Clovelly and a bit of North Devon

I heard about Clovelly on the TV program – ‘Escape to the Country’ and I was intrigued by what I saw.

Clovelly is set into a steep hillside and is a famous village. It has a single cobbled High Street that winds its way down the hillside to the ancient Clovelly Harbour, through traditional whitewashed cottages. Most cottages have fuchsias and geraniums growing in pots and gardens and it is very colourful. The street drops 122m (400ft) in 0.8km (half a mile) as it winds its way through Clovelly's 16th century cottages to the harbour.

The narrow cobbled High Street that you need to walk down to the ancient harbour.

One of the many lovely colourful cottage gardens.

 

Traffic is banned from the cobbled streets. You park at the top in the car park and walk down a very steep pathway to the village and harbour. To come back you can either walk or get a land-rover ride back up. There are several cafes and souvenir shops along the way as well as a small museum.  The High Street in Clovelly is too steep for motor vehicles, and for centuries, donkeys were used for getting up and down the street. Donkeys still live at the top of the hill and children can have a donkey rides in summer. These days all goods from groceries to furniture are transported by sledge. The sledges can be seen at the side of the cottages as you walk down through the village to the Harbour.

Clovelly has been associated with only 3 families for the past 800 years and the village is mentioned in the Domesday Book. John Rous is now Squire of Clovelly. The village has been in his family since 1738 and, while its outward appearance hasn't changed much, the forces of sea, wind and salt have been doing their bit beneath the surface and there is constant need for repairs and maintenance.

The harbour taken high up in the village.

Looking back at the village from the harbour wall.

 

We did notice a waterfall that seemed to run onto the stony beach. We walked along the pebbled beach to the waterfall. There was a lot of water gushing down onto the pebbles. When we looked closer we fund that the water was running under the pebbles we were standing on and into the sea. 

The waterfall that runs onto the pebbled beach.

Clovelly was a unique and unusual place to visit – would recommend it to others to include on their itinerary.

We did manage to have a look at some of the coastal areas in North Devon as we knew there were surf beaches here. We had a look at Croyde Beach on a Saturday and there were dozens of people surfing. We also did part of a walk along a bluff that the National Trust manages and looks after.

Lots of surfers at Croyde Beach - North Devon.

At Croyde Beach - part of the area looked after by the National Trust.

The other reason for coming to this part of England was so I could meet up with the Soroptimist International Club in Barnstaple as they are SI Geelong’s friendship link club. I met with some members on Thursday evening and had a lovely evening meal with them. It was nice to be able to talk to them about their project work and how they fund-raise. It was a most enjoyable evening.