The Heritage Coast
Westward Ho! is our first resort along the Heritage Coast. A golden Bay with two miles of soft sand, safe for families. The beach is also popular for all types of surfing, beach sports, dog walking, and horse riders. It is also a favourite for Tweeters as there is an eclectic variety of birds. The Pebble Ridge, with its rounded grey cobbles, acts as a protective barrier for the resort.
In this small town and surrounding area, there is always an event to attend. For details, check with the Visitor Centre. There are the usual shops, places to eat and stay, plus tourist attraction venues nearby. The VILLAGE INN offers rooms and delicious food.
Moving on toward Clovelly is the village of Abbotsham, with a general store and the Thatched Inn. The Big Sheep Complex is for family entertainment. Horns Cross has several historic inns believed to have been smugglers haunts. The Horns Cross Inn and Coach & Horses both have tales to tell, and both do good food. A number of trails, including Green Lane, are parallel to the coast path, but one of Horns Cross’s best kept secrets is Peppercombe. This is a sheltered cove with unique red cliffs and a sandy beach that is approached by foot through a valley rich in flora. Bucks Mills is another picturesque village with a cove. The village is divided by a stream and as you travel down past a church, there is an entrance to Bucks Woods. From here it is a pleasant stroll down to the beach.
Clovelly has won the ‘Best Village in England’ award , and various other accolades. This unique village has a cobbled High Street with whitewashed cottages and floral hanging baskets leading down the hillside to the ancient harbour, and there is no traffic permitted.
The steep street is made from pebbles with an uneven surface which is not suitable for wheelchairs, high heels and the walking challenged. However, the visitors centre, donkey stables and other attractions at the top of the village are wheelchair friendly.
There is also a vehicle service to take visitors up and down the hill.
From the harbour, boat trips are available for Bideford Bay and Lundy Island. There are also fishing trips. Locally caught lobster and crab can be found in the local eateries. The Milky Way Theme Park is a great family attraction nearby on the A39 at Higher Clovelly.
Hartland Point is an area of natural beauty set in the vast Hartland Peninsula. This is an area of contrast between moorland and waterfalls from meandering valleys onto rocky shores. These valleys afford shelter from the prevailing winds to create micro-climates which support the attractive flora and fauna.
Hartland has many craft shops, potteries, eat and stay choices and it is close to the coast. There is a long main street leading to the town square and the Church of St John with its 17th
century clock.
THE VILLAGE INN AT WESTWARD HO! has superb accommodation and delicious food. Here you will receive a warm welcome from resident host Steve, who will do everything possible to make your stay here as enjoyable and relaxing as possible. A cracking Sunday Roast served from 12 until 2. Pop along and joins us. Cask Marque real ales, all locally brewed just waiting for you.
From here, through the small ham- let of Stoke, the road passes the interesting Hartland Abbey, and then on to Hartland Quay with its contorted cliffs. At low tide there is sand, rock pools and if it is rough weather it is the perfect place to see the power of the sea. The Hartland Museum exhibits the history of shipwrecks etc. At Hartland Quay there are many choices of places to eat, stay and shop. The Anchor Inn offers rooms and a restaurant. Twenty minutes’ walk south of Hart- land Quay is Spekes Mill Mouth, which has the most spectacular waterfall on the Heritage Coast. It is also a short walk to Blackpool cot- tage, the setting for the BBC’s adap- tion of Sense and Sensibility.
Travelling down the coast there are many villages, hamlets, coves and beaches, such as Milford which is home to the famous Docton Mill Gardens. A few miles further south is Hardisworthy and South Hole.
THE GNOME RESERVE is a unique fun experience and eco- logically interesting with a mixture of wonder and magic. Set in the countryside between Bideford and Bude, just 7 miles from the Devon Cornwall border.
The reserve comprises woodland, stream, 30 yard pond, meadow and garden - home to 1000+ gnomes and pixies, and about 250 labelled species of wild flowers, herbs, grasses and ferns. Gnome hats and fishing rods are loaned free so you don’t embarrass the gnomes! The children will love it because there is so much for them to discover, from a wood- pecker in a tree to a pixie flitting over clumps of comfrey. Recommended also for adults whose sophistication can have robbed them of a freshness of vision, the Gnome Reserve will rejuvenate you!
48
Welcombe is midway between Bideford and Bude, straddling a deep valley with a meandering stream leading to the cliff edge at Welcombe Mouth where it ends in a picturesque waterfall. This is a popular holiday destination where visitors return year after year. The Old Smithy Inn offers food and a real Devon welcome. Going south on the A388, there are villages and hamlets to discover such as: Petrockstowe, home to Baxter Hall and nearby is the Halsdon Nature Reserve with paths through woodland, riverside meadows, the deserted ruins of a water-mill and a fine stretch of the River Torridge. From here the Torridge flows south eastward and beneath Kesmeldon Bridge where tradition says the first pipe of tobacco was smoked by a mariner who was in Sir Walter Raleigh’s first expedition to Virginia.
Travelling inland via Meddon and other equally attractive rural Devon villages are the Putford villages, at West Putford is the four acre GNOME RESERVE.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
