Devon Holidays

My trip and stay in Devon, England was like living a fairy tale – Enid Blyton style.  Cozy English cottages, horses in the barns, grazing ponies, fresh dairy and meat, barbeques, picnics, friends, laughter and tranquility. Oh I so want to go back! Before I even get started about how beautiful Devon is; I want to thank my friends Ashok, Arun and family for inviting us over for a vacation in Devon. Devon or Devonshire is large county located south west in UK. Though it was the month of August it was wet and cold. But it is said that this county receives warm summers as compared to the rest of UK because of its southerly location.

Having packed all 3B’s – bags, bikes and books we set off on a drive to Devon from East Croydon where we were staying. Thanks to GPS we didn’t have to read much of any map. Chatting, munching on snacks, dozing and enjoying the scenic beauty mostly constituted our drive to Devon. After a long drive we reached our destination – Coach House of Eversfield Lodge in Clovelly. One look at the cottage and we knew we would love it there.

Clean and colorful with lots of frilly accessories in the two storey stone cottage, the ground level comprised of a spacious living room and a dining area which connected to the open spacious kitchen. The kitchen overlooked the entry gate and the open pebbled courtyard.

The first level had all the bedrooms decorated in pastels just like a scene at from a children’s book. The place was simply delightful.

There are many places around that you can drive to if you do not wish to laze around in the cottage the whole day. Our visit to Dartington, The English Crystal Company in Torrington Devon, was quite interesting where the workers displayed the making of crystalware in interesting shapes and sizes. I liked their eccentric looking wine glasses up on sale in their store but since I had a long travel plan ahead I refrained from any shopping.  There I had a beer called Blowers Brew which is brewed specifically for the workers at the Crystal company and not sold anywhere else! This is a must try.

We also went to Becky Falls which has nothing much to write home about. However the kids enjoyed the  walking trails, also they had to answer some questions along the walking trail which finished as a quiz to win a prize. The money tree here was quite an attraction.

The legend has it that many years ago a serpent lived in the brook and ate the occasional unsuspecting traveler. In order to ensure safe passage, the pixies would apply an invisibility charm to any traveler so long as they paid a small toll by placing a coin in the tree to ensure safe passage! One pound rich tree I must say! Don’t even think of taking a coin out from it since the legend also has it that if you take a coin from the tree you will incur the wrath of the pixies 🙂  We had prepared and packed our lunches, which we had walking around in the woods and must admit, quite enjoyed it. Other places that one can visit are the Dartmoor and Exmoor, the two national parks in Devon and the active Benedictine monastery at Buckfastleigh (a town in Devon).  The island of Lundy provides you a perfect spot to be one with nature with its wild life, rare birds, and high cliffs and of course the deep waters! Lundy is located in the North coast of Devon. Serious riders can enjoy the surroundings in Devon on their bikes. Why I say serious is because the meandering trail around Devon have some very steep climbs, with the gradient going up to 16% on a 500mt stretch!! So one has to be ready for few steeps climbs which in turn readies your appetite for a lip smacking self barbequed dinner out on a cold winter night followed by a visit to the local bar.

While the men were busy barbeque-ing I decided to take a walk around. The partially visible moon in the mist and dark surroundings reminded me of the hound of Baskervilles and I retreated hasty steps back to the cottage. 🙂

Later in the night, the bar we went to (perhaps the only one in that area) called Clovelly Inn – Free House and found that it was quite a neat set up. It had even a local band playing every evening. The who’s who of the town walk in here decked up for their social get together. Looked like everyone knew everyone around. After all, that’s the beauty of staying in a village.

Devon is well connected by rail, road, water and air. Cornwall is the nearest neighbor to Devon and one can look at combining these two trips together. After spending two days at Devon and saying good bye to our friends who had few more days of vacation in Devon, I traveled up North of UK to take a train to Scotland where the Fringe festival and more excitement awaited  🙂