What’s wrong with this place?” I ask myself as I slump onto an empty beach or
stroll deserted lanes to a sleepy old thatched pub somewhere in Devon.
Maybe it’s because it’s so big, maybe because the honeypots are so
beguiling, maybe because the PR people haven’t got round to them yet... but
Devon has plenty of little-known spots where it’s easy to escape throngs and
thongs. Here are five of the best.
BABBACOMBE BAY
Isambard Kingdom Brunel picked this as the most beautiful area in the whole
West Country to build his retirement mansion. Amazingly, this six-mile
stretch of prime Devon riviera is still unspoilt. It meanders, heavily
protected, between Babbacombe’s clifftop Victoriana and Shaldon’s dainty
pastel cottages. There are neither concrete amusement arcades nor karaoke
opportunities – unlike Teignmouth/Dawlish to the north and Torquay/Paignton
to the south.
Instead, there are winding walks through deciduous woods, across tumbling-down
red cliffs and down steep steps to hidden beaches with rock pools. I crossed
the mouth of the Teign to Shaldon’s Ferry Boat Inn on what is considered to
be England’s oldest working ferry. A few yards away, a smugglers’ tunnel
leads through the Ness headland to a secluded beach. Three miles south, park
in Maidencombe Valley, by the impossibly cute Thatched Tavern, for steep
paths to another red-sand beach. Or find Watcombe Beach, down a lane off the
A379, backed by trees planted by Brunel.
Where to stay: wake to views through the woods to the sea at Orestone
Manor (01803 328098, www.orestonemanor.com;
doubles from £135, B&B), the highest rated of Torbay’s 500-odd
hotels. Originally, it was home to the artist John Horsley, designer of the
first Christmas card and Brunel’s brother-in-law. The seaside colonial-style
luxury is nonalienating, just relaxing.
Where to eat: Orestone’s restaurant is big on Brixham fish, south Devon
beef and veg from its own garden (£39 for three courses). Or dinner can cost
half that at the Chasers whitewashed gastropub (01626 873670, www.thechasers.co.uk),
in nearby Stokeinteignhead.
BRENTOR
Dartmoor’s most unusual tor is an isolated extinct volcano with a tiny
fortified Norman church on top. For miles around, in narrow lanes winding
round small fields and isolated villages, you’ll see the silhouette of
Brentor – a grassy basalt peak, 1,000ft above sea level. Climb up to sit
inside one of the UK’s smallest churches. St Michael of the Rock is only
14ft wide but is used regularly. Its moor views are always spiritually
uplifting.
Where to stay: Maureen Rowlatt’s Tor Cottage, at Chillaton, is a
wonderfully eccentric collection of converted outbuildings, cabins and even
a gypsy caravan, set around a pretty cottage.
There’s a heated pool in cottagey gardens alongside a babbling stream in a
secluded valley. It’s an individual sort of boutique B&B and its
five-star rating restores your faith in hotel inspectors (01822 860248, www.torcottage.co.uk;
from £140 for a double room).
Where to eat: the Victorian arsenic-mine manager who had a company
house at Gulworthy wouldn’t recognise the ivy-encrusted Horn of Plenty
(01822 832528 www.thehornofplenty.co.uk)
now. It’s a luxury hotel and restaurant, with menus listing local suppliers;
dinner is £45 (£28 on Monday). Find cheaper and less formal grub at the
ancient Peter Tavy Inn (01822 810348, petertavyinn.com)
in, you’ve guessed it, Peter Tavy.
HARTLAND
Crowds trundle past Devon’s remotest corner on the A39, heading for Cornwall’s
surf. They’re missing daunting cliffs, scary, rocky shores and memorably
bracing walks – especially at the inappropriately named Welcombe Mouth and
what’s left of storm-battered Hartland Quay. At pastel-painted Hartland,
browse galleries of artists who have been drawn to this wild spot. The
sturdy “Cathedral of North Devon”, St Nectan’s, is claimed to have Devon’s
tallest church tower – a navigational aid for ships battling the notorious
headland.
The stone quay was smashed by constant waves a hundred years ago. Nobody has
dared repair it since. Walk north to the lighthouse or south to cliff
waterfalls.
Where to stay: at the foot of the cliff, the isolated but homely
Hartland Quay Hotel has an atmospheric bar, a shipwreck museum, basic grub
and rooms (01237 441218, www.hartlandquayhotel.com;
doubles from £80, B&B). Or there’s Downe Health Spa, which shows
the 21st century is finally reaching Hartland (01237 441881, devonspa.com;
one-night “pamper break” £199pp, including accommodation and meals;
two-night break £279pp).
Where to eat: Docton Mill won Devon’s 2007 Best Cream Tea title. There
are cottagey gardens alongside its ancient water wheel (www.doctonmill.co.uk).
I found Cheristow Country Restaurant (www.cheristow-restaurant.co.uk)
in a farmhouse down a high-hedged lane. Farmer/chef/builder Graham
Currington cooks meat he has reared (including beef, duck, goose, chicken,
lamb and pork) and his own seasonal veg. Three surprisingly accomplished
courses in the old farmhouse lounge cost about £25. While I was there, he
took a mid-evening break to feed his pigs and let my toddler daughter help.
His wife, Wendy, tended the stoves. There are self-catering cottages, too.
KNOWSTONE AND THE EXMOOR FOOTHILLS
Wander villages such as Knowstone, deep in the lanes of mid-Devon, between the
quirky old market towns of Tiverton (with a castle and canal) and South
Molton (ancient market square and buzzing honey farm). Visitors whizz past
on the A361, bypassing whitewashed thatched cottages, lanes where you have
to slow for horses, meadows with rare orchids, butterflies (marsh
fritillaries) and birds (curlews and snipes), trees overhanging rivers (such
as the evocatively named Crooked Oak River at Knowstone) and thatched pubs
with open fires and gardens. Silly them.
Where to stay: Catsheys (01769 550580, www.catsheys.co.uk;
doubles from £110, B&B), at nearby Romansleigh, is a light and
relaxed modern house in a wonderfully wild garden. There’s an outdoor pool,
decent fabrics and contemporary decor, and homemade bread. Bark House, at
Oakfordbridge, is more traditional – a wisteria-covered stone
“cottage-style” hotel (01398 351236, www.barkhouse.co.uk;
doubles from £76).
Where to eat: The Masons Arms (01398 341231, www.masonsarmsdevon.co.uk),
opposite the church in Knowstone, is a cream-painted, thatched boozer
serving Michelin-starred food. Owner/chef Mark Dodson found the good life
here after years working at the Waterside Inn and Cliveden. He now serves
three courses of gourmet grub for about £30, while his wife, Sarah, says
hello to everyone, and the children play in the garden. Locals gossip by the
fireplace, while views of pheasants scampering towards Exmoor distract you
from sea bass and sugared fennel.
BRANSCOMBE
There are seven miles of World Heritage coast with barely a house in sight of
the sea. Branscombe straggles along a lush, green valley a mile from a long,
pebbly beach (thatched beach restaurant, fishing-boat trips, wooden chalets
to hire and impressive coast paths). Stare at a real blacksmith sweating,
also under thatch, and the flour mill down the lane is thatched too.
Where to stay: once a simple old village cider house down a lane from
the sea, the Masons Arms has gradually expanded to take over two buildings
and eight cottages. Now, it’s almost a hotel, with 21 rooms, an
AA-rosette-winning restaurant, and garden complete with sun umbrellas in
classic Branscombe style – yes, thatched (01398 341231, www.masonsarms.co.uk;
doubles from £80, B&B).
Where to eat: there are cream teas in the cottage garden of
Branscombe’s Old Bakery (thatched, obviously). And you can stock up for
barbecues with finest Ruby Red Devon beef from the gate at Gays Farm (call
01297 680352 first, so they can prepare your order). Or scoff contemporary
seafood at Steamers, in a former bakery, just along the coast (www.steamersrestaurant.co.uk;
three courses about £25).
—Simon Heptinstall is the author of The Best of Britain: Devon (Crimsonpublishing.co.uk
£11.99)
