Devon Delights with Darren & Marguerite

   Devon Delights   

 We stopped in Appeldore, a small fishing village which was very picturesque with its winding streets, colourful houses and harbour. As we arrived in Ilfracombe the sun was shining and the views were stunning. We visited the harbour and admired the many boats of all shapes and sizes and watched children enjoying crabbing. 

We spent the day at the Dartington Crystal Factory in Torrington. This was established in 1967 manufacturing quality glassware and is the UK’s only remaining glass factory. We enjoyed a factory tour and were able to watch the skilled glass makers in action.

In Torquay, a traditional, thriving town set on Devon’s English Rivera coast. We visited a museum where we could travel back in time, over 400 million years ago and explore ancient Egypt, following incredible journeys made by Torquay’s explorers and detect our way through Agatha Christie’s gallery. There were lots to do and see and this was enjoyed by all. 

  

We enjoyed tournament of pool and table tennis!

 We also enjoyed some time at the amusement arcade playing lots of games and slot machines.

We visited Exmoor Zoo, a conservation centre in Exmoor. This is home to the ‘Exmoor beast’, the black leopard sighted on many occasion roaming the moors. The zoo is home to mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. We all enjoyed wandering around and meeting the animals and photo opportunities were plentiful. 

  

we drove to Lynmouth and Lynton known as the UK’s ‘little Switzerland’. We experienced a trip on the historic, victorian cliff railway; a water powered railway linking the two villages. It was built in 1888 rising 500ft above sea level on 862ft of steep track with a gradient of 57%. On reaching Lynton, the views were spectacular.

Saturday was a leisurely day spent in Barnstaple. We ambled around the historic, indoor pannier market which featured many stalls selling everything you could think of from local produce, flowers to art and crafts. 

In Plymouth we visited the National Marine Aquarium which is the largest in the UK with over 4000 different species of fish.

In Watchet we enjoyed two museums. The Boat museum gave us a great insight into Watchet’s boating and seafaring history and the Market House museum, was full of history of the port and displayed many artefacts.