The end of March saw us enjoying a few days in North Devon at Haven's Doniford Bay. We have holidayed in this area in the past, our first holiday together in 1985 and a few times with our children and my Dad in the 1990s.
Out of school holiday season caravan prices are a lot less, something I disagree with but having paid the higher prices for many years it's now a bonus to be retired and able to visit in low season. And so we booked a Signature Gold Front Sea View, it certainly had that ... we looked straight across the Bristol Channel to Rhoose in South Wales.
Doniford Bay is a small site and a short drive from a pub but does have a fish and chip shop and bar/restaurant. With having such a great view and fully fitted kitchen we cooked ourselves most evenings, it was so nice having dinner watching the sunset.
The weather was superb, unbelievable for the end of March/early April. We started our holiday with a glass of La Gioiosa bubbly enjoying the blue skies.
The caravan site is on the Coastal Path which turns slightly inland to cross a small river called The Swill. We took a stroll and discovered Doniford Farm Park, a free entry animal park with a farm shop, restaurant and children's play barn.
As well as chickens the farm had pigs, goats, lamas, in fact most farm animals although I didn't see a cow. The goats were having a bit of a turf war, what a noise when they locked horns.
Hubby had many childhood holidays in North Devon so we were keen to visit some of the places he remembered. Dunster was one such place but unfortunately the castle was still closed for the winter season, it looked very impressive.
We had a super time revisiting many places, it was such fun trying to replicate our 'kiss' photo on the same spot but the wrong way round, hee hee.
I'm not sure when we'll be visiting North Devon again, it was hard to believe our last visit was over 25 years ago. If it's that long again I doubt we'll be walking down Lynmouth hill.
It was lovely sitting outside with an ice cream with the chickens running around. I'm not sure what breed they were but they had huge feathered feet and looked very funny when they ran around.
We did pop into Dunster and enjoyed a walk around the cobbled pavements. It's a very old village with a beautiful Yarn Market in the main street.
Running from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard the West Somerset Railway runs through Watchet and Doniford. We didn't take a trip as it was quite expensive and you could only buy a day ticket. I'm sure it must be busy in the holiday seasons but the carriages had only a few passengers, we would have taken a seat if shorter journey tickets had been available at a cheaper price.
We did stand in Minehead station to see one of the steam engines take on more water and reposition for it's next journey before steaming on its way. There's something special about watching a steam train.
For me the highlight of our holiday was revisiting Lynmouth, going up Porlock Hill on the way .... it's very steep with sharp bends and cars used to struggle up it.
Lynmouth is a special place as it was our first holiday. Back in 1985 Hubby treated me to a few days at the Tors Hotel, it was lovely and we did return for a few days after our honeymoon, staying in the same room. It is no longer a hotel but apartments, an impressive building high over the valley.
To our delight the Cliff Railway was open, it's the highest totally water powered railway in the world. Each carriage has a water tank underneath, the weight of the full tank at the top brings the carriage down which pulls the lower carriage up. It must have been quite a challenge to build in the late 1800s.
The station at the top has been renovated but the view is the same as it was when we visited in 1994 with our very young children.
Lynton (at the top of the cliff) has lots of little independent shops, we had a wander round before going back down to Lynmouth. We didn't take the funicular railway but walked the steep twisty footpath which has bridges crossing over the tracks as it decends. We certainly enjoyed a little refreshment back in Lynmouth.
Our short break was lovely, we really were lucky with the weather. Each evening the sunsets were superb, each different depending on the cloud. With our caravan being on the sea front and west facing we stayed warm whilst enjoying the views as the nights were a little chilly.
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