A Trip to North Devon

As Mike wanted to test drive our new car – A Passat CC we went off early heading north away from Torbay. We began to think it was a a bad idea when we were stuck in traffic at Exeter alongside the river. At a standstill for much of the time I guess it took us 30 minutes or so to travel a mile! Not funny, but we were the lucky ones. .we did not have an urgent appointment to make or a train to catch. Our time was our own.

Eventually it cleared and we headed up the the valley towards Crediton.

This a photo of the weir on the Exe.

Crediton – Not the prettiest town in Devon but it does have a very long main road .

 

Then on to Barnstaple – nothing enticed us to stop so I suggested we make our way along side the estuary towards Bideford. We were looking for a way down to the water when we saw a sign for  – Fremington Quay which looked promising. After winding along side the creek on a single track road we arrived -

 

There were loads of bikes everywhere and then we realised why. It was slap bang on the Tarka Trail

There was a restaurant / cafe selling mainly snacks at exorbitant prices – £5 for a baguette so we did not stop!

Back to the main road we continued heading south west until we saw the sign for Instow. Sounded familiar and when we arrived we had been there before and liked it. Unfortunately the pub food was not up to much – not the lovely fish and chips we remembered. Hey ho, nothing stays the same and we did remark that the prices were dearer in that area compared with Torbay.

There is a lovely sandy beach on the estuary and it was like stepping back to the 1950’s. Nothing had changed, or so it appeared. Unspoilt, natural scenery and NO SEAGULLS

Yes, we ate an ice-cream unmolested by any birds. In fact despite looking for them there were none. One of life’s mysteries. I guess they have all migrated to Torbay.

Across the river lies Appledore, a well known ship building town. It can only be accessed by road if you go down the river and cross over the bridge at Bideford.

At Bideford we noticed a sign for an out of town shopping mall and we just had to take a look and we got some good bargains.

Then it was time to head home via Clovelly. We passed Hartland where my sister in law lived and worked for Lady Asquith but, entry to Clovelly is restricted and you have to pay. As it was past 4.30 it was just too late but here is a photo from the car park!

.

I mapped out a direct route home,, we got lost and ended up more or less back in Exeter.

I will get Tom Tom out next time