Launceston Steam Railway

Photo courtesy of Leslie Nicholson. (Many thanks)

This is straying somewhat out of the realms of North Devon, but I thought I would blog about it anyway. Launceston is in Cornwall, but only just! It took a while to get there this morning but eventually we made it and three generations of us boarded the steam train. There were three carriages on the train and we opted for the fully enclosed one. The train runs from Launceston to a hamlet called Newmills and the journey takes around 10 mins through leafy green countryside. Tickets are £25 for a family (2 adults and up to 4 children - a much more sensible number than 2) or £8.25 for adults. This allows you unlimited rides on the train, you could go up and down all day if you wanted to.

At the Launceston station there is a cafe and a museum (old barn with cars, bikes and things steam engine related). At Newmills there is a farm, entry to which is £10 for a family ticket. This farm has nothing to do with the Steam Railway other than its shared location. There is lots to do here for small children and my two youngest ones and thier small cousin had a great time there today. There are trampolines, a slide, lots of ride around trikes, swingball, a badminton/tennis net and racquets, lots of picnic benches, a cafe, and lots of wasps. This last caused lots of hysterical squealling from the two youngest members of our party so a visit planned for earlier in the year might be advisable.

Another big hit at the farm was the pets corner where my two spent ages cuddling the baby rabbits. We spent about three hours there, and did a bit of celebrity spotting (Tamsin Greig from Love Soup was there with her family - another photo I lost), then caught the train back again. This time we went for the open carriage which was very nice and to be recommended as long as its not raining - which just for a change it wasn't!

Still majorly annoyed about losing half of my photos - this is the only one of Newmills that survived.

Hartland Point and Lighthouse

We haven't been out for a while and the cobwebs definately needed blowing away after the night before, so out we went despite the weather. I consulted the walkers guide book and Hartland point, it said, was an ideal family walk largely on level terrain. Ha! The walk out of the car park nearly finished me off.

But I get ahead of myself. Hartland is on the edge of North Devon, almost in to Cornwall. The village is some 2 miles away from the coast and directions from the main road to the lighthouse take you around the village on some very narrow, very windy roads - this was most definately the worst part of the journey, especially after the aforementioned night before!

So, having made it down the windy roads, and up a very steep path out of the car park, we then stood on the edge of the cliff for the photo opportunity: beautiful rugged cliffs, lighthouse perched precariously amongst them, Lundy island in the back ground - howling gale and rain! The rain did pass however and the rest of the walk, although bracing, was very lovely. The path takes you down into the next valley and past a waterfall which turned out to be little more than drizzle the size of my bathtaps (apparently there's a better one at Spekes Mill which we will visit on a dry day). We then followed some country lanes, over stiles and through fields and farms until we reached the car park again.

There's a small picnic area in the car park and a kiosk selling lots of yummy food, hot and cold drinks and ice cream. The man at the counter, mistaking me for a mad tourist determined to enjoy her vacation at any cost (as opposed to a mad local who chose to come out when she could have stayed at home and waited for a nice day) gave me a brouchure and told me I should visit Hartland Quay next. The brouchure has a free car parking voucher inside. It also boasted Hartlands Super Service Award as Most Welcoming Community. The two workers inside the Kiosk were certainly most welcoming. I think we might come this way again - perhaps when we haven't haven't had quite such a party the night before.

Bideford Water Festival

This was a blast from the past. Many years ago, when I was a mere slip of a thing, the Bideford Water Festival was a big thing, a fund raising event run by the Rotary Club that drew people in droves. Then for some reason unknown to me it ceased. Today, after a gap of 25 years, it was back, pretty much as I remember it, but with a few twists.

Pictured above is the Greasy Pole competition. It does what it says on the tin, and people have to try to get to the end of the pole without falling off. The new organisers haven't quite got the measure of it yet, as half way through the competition they had to re-grease the pole because it got too easy to reach the end. I used to love watching the Greasy Pole (although I have to admit I remember it mostly from the Appledore Festival) and my kids loved it too.

There were plenty of other events organised for the river - a display from the lifeboat people, a gig race complete with the teams coating each other in flour after it was all over (known for some reason as Miller and Sweep - if someone can tell me why I'd be most grateful), and a raft race. I was expecting home made rafts but these were little inflatable boats. Teams of eight had to row from one side of the river to the other and back again, stopping on the east side to get out in the mud just to prove they'd made it. Nobody sank, but several people fell over trying to get back into their rafts, much to the amusement of the crowds.

There was due to be an East v West tug-of-war across the river but health and safety put a stop to that on the grounds that one team would obviously be pulled into the river. Another slight change to the traditional was the Pram Race. In my youth the Pram Race involved grown men, dressed either as babies or women, rushing from pub to pub, with the baby being pushed in a pram, and downing a pint in each pub. Today this became the Sedan Race, the reasoning behind which was that not many people have prams nowadays. The pub thing and the drinking stayed the same: we didn't stay long enough to see if the contestants still dressed up. I hope they did though.

As well as all this there were the usual stalls designed to part you from your well earned cash and - I was most impressed with this - THREE Hockings ice cream vans! All this and the sun actually shone for once.

Woolacombe Sandcastle Competition

I've been trying to get to the Woolacombe Sandcastle Competition every year for ages now but I've always had something else on or its been rained off. It was looking a bit dodgy this morning and the sandcastle building didn't start until the afternoon because of rain. We drove over and paid the exorbitant £5 parking fee then went for a look round. Thank goodness they can't charge you for walking on the beach.

There were some truly amazing creations. Some of my favourites are above. I also liked a very realistic dolphin and a reindeer. Each team of six gets about 3 hours to finish and the entrance fee goes to the North Devon Hospice. We had a good look round and stopped for an ice cream, but didn't stay long cos of the weather. Just look at the people in the photos - they're in jumpers and jeans. It's July! We should all be wearing shorts and t-shirts, sitting on the beach in wind-free conditions sipping beer and eating strawberries and turning slowly brown (not blue) !

Landacre Bridge

We've just come back from a barbeque on Exmoor. I decided we'd go out at 12.00 today when it looked like it was finally going to be a nice day. So we all piled in the car, headed for Sainsburys to stock up on burgers and buns and then travelled down the link road (A361) to North Molton. A few miles outside of this tiny Exmoor village, and just outside the Devon border, is Landacre Bridge. It's an old medieval bridge (according to the guide books) which crosses the River Barle.

Today it was very windy and my children were glad that Daddy had brought so many jumpers so that they could wear them as well as the ones I'd made them bring. We went for a walk while Daddy cooked, then afterwards we got the kite out. It was a fun way to spend a few hours, but be warned - although Landacre is very picturesque and a nice place to go to stretch your legs, there are no facilities except the occassional ice cream van that stops on its way to somewhere else.

Ilfracombe Victorian Week

I've been to Ilfracombe four times in the last ten days. Not through choice, but because my children have had dancing rehearsals and exams at the Landmark Theatre. All week there have been people wandering around in Victorian costume and yesterday saw the final day of the town's annual Victorian Week. So we took the opportunity of a nice day and an enforced wait to have a wander around.

To be honest there didn't seem a lot that was out of the ordinary of a typical village fete, apart from the obvious costume thing. There were bouncy castles, trampolines (which I refused to pay for my children to go on as they have one in the garden which is free!), craft stalls, and Victorian fairground rides such as the galloping horses and a heltersketler. The Punch and Judy show was nice, we took advantage of that whilst eating the obligatory Hockings ice cream. There was a brief blink-and-you-miss-it parade complete with a po-faced Queen Victoria, but appart from the fairground rides the most fun my children had was in the Amuesment Arcade. Good job it was nice weather!

Lynton and Barnstaple Steam Railway

A couple of months ago I reported that we'd gone out on possibly the coldest day of the year and all nearly frozen. Well today was possibly the hottest day of the year so far and I decided we'd all go out in Victorian costume. We boiled. Still, we weren't out for long.

The Lynton and Barnstaple Steam Railway was today celebrating its 110th anniversary with a Victorian themed weekend. The railway now only has a bit of the old narrow gauge track left, and this has been restored in recent years. It runs from Woody Bay station, to Killington Lane, some ten minutes away. The cost for this return trip is £5 for adults and £3 for children or £13 for a family ticket. Today, anyone wearing Victorian costume got a 20% discount. Hence our attire.

There is nothing at Killington Lane station, but you get to walk up and down the platform while they move the engine from one end of the train to the other. Then, once back in Woody Bay, you get to avail yourself of the tearooms. We sat in the garden in the blistering sunshine and enjoyed our tea and cake whilst listening to two Victorian gentlemen tell a tale of Martians on Bodmin Moor. Very entertaining and even the audience participation wasn't too bad.

In case you were wondering, my oldest daughter stayed behind on the pretext of revising for her mock GCSEs hence avoiding dressing up, and my husband was a party-pooper and wore jeans and a t-shirt. Boo Hiss!

Valley of the Rocks

Ordinarily this is a lovely place to visit. Today we had a bit of a bad day. When I looked out my window this morning it was lovely blue skies and bright sunshine everywhere. By the time we got here it was cloudy and windy. Plus the whole point of the visit was to take some nice photos to put in a frame I've just bought and getting out of the car I discovered I'd brought my camera but no memory card, so I only managed a few photos on the internal memory.

Anyway, the exercise was good. The Valley of the Rocks is just outside the town of Lynton on the coast of North Devon. It is very rugged and beautiful and today there were loads of wild goats everywhere. Most people come for a walk round and follow the many paths along the cliffs, other come to climb. My husband decided we would go down to the beach despite the fact that the sign said the path was closed. We saw others coming up the path so we thought it would be OK. Well teenaged daughter was up for it, smallest daughter didn't know any better, but middle one was rather worried so when we got near the bottom of the steep, windy and precarious little path on the edge of cliff and the path had collapsed she decided to stop where she was and I waited with her. The others made it to the bottom without incident and ran round on the sand for a while. Of course that meant they had further to climb back up. My husband is now paying for this, moaning about his aches and pains! Ha!

If you do go for a visit, stick to the paths that are open. And make sure you drive round to the toll road so you can see the White Lady, a hole in the rock formation that looks just like a lady in a white dress.

Bideford Park

Time to get out in the sunshine again. My children had friends round this afternoon so I loaded them all in the car and took them down to Bideford because a) it really is the best park around and b) its the only park with a Hockings Ice Cream Van right outside!

There are two children's play areas (the one shown says for 4-8 year olds on the gate but it didn't stop the older ones from going in) and they all ran wildly from one to the other to play leaving me out of breath somewhere in between the two trying to keep up. There are slides outside the play areas, grassy banks to roll down, the fort and cannons to play on, and thats without even going near the paddling pool mentioned in a previous post - it was too cold for that today.

When they'd exhausted themselves we found a sheltered spot to eat our ice-creams in. Yum, the first one of the year, now I know summer is on its way!

The Gnome Reserve

Out in the middle of nowhere, between West Putford and Bradworthy you will find The Gnome Reserve. Started 30 years ago in the owners garden the gnomes have grown and grown in number and the publicity likewise. £2.95 will get you entry, £2.50 for children. It seems a little over priced to me for what is essentially a walk round someones garden, but the children seemed to like the hour we spent in the spring sunshine.

One area of the 4 acre grounds is the designated gnome reserve where over 1000 gnomes live and can be seen engaged in activities such as the traditional fishing, to playing instruments, flying helicopters and even going to the toilet. To enter this area visitors are encouraged to wear the 'almost compulsory' gnome hats that can be picked up in the admissions area. My oldest daughter asked, "Do you think she washes the hats?" I should state at this point that I was quite prepared to leave my oldest daughter at home, thinking that this was not the place a teenager would be interested in, but as soon as she found out where we were going she was dead keen to come too. Who would have thought?

The other part of the grounds was the wild flower garden. We were given a quiz to answer as we went around which involved counting fairies amongst other things. There are not so many of these, but we had fun counting, although we seemed to count more than there actually were.

We stayed for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. The children had fun playing on the grass. Then we made our way back home. I went today with my dad and was glad he came along, not just for the company but also to give directions. It's not the easiest place in the world to find. Watch out for little gnomes pointing the way planted in the hedgerows on white card.

Lambing at Kipscombe Farm

We ventured out today on possibly THE coldest day of the year to visit Kipscombe Farm. This is a National Trust property and, as a working farm, was open only for today as a free event.

We met in a car park on Exmoor (the lady I booked with over the phone gave me the grid reference but we found it more by luck than judgement, having been given only the vague direction that it was just outside Lynmouth) and climbed out of the car into a howling northly wind that made the outside temperature feel artic. Our guide led us down into a valley that was a tiny bit more sheltered, but only a tiny bit as the farm was built overlooking the sea. It did ofter fantastic views of the Bristol Channel and over into Wales, you could even see the snow on the Brecon Beacons.

Our tour took us into the sheep barn where we met the farmer who was very informative about the ins and outs of breeding and lambing sheep. He had been up at three that morning as several lambs were being born then. We were lured here today by the guidebook's promise that it may be possible to witness lambs being born whilst on the farm. The farmer showed us a sheep he thought might be about to lamb, but nothing transpired so we continued the tour, looking into the cow shed and walking over the fields to see more sheep and thier newly born lambs, becoming ever more frozen as the minutes ticked by.

Back in the sheep barn the children were allowed to hold some of the lambs that had been born that morning, which they loved, although my littlest one was quite surprised at how heavy they were. Another sheep went into labour and was ushered into her own private pen - with about twenty onlookers all holding thier breath. We waited, and waited.... Sheep labour, it appears, it akin to human labour, it just goes on and on. So eventually we could stand the cold no longer and decided to give up and head for somewhere out of the weather serving hot chocolates.

It was a shame, all of us wanted to see the sheep have its lamb, but the elements defeated us. If only they'd served hot drinks we might just have made it. Six hours and later my nose is only just returning to normal.

Knightshayes Court

This National Turst property is not actually in North Devon, its at the Tiverton end of the A361, but its only 40 minutes out of Barnstaple so not too far to go if you feel like a visit, or only a few miles out of your way if you are on your way into the area for a holiday. We've nver been before and decided to go today for their Easter Egg Trail.

On arrival the children were given a leaflet each (at a cost fo £1.50 per child) and instructed to search the ground for ten animals which laid eggs. The animals were also hidden in a wordsearch so my children had found several before we'd even visited the toilets! It was fun though. They raced through the walled kitchen garden and found five. We stopped long enough to look at a few plants, although they found the chickens and geese more interesting. Then it was off to the main house.

The other five animals we found hidden around the terraced garden at the front of the house. The grounds at Knightshayes are lovely and carpeted in thousands of daffodils. There are also some fantastic views of the surrounding countryside. We did a trip around the inside of the house too. We were given another trail to follow inside, although there were no prizes for completeing this one. In every room we had to find certain animals and plants. There were guides in several of the rooms, some of whom were more helpful than others. When we got to the end and my youngest daughter realised we'd missed some of the things she insisted on going back around to find them.

It was a pleasant afternoon out, we collected our Easter eggs on the way out and we even had a few flurries of snow to add a bit of excitement. Being towed back home by an AA truck fnished off the day nicely. "Cool," said daughter number two.

Heddon's Mouth

Heddon's Mouth is on the Devon coastline on Exmoor. It's only a tiny little bay but the walk down to it through the woods follows the river and is very picturesque. You can walk to it from Trentishoe, or take the cliff path to view it from above (on a good day you can see across to Wales - the cliffs are the highest in Devon), but the easiest way to get there is to park at the Hunters Inn . From Barnstaple take the A39 towards Lynton and Lynmouth and about three miles past the Blackmoor Gate crossroads Heddon's Mouth and The Hunters Inn are signposted to your left. A long, single track road brings you out to the Inn and its surrounding National Trust land. There are public toilets and a National Trust shop there also.

To reach the coast path you have to follow the road past the Inn. Once on it its an easy stroll down to the beach on more or less level ground, with the odd patch of mud and several slopes of scree that the children enjoyed climbing until my littlest one found it rather tricky coming down from. "I'm not going on the stones again," she said on the way back.

Signs of spring were everywhere and the daffoldils were lovely - see my Photo Journal blog for more photos. Once at the beach we threw a few pebbles in the swift-flowing and noisy stream then ambled back to the Hunters Inn for a hot chocolate before making our way home.

North Devon Museum

Its February half term again and time to visit another museum. I've got loads of ideas for things to do and places to go this year, but practically nothing is open until after Easter. Today was cold and grey so it called for an indoor activity (after I'd done a bit of shopping in Barnstaple of course.)

North Devon Museum is situated at the end of the old bridge in Barnstaple. A lot of the displays are the same year in, year out, but they do update things occassionally. The children liked the Tarka room with all the stuffed animals and the river exhibit. They were also fascinated by the skeleton that was found in Saunton and dates back to the mid 17th century. "How did it die?" and "How do they know its a boy?" were questions that were discussed at length. They were less impressed with the Underwater Room, which I thought quite facinating. Apparently it was scary (it was dark and made strange noises!)

We spent just under an hour looking around - entry is free - and then my youngest one took the opportunity to do a painting. There were special workshops being run in the entrance hall because it was half term - painting with mud! Yes, really; the artist who was there had harvested various local clays and mud and the children were able to paint with them, six different colours ranging from dark black to pale yellow. All the works of art will be displayed in May - so we'll have to go back then!

Abbotsham Cliffs

The sun came out today for the first time in ages, so after I'd finished painting the woodwork on my stairs I loaded the kids into the car and rushed down to Mum and Dad's to drag them out for a walk. Dad came along, Mum, I suspect, had a quick forty winks!

We drove down to Westward Ho! and went down past the rock pools, the Elizabethan, and all the holiday homes and beach huts til civilisation ran out and all that was left was the wild sea and the edge of the land. A path, that used to be the railway line from Westward Ho! to Abbotsham, runs along the cliff edge for about a mile and the views of the bay are fantastic. Today, despite the brilliant sunshine, it was a bit hazy in the distances but you could still make out Saunton Sands, Lundy Island and all the way round to Hartland Point.

The sun, shining low at 4.00, beat straight into us as we walked west and made taking the picture of the pebble beach above a bit tricky. We didn't follow the path all the way down, as little legs were getting tired by then, but its quite fun to go clambering on if you've a mind, and the cliff paths go on after that if you are interested in a longer walk, or you can turn left and follow the path inland to the village of Abbotsham where I believe there may be a pub!

The Mill Adventure Centre

If you are after exercise and don't want to go out in the winter this is a great place to get it. The Mill has been open for over a year now but this was our first visit. Although it calls itself an adventure centre it is really only a climbing centre with about ten fixed ropes, a traversing wall and several routes for lead climbing. It also has a bouldering room. But it does boast the fact that it is the largest indoor climbing wall in Devon.

We confined ourselves to about six of the ropes, as the other routes looked far too difficult. The holds are colour coded and the routes graded so you can make it as difficult or easy as you want. It wasn't too busy today and once the kids got the hang of it they were well away, going up some routes four or five times. They also loved the bouldering room. We never had to wait for a rope and even recieved some free tutition from one of the instructors.

You do have to be an experienced climber to just walk in off the street and use the place though. We signed up as members, which costs nothing and then we were in, but if you are a complete novice you have to book a session with an instructor in advance. And when I say experienced, I don't mean very experienced, just as long as you can tie a figure of eight and know how to belay, which is good cos that about all I can manage!

Entrance cost £7.50 for adults and £5 for children and you can stay as long as you like. If you are not climbing, just belaying, then you don't have to pay at all - also good, as the larger, more unfit, one of us (mentioning no names), decided HE wasn't going to climb! There's a nice cafe, which serves home-made food at a reasonable price and is in the same room as the wall so you can sit and watch other people exerting themselves whilst enjoying a nice rest. We had fun and the kids want to go again, so definately one to recommend to all you budding climbers out there.

Beam Weir

On Boxing Day isn't it more or less complusory to go for a walk? Well it is my family - a chance to let the kids blow off some steam and a chance for who ever is cooking the dinner to get on with it in peace and quiet. So when we all arrived at my mum and dad's this afternoon we were imediately shipped out the door again. We met my sister and her family at the Puffing Billy pub, just outside Torrington and from there walked down the Tarka Trail to Beam Weir.

There were lots of other like-minded people out and about, some with dogs, others with children and new bicycles. It's not a very long walk, but it is pretty, once you get past the old, rusty, graffiti-riden railway carriage behind the pub. The weir was seemed quite wild to me and full of muddy brown water. It is a popular spot with local wildlife, otters and kingfishers have been spotted on many occasions, but, not surprisingly, we saw nothing today. Still, the chance to stretch our legs in the sunshine was very pleasant.

Coddon Hill

Well, its Christmas Eve and time to get the kids out of the house for some fresh air and exercise before tomorrow's excitement. Of course all they wanted to do was go to Pizza Hut, they seem to think it's a tradition because we've been for the last two years. So the condition was - walk first, Pizza Hut afterwards.

I decided on Coddon Hill because its one of those places I've heard talked about lots but never actually been to. It's just outside the village of Bishops Tawton and the guide book I looked at said park in the village and follow the path to the top of the hill. Well, that's a 4 mile circular route and although I was all in favour of exercise that might just have finished us all off so we decided to drive up the hill a bit and see if there was anywhere to park. 10 minutes later we'd driven all the way round the hill through Bableigh and were back in Bishops Tawton! "Oh lets just go and park on the road up the hill a bit," I said. And what did we find on our second route round? A lovely car park. It's slightly hidden off the road a bit, but keep your eyes peeled for a dirt track to your left and you'll find it too.

It was quite wind up there. We followed the path out of the car park and up the hill and soon found ourselves right where we wanted to be, by the monument. This is a monument to Caroline Thorpe, wife of ex-MP Jeremy Thorpe, who died in 1970 aged 32. Around the monument is a stone compass with the names of the villages you can see from the 360 degree vantage point. You can see north to Exmoor and South East to Dartmoor and today we could just make out the shadow of Lundy Island to the West. We didn't have good visability at all today, hence the rather odd photo of a sheep with Barnstaple in the background. I think we'll come back on a clear day and I'll post some better photos.

After being blown about by the wind a bit we followed a sheltered path back to another hidden car park, then walked along the road til we got back to the car. We'd sucessfully blown the cobwebs away and worked off a few calories before piling them (and more) back on over the next few days.

Reindeer Roadshow

For the last two years this has been held in Barnstaple. Last year my husband took the kids but I couldn't make it, so this year I was determined to go along. This year's Reindeer Roadshow was held in Bideford. The roadshow bit was Lantern FM, the local radio station, with a stage at the bottom of the High Street. The bit I was interested in was the Reindeer bit. They were lovely and surprisingly small (its no wonder Santa needs eight of them to pull his sleigh!)

We arrived in Bideford just as Santa was coming along the Quay and we followed the procession til we met my sister and her son. Then we wandered up the High Street for a look around, went into a shop and completely missed the turning on of the Christmas lights, much to daughter number two's disappointment (especially as she wasn't there for the Barnstaple one last week.) However, finding the reindeer on the Quay more than made up for it. We stood and watched them for ages, and she managed to touch on of their antlers, which are covered in fur. Then she cheered up even more when I lent her my camera and took a photo of the baby reindeers (well actually a baby reindeers bottom, but she wasn't bothered about that!)

There were lots of street entertainers around too and we managed to get one of them to make us some balloon animals, then it was off for a cup of tea before coming home.

Christmas Lights

I don't normally go in for this sort of thing, but as I had nothing much else to do today, and as there was someone reasonably famous coming to do it, I thought I'd make the effort and go and watch the Christmas lights being turned on. The someone reasonably famous was Joss Stone, a devongirlie herself, and a someone who is involved with local charity Amigos International. (She made a visit with them to Uganda, my daughters teacher went too and helped to make a video and educational pack that is going out to school across the county.)

Anyway, me and my littlest one trekked down to Barnstaple's newly re-vamped Square, along with hundreds of other people, and were only able to squeeze our way to about half way to the stage area, hence the blurry photo. Joss came on and sang 'Son of A Preacher Man', turned on the lights then left again. There were some pretty spectacular fireworks (look and learn Chivenor) and then it was all over.