Brian Dickie

Devon Food

Ah food!  Yes, the Devon things are cream teas and fish.  And today we had both.  The trick with cream teas is to have fresh-out-of-the-oven scones.  The US form of this wonderful piece of bakery is called a biscuit.  And one rarely gets them fresh.  But here the combination of the still warm scone, sliced in half, coated with clotted cream and then a liberal helping of strawberry jam – it is food for the Gods.

And this evening an enormous sea bass was on the menu – straight out of the nearby Atlantic.  This was at the delightful Rock Inn (above) in Georgeham.  Worth a detour for sure.

 The weather today has been awful – the food fantastic.  You can’t have it all………

High Tide at 4pm

The massive expanses of sand at Puttsborough Beach disappear at high tide.  Today this was at 4pm.  And it was a menacingly cloudy afternoon after patches of lovely sun earlier in the day.  But the surfers are not put off and stayed in with a moderate breeze whipping up some nice foam for them.  My eight grandsons in their wet suits are having the time of their lives.

There is not much to beat a classic English seaside holiday!

Croyde

Croyde Beach with Baggy Point 6pm July 29 2012

Here we have yet another excellent North Devon beach in the delightful Croyde.  This piece of the coastline has been acquired by the National Trust which dedicates itself to the preservation of much that is good about the UK, and this includes the extraordinary beauty of so many parts of this island's coast.

We popped down there this afternoon and then repaired to Billy Budds, an excellent pub in the village. I am not convinced that anyone here had heard of either Benjamin Britten or Herman Melville.......but apart from that it was a good resting place for an hour.

Clouds at last!

At last, after an idyllic week of undiluted sunshine, we had a few clouds this late afternoon. This was a quick iPhone snap at 6pm on Putsborough beach.

But I am here for another week - more adventures no doubt.  But tomorrow I make a quick day trip to London, back tomorrow night.........

Lundy

This was my first ever trip to this enchanting place - a refuge from the world with nothing but birds, sheep, ponies and stunning scenery.  There are also a few people but they disappear at the end of the afternoon to the mainland and the island is just left with its handful of inhabitants and the visitors who stay over at the mostly simple but comfortable accomodations, including room for 4 in the keepers quarters of the Old Lighthouse, all managed by the Landmark Trust.

I can imagine that a week spent in one of these places would be extremely healing.  The wicked world out there seems from there to be on a different planet.  And there is the Church of St Helena which caters for the permanent residents - numbering 27.  I am sure many of my readers would love this place.

The Old Light - Lundy Island

Barnstaple and Putsborough

Putsborough Beach July 25 2012

The pilgrimage through North Devon continues.  Yesterday it was shopping in Barnstaple and more beach – this time at Putsborough.  And we had another day of glorious sunshine.

Barnstaple is a delightful market town.  The heart is the High Street, the charm is in Butchers Row.  Here there are butchers, fishmongers, old fashioned candy stores, and local general produce stores.  And adjacent is a flea market. It is a lovely place to ramble through and a wonderful source of excellent meat and fish.

Putsborough beach is yet another magnificent expanse of sand.  This afternoon the low tide was at about 4:30 pm.  There were just not enough people for a crowd – bliss.

Today we are off to Lundy Island on the 10:00 am boat from Ilfracombe.  I hope to see some of those magic birds, Puffins, which give their name to this island.  I will let you know!

Putsborough Beach 6:30 pm July 25 2012

Woolacombe

This is turning into a grand tour of North Devon Beaches.  Yesterday it was Woolacombe - today the committee has not yet decided.....

The surf was up and a huge hit of course.  There is not much surfing available in England compared with Australia.  Its really the nursery slopes.  But for children it is a perfect start.  Whets the appetite.

Above you see Woolacombe from the sand dunes above the beach.  It is a long steep walk down to the beach.  The return journey is a killer..........

Below what it looks like with the tide barely half out.

Ilfracombe

We went off to Ilfracombe yesterday morning to arrange the boat tickets to take us to Lundy Island on Thursday.  It is a charming little resort town, somewhat commercialized of course but its tolerable......above and below is the little harbour.  The 100 minute boat trip to Lundy goes from here.

This just a lovely holiday time with family.  There will be an avalanche of additional ones next week - all my grandchildren in the same place for the first time for a year.

Yesterday was my birthday and I was so touched that I gott more than 100 messages courtesy in most cases of the dreaded Facebook!  I started to reply to them all early on but was overwhelmed by the quantity  - thank you all.  Forgive please a general thank you. And internet access is very patchy here to add to the problem!

Other than that just sunshine, beach cricket, good food and chilling out.

Fantastic - Summer arrived from Chicago!

At last there is a break in the misery that England has suffered for the last three month.  We have had two glorious days here and today looks like being better still.  Of course I am thanked for bringing it......!

The massive beaches here, together with the tide in to tide out distance, make for huge spaces for families to play.  The car parks may be crowded but the beaches seem underpopulated.  This is not Oak Street beach in Chicago.  Or Brighton Beach, Sussex.

Yesterday we were at Saunton Sands.  This is very much the territory of the Christies of Glyndebourne.  They have a fine hotel, a magnificent championship golf course, and much other land besides.  And the beach at Saunton Sands is as well managed as the opera company in Sussex!

We will be off on another expedition today.  And maybe later in the week to Lundy Island......

Saunton Sands Hotel

No wifi in Devon-yet

I have no way at the moment to communicate with the world except with an iPhone with a capricious attention to the signal. I am working on it and am hoping to be on line in the next 48 hours.

This is a beautiful part of the world however.......