Holiday in East Devon final part!!!

I am wrapping up my set of holiday posts. It seems to have taken me forever to blog about my holiday, cannot believe how the time has got away from me since we returned.


We enjoyed a picnic on the beach at Budleigh Salterton and I took the opportunity to photograph my crochet coastal blanket and my coastal stash bag in the setting which inspired me to do these projects.

I even managed a little crochet after our picnic before we took a walk up the Otter estuary.

Canada Geese grazing in the field overlooking the estuary

Looking back towards the sea from the White Bridge

Many options for our walk but we chose to walk on towards Otterton

The River Otter

View from the bumpy path looking back towards the Otter

We walked up the Otter river as far as the aqueduct before following an extremely bumpy hard compacted mud path back towards Budleigh. We didn't enjoy this part of the walk too much as the surface made walking difficult. We were pleased to get back to the even surface of the Limekiln carpark!

I had read about the Oak Barn and the delicious afternoon teas they served so we stopped on our way home where I succumbed to another cream tea, surely I deserved that after all the walking we had been doing??? We were fascinated by this lovely drift wood sculpture of a horse outside the tearoom.

This was followed by more relaxing in the garden at Brackens and more crochet!

Another sunny and clear day followed so we set off to East Budleigh to do some more walking. We parked in the village and walked to Hayes Wood, a fairly steep climb but with wonderful views over the village and to the coast.

Again, unfortunately, the walk back towards the village wasn't so good, the path was lumpy, stony and muddy in places with high hedges so we didn't get the lovely views we had on our way up the hill and along the top but the thought of lunch at the Sir Walter Raleigh kept us join going.


After an excellent lunch we drove to a very crowded Sidmouth where we struggled to find a parking space but managed to eventually. We didn't stay too long but long enough for me to make an indulgent purchase of a Radley bag which I had had my eye on for some time before driving back to the Oak Barn for a return visit. No cream tea today but DH enjoyed a slice of sticky toffee cake whilst I stuck to just drinking a mug of their delicious coffee.


Our last full day dawned cold, wet and windy. We had booked to go on the Exe round robin boat trip from Exmouth to Topsham returning to Exmouth by train and as we had paid for it we decided to go and make the best of it. Unfortunately we had to sit in the lower covered deck of the Tudor Rose rather than on the open top deck but were given an entertaining commentary while the deck hand had her work cut out wiping windows to keep them from steaming up so we could half see what the skipper was telling us about.

The Marina at Exmouth

The Tudor Rose appearing out of the murk!

On the lower deck keeping dry!

Despite the weather we enjoyed the boat journey and would like to do it again on a better day so we can sit on the top deck and photograph the lovely scenery that we knew was out there somewhere!


It was too wet to spend much time looking around Topsham so we headed straight to the station to catch the train. We did however hop off at Lympstone to enjoy another fantastic meal at The Swan, the best lasagne I have ever had.


Our last morning was yet another rainy, grey and dreary day. After packing everything into the car and saying goodbye to lovely Brackens for another year we drove via Budleigh Salterton which was half covered by low cloud.

What a difference to the photo below which was taken on the day we arrived.

We had planned to make the most of our last day so we had time for a last walk on the beach at Exmouth, again an almost empty beach - can't imagine why!

We finished off by visiting Darts Farm and Greendale Farm Shop for supplies for home for us and my Mum, one more tasty bacon bap and coffee before making our homeward journey.


A fantastic holiday, despite at times, very unseasonable weather. Counting the days until we return next year to this lovely unspoilt part of Devon.


I hope you have enjoyed my holiday postings. I have probably gone over the top with the photographs but I never can decide what to put in and what to leave out. Thank you for reading if you have made it this far!!!

Holiday in East Devon Part 3

Back again with another holiday post:-


We had a couple of very wet days with almost continuous rain so we were more or less confined indoors but luckily I had a good supply of activities to keep me amused, crochet, reading and colouring - yes, I discovered this adult colouring book when we were shopping in Exmouth, just right for a rainy day.

We did brave the rain to pay a visit to a farm shop that had been recommended by a friend and what a super place it was, we will definitely be revisiting when we are in this part of the world again. Lots of lovely fresh food and a lovely cafeteria which sold the most amazing bacon baps which we enjoyed with a lovely coffee.

We also made another visit to Exmouth beach one afternoon when the rain had eventually stopped, it was more like November than August, cold and very windy, but we had an exhilarating walk on an almost deserted beach. Although not what you expect from a Summer's day we both really enjoyed our walk in these rough conditions with hardly anyone about, it certainly blew the cobwebs away and was good to get out and about after being confined indoors.

When we got back to Brackens you could see the extent of the rain we had had during the day, the little stream that runs down the side of the road which is usually just a trickle was in full spate ....

and you can see the remaining puddles in the courtyard.

After these two wet days it was good to wake up to a sunny and clear day so we drove to Colyford to visit the Axe bird reserve, somewhere we have passed a few times on the Seaton tramway but never sought out before. We plan to come back in the Winter where there will be many more birdlife to be seen, we did see a kingfisher fly past and there were a few waders about but it was fairly quiet.


We then motored onto Beer where I enjoyed one of my promised holiday treats, fish and chips on the beach. Very anti Slimming World but I so enjoyed it! I think I walked off most of the damage by climbing up to the top of the cliff - a very steep climb but one that is well worth it for the fantastic views. I even managed to persuade my DH to accompany me this year (last year he stayed at the bottom while I made the climb), very proud of him, all the walking we are doing has certainly paid off.

After our energetic climb we moved onto Pecorama, which is on the hillside above Beer. My DH is very into steam railways and is interested in model railways so this was the main reason why we visit. However, I love the gardens and the scenery there so am always up for a visit. I especially love the Secret Garden which is at the top of a very steep slope so a lot of people leave that out so it is always very quiet and peaceful. We had a ride on the Beer Heights Steam Railway which takes you through parts of the garden unaccessible by foot. We did spot a wild flower area from the train and did return on foot to see it up close - a magnificent sight.

The following day we caught a train to Teignmouth, there was a steam train hauling an excursion train and my DH wanted to photograph it from the sea wall. The sea wall has only recently reopened after the devastating flooding and damage that took place during 2014. After seeing the train we ambled along the seafront to the back beach where we enjoyed lunch before returning to the station to catch the train back.

We finished the day by viewing the sun going down from the Exe estuary path, the light was beautiful and it was a truly magical experience.

Thank you for reading. I had hoped to wind up my holiday postings in this post but we crammed so much in to our two weeks away that I still have a few more photos I would like to share with you, if you are not thoroughly bored by now I hope to see you back in my next post.