an exmoor b&b owned and managed by sue & andy north
guest house and b&b, lynton, north devon
34 lee road, lynton EX35 6BS tel: 01598 753328
Thanks to our guest Kerry, who once again left us with hundreds of excellent digital pictures from his recent stay. We will be adding a selection of them to the Gallery as soon as possible. Some of the pictures are from Broomhill Sculpture Gardens near Barnstaple, which is an interesting place to visit, and is particularly good for photography.
Many people visit Clovelly from here as it is just over an hour by car, and some of our recent guests made the perfect day of it by also visiting the award-winning Docton Mill Gardens at Hartland (pictured), close-by. The cream teas at the Docton Mill tea room have also been voted best in Devon, so must be worth a visit! Our guests (a family from Germany) were also interested in Hartland because the rugged scenery features in the BBC's recent adaptaition of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.
Occasionally guests leave things behind in their room when they leave, and it is no trouble for us to pop them in the post. This week someone left their favourite walking boots behiind. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the boots to reach their home . . . Australia!
If you like gardens and cream teas, there's one a ten minute drive from us at Parracombe, which we visited today for the first time. Heddon Hall Gardens is open Sundays and Wednesdays between May and July. The old-fashioned flower gardens are set in the beautiful Heddon Valley and have had creative input from such experts as Roy Lancaster and Carol Klein. Another place of interest is Carol Klein's Glebe Cottage Plants, which is at Umberleigh, near South Molton.
Yesterday evening we did the short but spectacular walk over Southcliffe hill. Down through the valley of rocks, past Wringcliff Bay to Lee Bay, then cutting in to the zig zag path and the very steep climb to Southcliffe. There is a path through the woods on the way back which makes the walk circular. On a nice day with good visibility it is probably worth making more of this walk. There are several places with wonderful views where there are benches or handy rocks perfect for a picnic/glass of wine/cup of coffee . . . we wished we had thought of that yesterday evening!
We have now completed the switch to digital tv with Freeview tvs or set-top boxes in all rooms. The change to a digital signal happens early next year in our area, which is one of the first, so we have to be prepared! Although our nearest transmitter is at Countisbury, our only watchable signal comes from Wales. As we understand it, this will mean that for a year or so, we will not have the option of any local news channels. We have been told by Digitaluk than when the Countisbury signal goes digital (2010) it will be boosted to four-times the current strength and will become our strongest signal, and we can retune to that. We could have waited a year, but it's nice to have lots of tv channels!
The latest issue of the Exmoor magazine has a good idea for a seven mile circular Doone Valley walk, starting at County Gate (the Devon/Somerset border). It is a beautiful area we are often asked about, and the walk has several places for refreshments. The walk passes through Brendon, Watersmeet, Rockford and Malmsmead. Parking is available at County Gate (15 minutes from here by car). It is also possible to start and finish at Malmsmeed, which avoids the big hill at County Gate. We will take copies of the walk and put them in the Lounge.
The complete line-up for the Lynton & Lynmouth Music Festival 2008 has now been put on the llama website: http://www.llama.org.uk
This year's festival is on the 13th, 14th and 15th June. The main event is on the green in Lynmouth on the 14th and 15th, with 'fringe' events at various smaller venues in Lynton and Lynmouth all weekend. The festival has a great family atmosphere and so far has been really lucky with weather!
