Devon Delights with Darren & Barbara

 Devon Delights 

Our home for the week, how lucky were we? Most mornings we visited the animals that are kept on the farm and were captivated by the gentleness of the baby goats when we fed them. The excitable geese were loud and funny whilst the chickens all had such individual characters that suited their names. Elvis the chicken was a particular favourite with everyone! The Shetland ponies were adorable and so friendly towards us, and we spent ages stroking them

A morning was spent exploring Ilfracombe, a seaside town with a large harbour, and the home of Damien Hirst’s ‘Verity’ statue. Over twenty metres tall, the statue dominates the entrance to the harbour and is a striking artwork symbolising truth and justice. 

Another brilliant find was Ilfracombe Museum; a charming gem of place full of eight galleries of curiosities including a scale model of the Titanic ship, a two-headed kitten pickled in a jar, a wonderful Hornby scale railway, an African shrunken head, an enormous stuffed anaconda and so much more! 

There was so much to see at the Darlington Crystal Factory and we made our way straight to the visitor centre. On display were some dazzling examples of glassware and we were told the history of the factory and that it is the only glass factory in the United Kingdom. Masterful glass blowers demonstrated their skills on the factory floor producing vases, glasses, bowls and decanters. We watched the entire production process from beginning to end including the final inspection and packing for distribution. It was then our turn to get creative! We used glass paints to paint our own light catchers to take home. We were so absorbed in painting our objects so carefully and we were all thrilled with our finished masterpieces, which we will take home to hang in our windows. 

What a memorable day we had at Kent’s Cavern in Torquay; caves dating from prehistoric times. Our guide, Kev, was hugely knowledgeable and really helped bring the past to life for us. We explored passageways and chambers with stalactites and stalagmites. We also experienced complete darkness in the caves until Kev put the lights back on! 

We  then walked along the woodland trail posing for photos with life size models of prehistoric creatures. They were huge! 

We headed to a spectacular model village at Babbacombe This miniature world was amazing and on close inspection revealed amusing little scenarios taking place with the model people often being naughty! We especially enjoyed the train arriving at the station, the thatched cottage on fire (with the fireman hosing water onto it in a vain attempt to put it out), the dragon that breathed fire when a wheel was turned and the huge koi fish in the pond.

Back at the cottages we made use of the on site swimming pool for a few afternoon swims. Barbara took an aqua aerobics class in the swimming pool and everyone had a great time jumping about in the water with foam woggles. 

A beautiful, sunny day greeted us and after a cooked breakfast we drove to Tintagel, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. We looked at the shops in the village and found the Old Post Office a medieval hall house built around 1380! We walked amongst the castle ruins and found Gallos- the life size bronze statue of an ancient king who keeps watch over the wild seas below. Everyone soaked up the natural beauty of the headlands and we all looked out for wildlife, hoping to see the seals playing in the water. Then, we took the long and very steep walk down to the cliff edge and some of the group took the steps down to the beach below the castle. The tide was in so they couldn’t explore Merlin’s Cave, but Ian managed to have a good paddle in the water. 

 Plymouth was on the agenda today and we visited the UK’s largest aquarium The National Marine Aquarium. We saw starfish and crabs in the rock pools which we were able to touch. The brave amongst us walked through the underwater glass tunnel as sharks, stingray, turtles and a variety of large fish swam overhead. We learnt that the centre it is run by the Ocean Conservation Trust, a charity dedicated to connecting people with the sea. It was a real learning experience for us all. 

Excitedly we made our way to Paignton to the terminal of the Dartmouth Steam Railway. We had a drink, shopped in the gift shop and waited excitedly for our train to arrive. A beautiful steam train named Goliath pulled into the station in a cloud of smoke and was simply spectacular! We boarded the train, found our seats and as the whistle blew, our journey got underway. The train guard told us that Goliath had been built in 1924 and was not allowed to exceed the stately speed of 25 miles per hour. The scenery from our train window was simply stunning taking in the coastline and the sweeping sandy beaches. 

A lovely morning was spent at the twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth and we walked to the Cliff Railway, built in 1888. This water-powered railway is the highest and steepest in the world and provides breathtaking views of the coast. 

We explored the fascinating toy museum, taking us on a nostalgic trip back in time to our childhood. It was jam packed and we couldn’t believe the huge display of toys, games, and action figures ranging from the 1960s to 1980. 

Another day was spent at the seaside town of Ilfracombe where we boarded the ‘Seafarer Princess’ boat at the harbour. We cruised along the coastline in glorious sunshine with the captain pointing out various landmarks including Watermouth Castle, Hele Bay and Combe Martin. We saw many water sports enthusiasts including paddle boarders, jet skiers, canoeists, surfers and swimmers. It was a relaxing boat trip that everyone enjoyed.

After wandering around the little town, we couldn't resist treating ourselves to a delicious cram tea with lashings of clotted cream! Delicious!

Feeling lucky we had fun in the arcades spending our holiday pennies. 

A relaxing morning was spent practising our artistics skills. Most of the artists chose to paint one of the beautiful flowers in the cottage courtyard whilst Ian opted to paint a landscape from a photo he had taken of the fields nearby. All of the group listened intently and concentrated so well that it was no surprise that they were all delighted with their finished paintings and all plan to frame them when they get home.

We always found time to head to the ten-pin bowling alley with everyone keen to play a few, friendly but competitive games. There were some amazing strikes and some super high scores. After a close game we crowned Ian the overall winner.