Devon is Heaven

 

In the meantime, plan your getaway on an armchair trip to the West Country via the jolly documentary series Devon and Cornwall. Among the stars of series two (which has moved to Channel 4, after series one went out last year on More4) are Exmoor farmers Sarah and Rob Taylor. They have a smallholding on the outskirts of South Molton in north Devon and can’t imagine living anywhere else.  “Devon is our piece of heaven,” says Sarah. “You’ve got fantastic scenery and countryside, great market towns, proper cream teas. I’ve not done a lot of south Devon because there’s too much of north Devon I like!”  So who better than Sarah and Rob to pass on tips for what to do there, once it’s safe to travel again?

 

ADMIRE EXMOOR’S PONIES

Straddling Devon and Somerset, Exmoor attracts far fewer visitors than Dartmoor, but boasts heathery moorland, wooded coombs, rolling fields and England’s highest sea cliffs.  “Dartmoor is very stony, very rugged, very harsh, whereas I think Exmoor is kinder on the eye,” says Rob. Exmoor’s famous shaggy small ponies graze up on the common and the Taylors check on their free-roaming herd twice a week. “It’s very idyllic out there and very quiet. We see red deer and all sorts of birds that you wouldn’t see elsewhere. All the ponies are owned by someone, but a lot of them have hardly been touched by human hand. They’re gathered once a year for a general checkover, and then they go back out on the common.”  You can get up close to the ponies at Exmoor Pony Centre at Ashwick.

 

DISCOVER THE DOONE VALLEY

One of Exmoor’s most picturesque river valleys is the backdrop to RD Blackmore’s 1869 tale of romance and murder in the 17th century, Lorna Doone, and it’s known locally as Doone Valley.  “That’s a lovely place to go,”   says Sarah. “It’s on the Devon and Somerset border and there are great walks along Badgworthy Water and up through the valley. At the bottom is Malmsmead, a pretty little place with a café where you can just sit and watch the world go by.”

 

SEE THE PRETTIEST VILLAGE

North Devon is dotted with picturepostcard villages, but most magical of all is the tiny, perfectly preserved fishing village of Clovelly: a cobbled high street leads down to the harbour, and the whitewashed

cottages are bedecked with flowers in summer. “You have to park at the top and walk down,”  says Sarah. “It’s ever so easy going down, but coming back up it’s quite steep! They’ve got a couple of pubs and hotels down there, and the big house at the top, Clovelly Court, has a beautiful garden that you can go round as well.”   The village is known for its donkeys, which used to haul herring up and down the ertiginous high street. Nowadays they live a life of leisure and the postman and villagers use sledges to transport their loads.

 

HOOK A TASTY SUPPER

The Taylors’ favourite spot for fish and chips is Ilfracombe harbour. “We chuck some fishing rods in the car, do a bit of fishing off the pier and then we’ll fetch fish and chips, and that’s an evening out for us,” says Rob. “Ilfracombe is very touristy, but very pretty,” adds Sarah. “They do boat trips in and out of the harbour, and a lot of people go down there just to watch the birds and the boats.” Ilfracombe’s Lynbay Fish & Chips has been voted the best chippy in the South West and cooks sustainably sourced fish.

 

A REAL CREAM TEA

Whether Devon or Cornwall is the home of the cream tea has been a bone of contention for decades, as has the “proper” way to eat it: do you put the jam on first and top with the clotted cream, as the Cornish prefer – or the other way round?  Naturally, the Taylors favour the Devonian method. “Put a great big dollop of cream on first, swirl it round and make a little nest in the middle with a spoon, then you can plop a great big dollop of jam on top,” explains Rob. “If you do it that way, you get twice as much on as  the Cornish do. If you put the jam on first, the jam will run off and take the cream with it!”  For a cream tea with a view, they suggest Mother Meldrum’s Tea Gardens in the heart of the Valley of Rocks, near Lynton. The valley, which cascades down to the Bristol Channel, is home to a herd of feral goats. “It’s a great setting and we had a lovely cream tea there – the scone was huge,” says Sarah. “It’s a little cottage and you can sit in the garden, where the goats can’t nick your food!” 

 

Devon and Cornwall

Monday 8.00pm C4 June 2020