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b&b devon
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Bideford, like Dartmouth and Looe and St Ives in Cornwall is one of those places where thousands of people in fancy dress choose to see in the New Year. From grown men in nappies to ladies in rabbit costums. If you can think of it someone will be wearing it. All the Quayside Inns are packed, as people mingle and dance in the streets. Come Midnight they all gather on the Bideford Long Bridge waiting for the Parish Church Bells to ring in the New Year. Up to ten thousand revellers make their way to this Ancient Devon Town. Regatta in September Bideford like its larger sister Barnstaple has a Pannier market with its own Butchers Row. Local farmers still bring their diary produce to sell. Craft stalls proved added interest for the browser. Bideford Long Bridge, spanning the River Torridge. with its 24 spans, all different, though widened in the 18th, 19th and early 20th Centuries dates from Medieval times. The original bridge was oak, like its masonry sucessor's with 24 spans, founded upon an ancient causeway. Loose stone was placed around the timber footings, forming scour protection known as stirling, some of which is still visible today. In around 1474 work began on what is one of the finest and longest span (677 feet) arch bridges in the Country. Later additions included widening the bridge to provide a footpath. In Victorian times replacing the stone parapets with cast iron, themselves replaced with masonry in the 1920's. In the Burton Art Gallery, along the Quay, a particular fine and detailed scale model of the bridge through the ages, with churches at each end. Bridgeland Street with its 17th Century Merchant's Houses, dates from the time in the 16th and 17th Centuries when Bideford was one of the busiest ports in England (in fact the 3rd largest) , handling cargoes of all kinds, including a lucrative trade in tobacco and cotton from the New World. The Quay has recently been widened as part of a Flood Defence Scheme lined with trees it make a particularly pleasant spot to sit and watch the world go by. Down river where the two rivers meet of Henry Williamsons' Tarka the Otter famous novel is so picturesque Appledore , itself like Bideford an important ship building centre and port. Across the River is Instow , a popular family beach in Summer, a nice place for a bracing walk in Winter. Just outside Instow are Tapely Park and Gardens, woodland terraced Italian gardens, containing a rich variety of trees and shrubs, with a lake, and good views over the River. Places to See Family attractions include the Big Sheep, at nearby Abbotsham, and the Milky Way near to Clovelly- sheep racing and duck trailing and indoor adventure playground Clovelly White washed houses clinging to the hillside. Cobbled village streets leading down to a most ancient and beautiful harbour. Along the Coast is Hartland Point, where the Atlantic waves often rush in pushed by Winter Storms. On a clear Day Lundy Island can easily be seen in the distance. Kents Cavern One of Britains most important important Palaeolithic caves. First inhabited by humans 450,000 years ago if dating of flint hand axes is anything to go by.. The Prehistoric remains of animals up to 500,000 years ago have so far been unearthed-cave bears, to sabre toothed tigers to woolly mammoths. |
