12 December – North Devon

For a good few months we had been intending a December visit to Putsborough Sands in North Devon and to stay in a block of flats where our neighbours Glenda and Keith have stayed previously.  Gerry seemed fit so we decided on a Friday to go and two days later we arrived for a four night stay.  It was great that Glenda and Keith were also staying in the flat above us.  The nearest village was Georgeham about 1.7 miles away (with one village shop) and, from what we could tell, we were the only occupants of the block!  It was absolute heaven to be so quiet.  Our flat was brilliant with 2 double bedrooms, a large sitting room (with balcony), a separate dining room and fantastic views.  The following two photographs show the views from our balcony

The weather was really quite kind and we had a lovely day exploring to the north of Putsborough Sands with Glenda and Keith.  They had lived in the area for many years and were fantastic guides. Our trip included Ilfracombe where we went to Damien Hurst’s gallery and also saw his statue called Verity which looks out over the harbour entrance.  The statue is quite controversial but we found it provoked some thought (Look it up on the web and see for yourselves).

We then travelled further north along very narrow coastal roads that the average tourist would never come across eventually deciding to go for a walk beside a stream through a lush wooded river valley down to the sea at Heddon’s Mouth beach.  The walk could not have been much more than a mile each way and was delightful but very, very windy at the beach such that we did not venture across the rocks!

The following day we headed south with Glenda and Keith as our guides ending up at Hartland Point.  It was extremely windy with short sharp showers but went for a walk towards the lighthouse eventually finding the path was gated and locked!  The walk was bracing but not as bracing as our next stop at Hartland Quay. The sea certainly did not look that inviting!  We had a great day out and spent the evening at the pub in Georgeham where we all ate heartily! (something to do with the sea air)

Our final full day was spent on our own. We enjoyed walks along Saunton Sands, the cliffs at Woolacombe and along the beach at Putsborough just below our flat.  Although it was windy in the morning, we were both wrapped up warm and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Whilst on the beach at Putborough we could see no other people at all on the beach.  Bearing in mind that the beach extends 2 miles plus to Woolacombe that was quite something.

Many thanks to Glenda and Keith for their company and guiding skills! But all too soon our time was up and we left them (now the only occupants of the block of flats) and headed home via Bristol where we popped in to see Oscar (and of course Jess and Jon).  All three are doing well!