Maureen discovered a couple of travel brochures in the flat and one of them talked about two markets in Bideford - the Pannier Market and Butcher's Row. So, before heading south to Clovelly, first we headed to Bideford to see these markets.
Bideford is located on a very pretty estuary (the river Torridge I think) and labels itself as an ancient mariner town. We walked up the hill along the High Street which, like so many in English towns and villages, is primarily filled with charity shops. Such a shame the High Street is a dying culture! The old market hall contains both these markets and, while interesting, they were a bit disappointing. Mostly they contained local crafts and home-style baking. Nonetheless, it was interesting to poke around in them. The most unique stall we saw was one that featured knitted articles depicting different foods - how unique is that!
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| Shop on the High Street |
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| The Old Market Hall |
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| Butcher's Row, previously butchers and now crafts |
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| Pannier Market |
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| This and the following photos are of the "knitted food". Not sure if there is a market for this but it is sort of clever and amusing - if not a bit strange! |
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We left Bideford and drove mostly on the A39 south in some very foggy conditions to the village of Clovelly. It didn’t take long to reach it – no more than about ½ hour – but it was really a shame we couldn’t enjoy the beautiful Devon countryside on the way there. We arrived just before noon and paid the £7.25 to enter the village. The place has no cars and no individually-owned houses. The entire village is owned by one family (one of only three since the Norman Conquest). The High Street is very steep and can be slippery. The nickname for it is “Up-along Down-along” – or at least it was when I was here over 30 years ago. Donkeys have been associated with the village for years as they were used to haul goods up and down the steep high street. Now, it appears you can have donkey rides and visit them in their stables.
We carefully walked all the way down to the water and at times it was quite tricky – although if I’d had different shoes on that might have helped! The irregular cobblestones were a bit slippery and there are even tea towels joking about how you could fall and sprain or break your ankle walking down. At the bottom, we stopped for lunch at the Red Lion Hotel in the harbour.
After lunch, Maureen decided to hike back up the hill but I had had enough of worrying about slipping on cobblestones so I paid the £2.50 to take the Land Rover back to the Visitor Centre. That was cheap to avoid the chance of falling! It wasn't lost on me that nearly all the people on the Land Rover were at least 10 years older than me save for one other woman! Perhaps, I was just being a wuss!
The clouds had lifted quite a bit when we returned to Westward Ho! However, the wind was still too strong for us to sit on the balcony. At least we were treated to a lovely sunset.
Sunday, Maureen was headed back to Canterbury (where her son and daughter-in-law live) on a midday train. First, we visited the nearby fishing village of Appledore where there was another craft centre Maureen wanted to see. As it turned out, it was not as big as expected but it did give us a chance to visit the charming little village with its seafront and tiny streets.
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| Looking across the Torridge estuary from Appledore |
Then, I dropped Maureen at the Barnstaple train station and headed back to Westward Ho! I am going to be "home alone" now until Wednesday afternoon when Mena and Trevor from Vancouver join me. I do have lots of laundry to do to get ready for their arrival; I feel a little bit like I'm running a B&B!
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