton Castle, a golf course, Meldon Viaduct, Quarry and Station, Okehampton Station, a beautiful section up the East Okement River, an abandoned cottage and good views from Belstone Common, some wonderful woodland and, most importantly to me, good refreshments at Okehampton Station and at The Barton in Belstone. |
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On OS OL28 Okehampton Town |
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Not a beautiful city; in fact, thanks to some appalling rebuilding after devastating bombing in World War II, a downright ugly city. You might visit for two reasons - interest in navies, as Plymouth is a major home of the British Royal Navy, or interest in the early exploration of the Americas. Naval dockyards line the western waterfront at the mouth of the Tamar and ships can also be seen on the two-mile distant Breakwater waiting for refit. The eastern waterfront is Sutton Harbour, the historic harbour from which Raleigh, Drake, Humphrey Gilbert, the Pilgrim Fathers and the Jamestown Settlers set out. Much changed from when we first knew it, the Barbican waterfront here has lost its fishermen, net lofts and tackle and now buzzes with restaurants, coffee bars and pubs. Across the harbour is the National Marine Aquarium. High above Sutton Harbour, on Plymouth Hoe, are Drake and Armada memorials and great views over Plymouth Sound. 3 Elliot Terrace there was the home of Waldorf and Nancy Langhorne Astor who were successively MPs for Plymouth. |
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Tavistock - a real market town
| We first spent time
in Tavistock in December 2005, after visiting Endsleigh
in Milton Abbot. We were pleasantly surprised by what we found -
a good shopping town with a lot of history. Tavistock grew up around
a wealthy 10th century Benedictine abbey and prospered first from tin mining
then from producing cloth. When Henry VIII closed the monasteries,
the Russells acquired the abbey's vast estate. Becoming Marquesses
of Tavistock and Dukes of Bedford, where they also owned the Woburn estate,
they prospered mightily when copper was discovered around Tavistock and,
in the 19th century rebuilt much of Tavistock town.
Only three fragments of the former abbey remain from the rebuilding. Instead the town centres on handsome Bedford Square into which a long avenue leads from the Sir Francis Drake statue (he was a Tavistock man). Parallel to this is the main shopping street with some fine local shops, including Lawson's great kitchen shop and an old-fashioned grocer. Shopping highlight, however, is the Pannier Market behind the town hall. The handsome 1680 building operates from Tuesday to Saturday (minimum) with varying specialities on each day including produce, crafts, antiques and more. |
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| More images of Tavistock which is on The Land's End Trail |
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Strictly speaking, this is not a foundry at all but a forge, founded in 1814 by the Finch brothers and in continuous production of hand tools for mining and agriculture right up until 1960. Even though you may know what you are going to visit, it still comes as a great surprise. Driving through the charming village of Sticklepath, you turn in through a narrow alley between houses on the main street and find yourself in a colourful lawned garden. There is a ramshackle wooden shed and two water wheels, one driven by a leaky wooden leat that passes overhead. Inside you are confronted by ancient machinery, driven by belts powered by the water wheels. National Trust volunteers man machinery and explain the history and workings of this charming relic of the past. There is a museum here, too, in which you can see examples of the things the foundry made - Cornish shovels, mining tools, sickles and even mole-traps - along with historic photographs. The contrast of the tranquil garden setting and the noise and bustle of the forge is remarkable and this is working industrial archaeology with a vengeance. There is a shop and a small tea room. The colourful garden seems to merge with an adjacent cottage garden and to one side is the back entrance to the thatched Devonshire Inn. |
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Signed from A30 a little to the east of Okehampton |
Morwellham Quay - A Major Copper Mining Museum
| Morwellham Quay, originally
part of the Devon Great Consols copper mining complex in the middle 19th
century, and now an important industrial museum, is part of Cornwall's
World Heritage mining area. While my sister Mary was staying
with us at the end of October 2006, Morwellham was one of many sites open
for free to celebrate World Heritage status - so, being suckers for freebies,
we all went and were glad we did; it's a great place. There is an
informative introductory video and a well laid out guide sheet leads you
around the site on two trails - and there are plenty of staff, recognisable
by their period dress.
The main Red Trail includes all the important features - boat dock and canal dock on the River Tamar, an overhead railway, a rope-walk, processing sheds, lime kilns, two waterwheels, village school, cooperage, wainwright, assayer's office, workers cottages, museums and exhibitions. This trail also leads to an optional underground tour. We also took the Blue Trail as we were keen to see what remains of the Tavistock Canal and its associated inclined plane - not much - and to see the Victorian Farm. There is also an extensive Nature Trail. Facilities are good and we enjoyed some excellent, good value food in the Ship Inn. There is ample parking. |
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| Morwellham is signed from A390 Tavistock-Liskeard at Gulworthy |
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| Update 2008. Thanks to World Heritage grants, vast restoration and renovstion projects are under way. These include opening up walks along the River Tamar, something we look forward to enjoying next time we visit Morwellham Quay. |
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| Tradition has it that a rich merchant, storm-bound at sea, promiised St. Michael to build him a church on the first land he sighted and that this is it. Unfortunately, since Brentor is so far from the sea, the tale is unlikely and anyway it was probably built by the local Norman Giffard family around 1130. Rebuilt around 1300, the tower was added a century later. Rather surprisingly for a church on a remote 1000 foot tor, services are held every Sunday evening from Easter to September. Regardless, views from up here are superb |
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Burgh Island and Bigbury-on-Sea
| We had wanted to take a look at Burgh Island, a dozen miles east of Plymouth Sound, for some time. In January 2004 we made an expedition there. Just a quarter mile offshore, it can be reached across a sand bar at low tide, by a remarkable converted tractor when the tide is in. Bigbury on Sea is a small village with modern apartments above the beach. The hotel is on the island, a small Art Deco palace with fairly expensive rates. Also on the island is the atmospheric Pilchard Inn, dating from 1336. We had hoped to look around Burgh Island Hotel and eat there but it was closed so we ate in the 'olde-worlde' Pilchard Inn. |
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I may have been distinctly
unimpressed by a second visit to Hartland Quay
but Jane and I were totally bowled over by nearby Hartland Point, just
three miles up the coast. This is Devon's north-western extremity,
a place of great beauty, incredibly long views and relative tranquillity
after the tawdry bustle of Hartland Quay. You approach by narrow
lanes from Hartland village and, at Blagdon Farm by the Lundy Heliport,
pay a small toll to continue to a car park on the cliffs. Below you
is Barley Bay, to your left is Hartland Point itself, its lighthouse invisible
till you walk to the Point and look down on it. In the car park is
an attractive snack shack with tables in front. Food is superb, coffee
fresh, prices very reasonable. We enjoyed excellent locally made
pasties.
To get the best from Hartland Point you must walk in both directions, especially south to and beyond the lighthouse. Views are magnificent: south-west to Cambeak, Tintagel and the Rumps; north to Lundy Island (12 miles), the Gower Peninsula in Wales (40 miles) and, although we didn't see that far, on an especially clear day, to Pembrokeshire (45 miles). This is shipwreck coast: remains of the Johanna, wrecked in 1982, lie close to the light and a nearby memorial remembers the hospital ship Glenart Castle, sunk by a U-boast in 1918. |
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More images at Hartland Point and East Titchbury Farm |
Images of Hartland Point and East Titchbury Farm
| On the way to Hartland Point you pass a National Trust property, East Titchbury Farm. The thatched and whitewashed cob-built farmhouse and cob-built granary are not open but there is a car park and you can walk to the coast at Shipload Bay. |
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If you are visiting Hartland Abbey, venture beyond to Stoke village and on to Hartland Quay. Stoke has a church with 130 foot tower, a painted wagon roof, a lovely 15th century traceried screen, a highly decorated Norman font, Flemish glass and a superb 15th century tomb chest. Continue to Hartland Quay where a small fee allows a choice of four car parks. At the bottom is the Hartland Quay Hotel with a small museum about the lost harbour and local shipwrecks. You can join the Devon Coast Path in either direction to walk along high cliffs and down to small dangerous-looking bays. Views south are to Tintagel and The Rumps, north to Lundy Island, 12 miles offshore. The most impressive walk takes you three miles north to Hartland Point where the cliffs rise to 350 feet, a powerful lighthouse warns off shipping and the jagged rocks have turned from dark grey to red. Hartland Quay is a place best visited when the tide is high and Atlantic gales are blowing; it is impressive at any time, most of all in a howling gale. Eat in the Wrecker's Retreat bar in the Hartland Quay Hotel. Beware popular times - school summer vacation and bank holiday weekends - as the narrow road to the Quay can get busy. While you are in the area, you may also like to visit Clovelly village. |
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Hartland Quay Revisited 2007 |
Hartland Quay Revisited in late July 2007
| Perhaps 5 years of
travelling around Cornwall for this website has changed my perception of
places. Perhaps it is just that I am prepared to be more critical
than I was a few years ago. After a glorious day spent with Jane
at Hartland Point, and walking from Hartland Abbey
down to the coast at Blackmill Cove, I walked over The Warren to Hartland
Quay while Jane sunned herself at the cove. When we got home I re-read
what I originally wrote about Hartland Quay and realised that I had been
quite uncritical. So here is my late July 2007 view of Hartland Quay
- quite different from my rather rosy view of 2003.
This is a place of great natural beauty - soaring cliffs, evil jagged rocks, long views - ruined by its popularity. If you stand in the higher car park you can enjoy the beauty. If you walk down to the lower car park all you notice is the cars and the unattractive hotel. If you walk down to Broad Beach you wonder what pleasure people find in a beach that is mostly jagged rocks with just a strip of mudstone sand. Yet, when I saw it, people crowded the beach. To me its only saving grace was the striking folded strata of the cliffs, rather like those at Millook. I am not qualified to comment on the hotel's accommodation but I found its Wreckers Bar drab and its kitchen smells somewhat 'greasy spoon'. All in all not a place I shall visit again. |
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| Original Hartland Quay report |
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| In early April 2007
we paid another visit to our favourite town, Tavistock,
partly for the market, partly for Lawson's hardware store but mostly for
an excellent exhibition of Cornish landscape paintings at the Bedford Hotel.
On our friend Nicole's recommendation, we then had lunch at the Peter
Tavy Inn on the western fringes of Dartmoor. After lunch we carried
on further up the Okehampton Road to visit a famous National Trust landscape,
Lydford Gorge. The approach is through the charming village of Lydford
and past the remains of a 12th century tin miners' prison, standing proud
on its motte and looking for all the world like a castle.
The gorge's origins as a landscape attraction are unclear but, when the railway arrived around 1890, the Victorians - as you might expect - made paths on both sides of the river to improve access and make a circuit about three miles in length. The path on the west side is easy and paths down to and up from the river are no problem. It is on the east side that the going gets tougher with paths with handrails cut into the rock above the water. It's well worth the effort: the River Lyd tumbles over rocks, waterfalls sparkle; trees grow tall in the narrow gorge and look good even leafless. Do not miss the 60 foot White Lady waterfall or the turmoil of the Devil's Cauldron. National Trust facilities are good and there is ample car parking. |
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| Lydford and the gorge are signed from A386 Tavistock-Okehampton |
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Morte Bay, Mortehoe and Woolacombe
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Not that we ever tire
of Cornwall, but in March 2005 we felt it was time for another Devon outing.
We had seen Mortehoe on Rick Stein's 'Food Heroes' TV show and thought
it looked promising. This part of the North Devon coast faces west
and its ten miles of sandy beaches make it great family vacation and surfing
country. The resorts - Saunton, Croyde, Woolacombe and Mortehoe -
are small and many former hotels have now be converted to apartments.
We followed the coast slowly from Saunton and took early lunch at the excellent Chichester Arms in Mortehoe, top recommendation for the area. After lunch we walked out to National Trust owned Morte Point. Views were ravishing; short to the north-west, just across Rackham Bay to Bull Point lighthouse, long to the south, across the sandy sweep of Morte Bay and beyond to Hartland Point. To the north we could just make out the Gower Peninsula in Wales. At the end of the walk we enjoyed a good tea in the beach cafe at the north end of Woolacombe Sands. We can recommend this part of Devon for its thatched villages, its coast walking and its superb sandy beaches. Our nephew and niece, Giles and Harry, strongly recommend it for surfing. We shall revisit. |
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Location: North-west of Barnstaple, by way of Braunton & Saunton |
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The 365 square mile Dartmoor National Park occupies a large corner of south-west Devon. High moorland, topped by odd rock formations, rises to around 2000 feet. Below are lush valleys, torrential streams, woodland and some attractive villages - best are Buckland-in-the-Moor, Chagford, Widecombe, Lustleigh and North Bovey. On the moors, dotted with pre-historic remains and old mine workings, sheep and native ponies graze. Dartmoor is popular with tourists so villages and beauty spots - such as Postbridge, Dartmeet, Fingle Bridge, Canonteign Falls and Lydford Gorge - can become over-run. Lanes are narrow and often high-hedged, making progress difficult; at busy times you may feel it sufficient to take the old road across the moor from Moretonhampstead to Tavistock or Yelverton. Features worth seeking out include ancient stone 'clapper' bridges at Postbridge, Dartmeet and Bellever; the pre-historic settlement at Grimspound; and Hound Tor medieval village. You may also like to see Princetown, high on the moor and dominated by its forbidding prison. I spent a day on Dartmoor in December 2007 visiting Widecombe, photographing clapper bridges and climbing Saddle Tor, Haytor and Hound Tor. Compared with Cornwall's Bodmin Moor, it surprised me how busy all these hills were. |
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Index of Dartmoor sites |
Index of Dartmoor
Sites Visited
| After leaving Jane at Exeter airport - she was flying up to Newcastle - in December 2007, I decided it was such a glorious day that I had to explore some of Dartmoor. I decided on a bit of everything: the moor's best known village, Widecombe; some clapper bridges at Postbridge, Dartmeet and Ponsworthy; a wayside cross at Bennet's Cross; a boundary stone on Saddle Tor; and, most important of all, some moorland walking to climb Saddle Tor, Haytor and Hound Tor. It was such a beautiful day, and I enjoyed myself so much, I wish I had had time for more. |
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Three Tor Walk |
| Dartmoor's most popular village, Widecombe-in-the-moor to give it its full name, lies in the 'broad valley' of the East Webburn River, surrounded by rocky hills. It is probably best known through the song about Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and Tom Pearce's grey mare. You won't find them here, except in spirit and a monument, but the village is well worth a vist. But not in season, when it can get over-run. Set around a large green are handsome late medieval St. Pancras church - the 'cathedral of the moor' - Glebe House, arcaded Church House and the Old Inn. The church should be visted. Mostly 15th and 16th century, it had good perpendicular windows and an impressive 120 foot pinnacled tower. Inside is an original wagon roof with good bosses, one representing the tinners rabbit. What is left of the rood screen still carries painted figures of saints and apostles. The churchyard is entered either through the lych gate from the square or through one of two kissing gates. A tall preaching cross stands outside the porch. |
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| Many of the road bridges are medieval and handsomely built. But my main interest is in the many clapper bridges. Time only permitted me to see three of these - the remarkable and famous one at Postbridge, the ruined one at Dartmeet and a tiny one over the ford at Ponsworthy. |
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| If you want an easy tor to climb, try Saddle Tor, just to the west of Haytor. There is ample parking along the minor road from Widecombe to Bovey Tracey and you can easily take in Haytor, which is linked by a clear path. Note the ancient boundary in the photo below. |
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| One of the most popular spots on Dartmoor, Haytor Rocks is also easily accessible from the Widecombe to Bovey Tracey road. It is also very popular with novice rock climbers, of whom several were on the rocks when I was there. Good views to the south coast. |
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| I climbed Hound Tor late in the day primarily to get a view of the abandoned medieval village below. I could see it but light did not permit a good photo. However, I was well pleased with the remarkable rock formations - no climbers this time. |
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A Three Tor Walk from Lydford - Sharp, Hare and Ger Tors
| In the course of helping re-research The Land's End Trail, I did a walk from Lydford that included part of Stage 14 across Dartmoor from Tavistock to Belstone. For this April 2009 walk I wanted to cover part of a moorland route recommended by John Skinner, Access Officer for Devon Ramblers, from Lanehead to Dick's Well. I parked in Lydford and set off on the old Lichway, under Lydford Viaduct and across the Lyd Brook to Higher Beardon. I then got on the moor by Willsworthy Camp and headed for Hare Tor by way of White Hill. Bypassing Hare Tor, I headed north over Sharp Tor, passing a bronze age cairn, and continued down to Dick's Well. I than retraced my steps over Sharp Tor and continued south over Hare Tor and Ger Tor (great views over Tavy Cleave) to the car park at Lanehead. I returned to Lydford using the Lichway from Willsworthy Bridge to the car park south of Willsworthy Camp and, sfter a short road section, following a bridleway past Prescombe and back to the Lyd Brook. The walk proved to include just 4 off-moor miles, allowing me to spend a good 5 hours on the moor, lingering over superb views and for many photos. This was an exhilarating walk. Despite my very great love for Bodmin Moor, I rather regret that I don't live nearer Dartmoor and so can't do as much of this as I might like. |  |
| The walk, of around 12 miles, is on the northern side of OS map OL28 |
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When we mentioned
that we would be visiting Tavistock in April 2007,
our friend Nicole recommended the Peter Tavy Inn as a good place for lunch.
I already knew that, when I was touring, my American visitors used to enjoy
it. And, as it is only a few minutes out of Tavistock, just off the
road from Okehampton and on the western edge of Dartmoor, we were persuaded
to try it for ourselves. Views of Dartmoor from the road to Peter
Tavy are ravishing and Peter Tavy village manages to feel at once remote
and charming. To get to the inn you drive right through the
village - and through a farmyard.
Expectations were high as Egon Ronay nominiated the Peter Tavy Inn as one of his 'gastropubs' in 2006. Though there was none of the pretentiousness that 'gastropub' might suggest, service (by smartly dressed young staff) was fast and efficient. Although the interior is attractive, we chose to eat outside in the sun. The lunch menu is longish and includes: starters such as homemade soup, smoked salmon, and mushrooms with spinach and blue cheese; mains like steak, chicken and bacon tart, whole brill, and several vegetarian dishes. There is also a good selection of local cheeses and filled baguettes and jacket potatoes. As you might expect, we chose baguettes and were delighted. A strong recommendation. |
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Afterwards we enjoyed a walk in the National Trust's Lydford Gorge |
St. Nectan's, Stoke - the parish church of Hartland
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Considering that Hartland is a village of some size, it is quite a surprise that its parish church is 2 miles away on the way to Hartland Quay. Another surprise is that, in so remote a location, the church should be so large, its 130 foot tower Devon's second tallest. More surprises await inside: wagon roofs; a painted nave ceiling; carved bosses in the aisle ceilings; a complete and beautifully carved rood screen, still with some traces of its original colour; and a superb gothic tomb chest of dark stone. Other treasures include a highly decorated Norman font, some roundels of early Flemish glass, a 14th century altar screen in one chapel, a reredos of gothic panels in another. There are also some early fragments of carved stone figures and a memorial brass dated 1610. Many of these treaures probably came from the nearby former abbey, closed in the Dissolution and now represented only by scant remains in the grounds of the present Hartland Abbey House. The only disappointment is that there are so few original bench ends, others probably destroyed in Victorian restoration. We first saw the church in 2003 but went back in July 2007 when visiting Hartland Quay and Hartland Point, the first disappointing, the second a lovely spot. If you are in the area, don't miss this fine church. |
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A Short Break in Sidmouth - April 2005
| For our spring break
in 2005 we decided to keep it fairly local and just crossed the Tamar
to South Devon to experience what we alway enjoy - the coast - in a different
county. Although we only took three nights in Sidmouth - at the far
eastern end of Devon's south coast - the journey was short enough to give
us four full days with little travelling time, so we were able to pack
a lot in and still feel relaxed about it, something we increasingly treasure
as we get older. Our itinerary went thus:
Day 1 - On the way we revisited two National Trust properties we last saw quite a long time ago, Killerton House and Garden (this time garden only) and Kinghtshayes House and Garden. Day 2 - In the morning we visited Sidmouth's Donkey Sanctuary and walked from Seaton to Beer and back along the Devon Coast Path. Day 3 - We drove east into Dorset, enjoyed the little resort of West Bay and walked to Burton Bradstock. We also visited Lyme Regis. Day 4 - Just one visit on the way home, to Escot near Ottery St. Mary, of little interest to anyone other than children and not reported on. As usual we found some entertaining places to eat and we report on these under the appropriate entry. |
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| Sidmouth is 15 miles east of Exeter, by A3052 from M5 junction 30. |
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Sidmouth - A Genteel Resort, mostly for Senior Citizens
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When you find your
way to the seafront, it is as if you have passed through a time warp and,
but for the motor car, you might be back in the early 19th century - and
all thanks to the Napoleonic Wars. Denied the resorts of Europe,
the wealthy, fashionable and elderly had to find themselves new resorts
in England. When they arrived, Sidmouth was a sleepy fishing fishing
village. Before long the seafront was lined with hotels and the slopes
were dotted with villas. And all in the fashionable Regency style
of the time - a very English version of the classical, with wrought-iron
railings, balconies and large sash windows. An odd fashion of the
period found its expression at the western end of the main beach, the thatched
Cottage Orné that John Nash built for the Prince Regent.
Outwardly Sidmouth seems little changed - until you look at its visitors. They may still be elderly but they are no longer fashionable or wealthy and have more likely come on senior citizens bus-tour packages. The main beach is quiet because it is shingle rather than sand and its steep slope means little tidal movement. The quiet western beach is used mainly by dog walkers. Public Connaught Gardens are delightful. Hotels include three with 4 star rating. If a good pub is the place for you to eat, try the Ship just behind the Esplanade. |
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The Donkey Sanctuary, just outside Sidmouth
| Jane has always been
a great fan of Elizabeth Svendsen's work caring for donkeys, perhaps the
most ill-treated of all dometicated animals. Her life's work has
been to rescue, care for and, where possible, re-home her donkeys.
From small beginnings in 1968, when the sanctuary near Sidmouth was started,
the organisation has flourished through her hard work and since 1973 has
had charitable status. You might think that the hundreds of rescue
donkeys at Sidmouth suggested a vast enough and
well run organisation. But there is much more to the Donkey Sanctuary
than just Sidmouth. Another branch was founded in County Cork in
Ireland and cares for a similar number. And the sanctuary works in
Mexico, Kenya, Egypt and Ethiopia, too! If the Sidmouth sanctuary
is typical of Dr. Svendsen's work, it is to be much admired. All
is immaculate and the inmates seem to be lovingly cared for. There
is a video about the sanctuary and its origins and there is an excellent
cafe, too.
While Jane was enjoying herself at the sanctuary, I took a walk down to Weston Mouth, a walk of a mile or so to a shingle beach below high cliffs. A strange spot with a couple of shacks hidden away behind a high hedge and another on the beach, boarded up but with a couple of, presumably, fishing boats drawn up by it. |
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| Signed from A3052, Exeter to Lyme Regis, just east of Sidmouth |
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| This short stretch
of South Devon coast provides considerable contrast. At its centre
is Seaton, an old-fashioned small resort with a fairly long promenade.
The River Axe joins the sea at Seaton's eastern end and Axmouth harbour
is attractive. Oddly the village of Axmouth is more than a mile further
inland. Tramcar enthusiasts will enjoy Seaton. A short stretch
of abandoned railroad from Colyton has been restored and is home to a collection
of historic electric tramcars - and two new double-deckers - running a
service on the three-mile line. At the foot of Seaton Chine, immaculate
beach huts are a reminder of how seaside vacations used to be.
We walked the short stretch of coast path to Beer, and found ourselves in another world entirely. No harbour here, instead a fleet of working fishing boats are drawn up on the shingle beach, otherwise lined with deckchairs in the season. At the back of the beach are three beach cafes; above them on the hard is an active fish market. The village is a delight with attractive homes, some thatched, good shops and several restaurants. We had planned to eat at the Anchor Inn but, despite its attractive exterior it was awfully dull inside so we ate at a beach cafe. |
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This entry really
doesn't belong on my Devon page. However, since I don't have a Dorset
page, and since we did visit West Bay during our Devon holiday, here it
is, if for no other reason than that we enjoyed it. West Bay is Bridport's
port and stands at the mouth of the little River Brit, just a mile from
its mother town. It's a strange place, at heart a working harbour
with an active inshore fishing fleet, but overlaid with a veneer of tourism
- a holiday park and and a lot of day-trippers in summer.
The attractive harbour may be in the process of turning into a marina. The outer harbour has been completely rebuilt, at great expense, and new apartment blocks have been built on one side of the inner harbour. This suggests to me marina development. To us the most striking feature of West Bay was its 'snack shacks'. About ten individual wooden shacks stand to north and south of the inner harbour, as if in the food mall in an out-of-town shopping centre. They serve everything from all day breakfast to local ice-cream, running the gamut of fish-and-chips, burgers and hot pork sandwiches. We have no idea what restaurant eating is like in West Bay but, with all these inexpensive outlets competing for custom, who needs restaurants. |
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West Bay is signed off the southern roundabout on A35 at Bridport |
A Jurassic Coast Walk from West Bay to Burton Bradstock
| We couldn't take a
holiday without fitting in a coast walk and here we had the chance to walk
a Dorset section of the South West Coast Path, of which Cornwall boasts
almost half. This particular part of the coast, along the English
Channel and taking in all of Dorset and East Devon, has recently been granted
the status of a World Heritage Site and is known as the Jurassic Coast.
This is some of England's most unstable coastline, composed mostly of sandstone
and mudstone. Regular landslips expose fossil-bearing rocks and the
area has been a Mecca for fossil hunters since 1811 when Mary Anning found
a complete icthyosaurus at Black Ven, part of the greatest landslip of
all at Lyme Regis.
We parked in West Bay and walked over the cliffs to the little River Bride, then inland to charming Burton Bradstock. In search of lunch we walked back to the coast at Burton Bay where, on National Trust land, we found the remarkable Hive Restaurant. No beach cafe this, rather a sophisticated restaurant in a tent of sorts. As food by the beach goes, a bit too elaborate and expensive for our tastes. We would have walked all the way back along the sand but a landslip - what else - meant we had to walk Burton Cliff first. A great walk on fascinating coastline. |
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Lyme Regis - shades of 'The French Lieutenant's Woman'
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On our way back from
West
Bay, we called in a Lyme Regis, planning to walk out along the Cobb,
the great harbour wall where that haunting scene in 'The French Lieutenant's
Woman' was shot. Repairs to storm damage meant we could not walk
all the way out but we were well and truly compensated by the activity
that was going on. Massive rocks had been dumped just outside the
inner harbour and were being moved from there to the east side of the harbour.
Dump trucks were being loaded by a vast grab, driving up on to a barge
and and disgorging their loads where the rocks were needed. My photograph
shows the barge with a dump truck on.
Lyme Regis has seen its share of history. In 1588 Sir Francis Drake had his first skirmish with the Spanish Armada in Lyme Bay. In 1644 the town withstood a two month seige by Royalist forces in the Civil War. In 1685 the Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate brother of James II, landed here with an army but was defeated by James at Sedgemoor. Perhaps rather appropriately, a mere three years later William of Orange landed just seven miles away at West Bay before claiming the throne. Things are a little quieter these days and Lyme has become a pleasant resort - where we holidayed a few years ago with my sister Mary. |
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