Woolacombe to Birchill again? One day...

We were all up early this morning ready to check out of Bryony Cottage. The day started with Lucy & Olivia feeding the farm cats milk for breakfast, before we were allowed to enjoy our own of toast with coffees & teas.

Prior to departing we said our goodbyes to the farm animals, and then to Simon, the owner of the cottages, promising him 'home safe emails'. We set off in two cars in the direction of Woolacombe, a coastal town that is known for having a 'blue flag' beach.

Woolacombe Sands

After finally finding parking spots, we strolled down to the beach and set up camp armed with chairs and a wind break, buckets & spades at the ready! Olivia's first item on the agenda was to drag Ian to the bouncy castle that she had noticed as soon as she had reached the bottom of the steps down to the beach. Following that Cath & Ian took her for a ride on the boat swings prior to lunch.

Cath, Olivia & Ian on the boat swings

Lucy & I had spent this time either lunching, or simply relaxing in the sunshine, building the odd sandcastle. After everyone had eaten, Lucy, Cath, Olivia & I took a stroll down to the sea to dip our toes in the water. I took that a bit further by dipping my knees in the water, before retreating upon the realisation that any spare clothes I might have had were neatly packed away in the boot of the car.

Lucy, Olivia & Cath on Woolacombe Beach

Iain enjoys the moment

Olivia takes a running jump into a puddle

Olivia's final ride of the afternoon was on the spaceship with her dad, shortly before we packed up our belongings and headed back to our vehicles. After cups of coffee & tea we headed out of Woolacombe in the direction of the M5 and the 285 mile journey back home.

Ian & Olivia ride on the spaceship

We stopped for a bite to eat at Frankley Services then said our goodbyes to The Blands, before continuing our journey, arriving home at 10pm ready for a chilled glass of vino (thank you Mumps Skellern!) before retiring for the night.

We would like to offer a special thank you to Cath for taxiing us around for a whole week, often up and down some pretty precarious country lanes.

Utterly Clovelly...

Our final full day of the holiday started with a light breakfast before heading out in the direction of Clovelly, a thirty minute drive to the north west corner of Devon. Clovelly is a privately owned village that does not allow access to motor vehicles due to the severely steep street that runs through the village. You can read more about the village by visiting www.clovelly.co.uk.

Lucy & Cath enjoy a cuppa in the back garden

On our arrival at Clovelly the heavens opened up and we very quickly pulled on our waterproof jackets and rain macs. Moments later the skies cleared and the rain gave way to sunshine. We paid our entrance fees and began our descent into the centre of the village, stripping off our jackets and sweaters as we strolled.

Olivia poses on a sled

Lucy with one of the village donkeys

Ian, Olivia & Cath on the stroll down to the harbour

After perusing the local eateries, we settled on the Red Lion Hotel adjacent to the harbour at the foot of the ½ mile hill. Following lunch Cath, Lucy & I wandered over to view the waterfall whilst Ian entertained Olivia.

The Red Lion Hotel by the harbour

Lucy & Cath by the waterfall at Clovelly

The afternoon in Clovelly ended with Cath, Ian & Olivia using the Landrover Taxi Service to return to the summit of the village, whilst Lucy & I took the challange of walking back up the street, treating ourselves to an ice-cream each when we reached the top.

Lucy poses by a VW Camper

Cath & Ian spent the early evening with Olivia between the outside playground and the indoor activity area before setting her down to bed for the last time on this holiday. The four of us enjoyed an Indian takeaway sat in front of the TV before retiring for the night in preparation for an early start tomorrow.

Olivia & Iain play ball in the garden

The next time you hear from me I'll be sat on the sofa at 42 Albion Street following a long drive back from what has been an excellent week in Devon with great friends!

Pedal Power...

We attempted an earlier start this morning, the plan being to drive up to Fremington about 30 minutes away to hire bikes for an afternoon in the saddle. Lucy served up a breakfast of bacon butties and boiled eggs, then prepared another fine picnic lunch with Cath before we headed out in two cars (fearing Olivia may be against the whole biking idea).

Olivia feeds the farm cats at breakfast

For the first time this week we experienced sunshine over Bryony Cottage before lunch, raising our hopes of a rainless day. The weather did not dissapoint, although we did fear the worst as we approached Fremington and the windscreen wipers were called upon. The shower proved to be a passing one, and the threatening clouds slowly fluffed up.

We arrived at the cycle hire shop at noon, Lucy & I choosing to ride on a tandem, Cath with a ladies bike, Ian with a gents with a trailer attached to the back for Olivia to sit in.

Olivia takes to her trailer

Olivia was more than excited about riding in the trailer, hurrying us all along to start the journey. We headed off in a northerly direction along the Tarka Trail, before turning around shortly after passing Barnstaple. We lunched at a picnic area outside the cycle shop, then took off again, Olivia still very much enjoying the experience.

Cath & Ian cycling the Tarka Trail

Our first tandem experience

Approximately a mile after lunch, Olivia decided that 6 miles of cycling was more than enough for her, so Cath & Ian took her back to return their bikes and drove back to Torrington.

Lucy & I continued on the ride, picking up the pace in an effort to see as much of the Devon countryside and quaint villages as possible. We passed a couple of unused railway stations at Instow & Bideford, continuing just a mile or so short of Torrington, which had been our target, but due to time restraints we had to turn around and head back to return our tandem.

Iain at Instow Station

Lucy at Bideford Station

We drove back to the cottage to be greeted by Cath rustling up our evening meal of sausages & pasta, which was excellent after a long ride estimated at 25/26 miles.

The evening will be spent relaxing with a few drinks, Ian & I might just crack open a bottle each of our 10% beer, picked up on Monday from The Big Sheep in-house brewery...things could get messy!

Iain & Ian with beer in hand

Pesky Seagulls...

Many thanks to Ian, our guest blogger yesterday for a fabulously insightful and witty summary of our visit to Dartington Crystal et al.

This morning we assessed the weather with great precision in the hope of visiting one of the beaches along the Devon coastline. Cath lay the foundations of the assessment with talk of "weather pockets and cloud formations", and I finished it off by checking the wind direction. The conclusion resulted in us deciding on Ilfracombe towards the northernmost point of Devon.

We departed a gloomy Birchill Farm and made our way north on the 26 mile journey. The weather brightened the further north we travelled, and by the time we hit Ilfracombe, the sun was clearly visible and soon to be unobstructed by clouds.

Cath, Olivia & Ian at Ilfracombe

After finding a car park close to the coastline, we wandered down towards the beach and set up shop for the afternoon, Cath & Ian hiring traditional deck chairs, Lucy & I with our travel chairs. Olivia was soon digging up sand with her newly purchased bucket & spade.

Olivia gets to work with her new bucket & spade

Cath & Lucy had prepared a picnic lunch in the morning, and we were soon tucking into our sandwiches and crisps, all the while attempting to ward off a rather hungry seagull, which we did successfully.

Lucy finishes off her lunch with one eye on the seagull

Olivia spent the afternoon either running down to paddle in the sea, or running back up to our patch on the beach to play with her bucket & spade, exhausting Cath & Ian in the process.

Time to give mummy & daddy the runaround?

Olivia & Cath look out to sea

Later in the afternoon Lucy & Cath did the refreshments run, bringing back coffee, tea and pop. To go with our drinks, we had packed Bakewell Tarts & Country Slices which we gleefully tucked into. Olivia had her own cake slice which she mucnhed on, but after only a couple of bites she dropped it in the sand and there was no chance of recovery. Within moments of doing so, out of nowhere swooped a pesky seagull, startling all of us except Olivia who seemed oblivious to the attack.

As the tide began to turn we packed up for the day and walked back to the car. On the journey home we stopped off in Braunton for a fish & chip supper at Squire's, a restaurant recommended (not personally) by Rick Stein.

Cath drove us back to our cottage, which was basking in sunshine for the first time this week. Long may it continue (well, for another three days at least!).

Crystal Amazement?

N.B. Tonight's blogging duties are being performed by Ian and not Iain. After two nights of hard-core work at the blogface, Iain is taking a well-earned break and I will endeavour to keep the torch burning in his temporary absence.

Devon - where time moves that bit more slowly - almost literally so, set the cottage microwave to one minute and you can still be stood waiting for the ping ten minutes later. And nowhere in Devon does it move more slowly than at Dartington Crystal. Learning this morning that we were visiting a Crystal Meth factory my mind was filled with visions of wanton debauchery, particularly when the leaflet promised the spectacle of life blowing. Alas, there was no meth in this madness, just lots of crystal.

The jam-packed car-park was testament to the fact that either a)there really isn't a lot to do in Devon when it's tipping down or b)there really are a lot of people out there who can't think of anything better to do on a Tuesday morning than watch some blokes make wine glasses. Don't they know they could be watching Jeremy Kyle?

The Dartington Crystal Experience was only really given an edge by the fear that at any moment Olivia could send any of the tottering displays careering towards the floor. Thankfully, this fear wasn't realised. Nor did any of her recent experiments in shop-lifting result in her attempting to leave with the crystal replica of the FA Cup stuffed in her ruck-sack. Sadly.

The FA Cup replicated in crystal

It turns out that the delights of Dartington can't be crammed into a single visit. We would be back within the day...

With the sky continuing to glower menacingly above us, it was off for a pub-lunch to the Hoops Inn. It was a pub full of character and characters. In fact we were seated next to two of the sweariest blokes this side of a Tourettes documentary. Thankfully Olivia was still napping in the car before they necked their final double-brandies and lethal-strength local ales and lurched off to the car-park to drive home. All before two in the afternoon.

The Hoops Inn

The food served at the Hoops was a cut above your average pub fare - just like back at the cottage you'd be waiting a long time to hear a microwave ping here. Barely had we time for it to digest however and we were back in the car and returning in the direction of Dartington.

Why? Have we lost our exquisitely-cut, crystal marbles? No. We'd booked Olivia in for a hand and foot print, to be set in exquisite, cut-glass. Having spent two days in Devon, Cath was navigating the B3227 like a native, determined not to miss our appointment and jeapordise her chance to spend some money.

Thankully, we made it in the nick of time and Olivia - primed to be on her best behaviour by the promise of a visit to a local park in reward - was on perfect form. The park it was.

Olivia has her hand print taken for a glass mould

and then her foot

The glass is poured into the sand cast

The mould is prepared with the blow torch

While Daddy and daughter bonded with the local hoodies and ragamuffin youths - Olivia fitting in surprisingly well - the rest of the party took the opportunity to explore Torrington. Verdict? It has a butchers.

Back to the cottage - no ghostly girl cycling around tonight. (This is rumoured to be the ghost of the daughter of the cottage. And she's rumoured not to be a ghost but an actual young girl. She's very spooky looking though. Pictures might follow, if her image shows up on photos).

Ian (this one) cooked up a plate of bolognese while the rest of the crew hit the trampoline adjacent to the cottages. With Olivia safely down, we celebrated by popping a bottle of Cava and I started on this marathon ramble through our day...

Trampoline action

N.B.2 Iain will be sorting the pictures. I'll probably be fired from sorting the words ever again after everyone else reads this...

And the winner is...

It was a day at The Big Sheep today over in Bideford. The skies overhead were a little grey as we left the cottage after breakfast, but we took our chances following optimistic forecasts from the Met Office.

On arrival we made our way to the duck trial area for a show that was about to start. Three Indian Running Ducks were shepherded through gates and obstacles, cheered on by a highly amused audience.

Craig the sheepdog keeps the ducks in check

Next on the list was the feeding of lambs, then a show about the brewing of beers & ales, followed by sheepdog trials whilst Olivia got her slide fix at the nearby play house.

Following our lunch comprising mainly pasties & sausage rolls, Olivia plucked up the courage to ride with Ian on the miniature tractors.

Ian & Olivia ride on the miniature tractors

From there we headed over to the nursery barn to feed sheep, lambs and goats, as well as viewing rabbits, guinea pigs, pigs & piglets. The star of the show was a crazy kid that repeatedly escaped from the pen to play amongst the amused visitors.

"This is much more fun than in my pen"

The feature event of the day was billed as 'The Ewe-ttoxeter Classic Stakes' (their words not mine!). At approximately 3:50pm six hefty sheep, with knitted jockeys attached to their backs ran down a 7 [sheep] furlong course over a handful of fences to the finish line to determine the winner. Cath, Ian, Lucy & I bet on the sheep of our choice, and Olivia was given the honour of betting on two, so one of us was guaranteed to back a winner.

Two of the runners down the home straight

At the end of what was a blur of a race, the winner was announced as 'Little Pullover', and upon looking around at the badges we wore to donate our pick, it was Olivia that adorned the winning badge!

The last portion of our time spent at The Big Sheep was on a 'Pillow Jumper', a trampoline-like object that allows the user complete and utter liberation. The five of us bounced around like children (rather four of us bounced like children, and Olivia bounced as a child) without a care in the world, before heading back to the car.

Four pillow jumpers

The evening was spent at the cottage where we dined on pizzas, wine & beer. Olivia had stories read by Cath and Lucy prior to bedtime and it was determined that Lucy must work on her story telling voices prior to the next attempt!

All the way to the Milky Way...

We were all up early this morning, breakfasting on sausages, bacon & eggs before packing our essentials and heading out in the direction of Bideford. On our arrival to the town, the weather had taken a turn for the worse, so we continued onto 'Plan B', The Milky Way Adventure Park.

On entering the complex we stumbled upon the dodgems, but Olivia did not take kindly to them, hence we made a sharp exit to find something a little less intimidating. After spending a little time looking at chicks, guinea pigs & rabitts, we headed over to the large play area, Olivia immediately leading Ian onto the giant slides.

Lucy & I watched a birds of prey display, held indoors due to the poor weather, but affording us the opportunity to experience the birds at very close range (a barn owl perched right next to Lucy).

'Scrote' the barn owl perches next to Lucy

Ian & I partook in a little archery and laser shooting. Ian's shooting abilities resembled 'a man with no ammo' rather than 'the man with no name'.

After some ceramic painting and a visit to the outdoor activity area, we left The Milky Way in an effort to find a family orientated eatery.

Cath & Olivia concentrate on their ceramic painting

Young at heart

Our initial plan was to visit a pub / restaurant called The Pig on the Hill, which we did to soon discover it had just closed for the day! We were left with the option of driving a little further to Westward Ho! (the only place name in the UK to officially contain an exclamation mark).

We ate dinner at The Waterfront Inn, then Olivia & I ate ice-creams, and Lucy & Cath donuts as we strolled along the coastline taking in the ocean views.

Lucy & Cath at Westward Ho!

Cath drove us back to our cottage and Olivia said her goodnights to the Alpacas (which she has named Alpaca 1, Alpaca 2 and Alpaca 3!) from our rear garden.

It's time to relax now in preparation for tomorrow, hoping this evening's weather continues for the rest of the week.