About The Area

About the Area: Bideford & North Devon Coast

Cheristow is close to Hartland, at the centre of The Hartland Peninsula which is known for its wildly beautiful miles of unspoilt coastline. Channel and Atlantic views from this rugged, right-angled edge of North Devon - to Lundy and beyond - are stunning. You may spot porpoises and peregrine falcons. With its woodland and walled gardens, its tea-rooms and historic houses, pubs and galleries, beaches, wildlife and starry skies, this is a exceptional area.

Things To Do Without The Car

Apart from simply relaxing indoors, outdoors or in the spa room… go running, cycling, or walking from the door, take a 20-minute cross-country stroll through the woods to Hartland with its small shops, pubs, café and Calf Street Pottery. There’s a Farmers’ Market on the first Sunday of most months; the Carnival is in August.

Visit Hartland Abbey House & Gardens, and tea room, a 20-minute walk away. Walk another mile on through the grounds – splendid with daffodils, then bluebells - to the sea at Blackpool Mill. Open from Easter to September, and with outdoor theatre and other summer events.

Drop into St Nectan’s Church with its landmark ‘Peeping Tom’ tower and fine 15th century rood screen - en route to Hartland Quay - a 45-minute direct walk. Have a pub meal and a pint at the Wreckers Retreat; perhaps take a high-tide dip and visit the fascinating little Shipwreck & Smuggling Museum. Come back to a log fire or barbecue and, often, a memorable sunset and star-gazey skies.

Walk the South West Coast Path, the closest points to join it from Cheristow are around a 30-minute walk, north or west. The coastal distance from Clovelly to Hartland Quay is 10 miles and from Hartland Quay to Bude 15 miles. It’s 3 miles from Hartland Quay to Hartland Point with views of the lighthouse (not open to the public) and a simple high season café.

Our nearby beaches are wonderfully craggy and pebbly, with sand exposed at low tide; great for sure-footed rock-pooling and careful swimming.

Things to do a short drive away...

Explore the famously steeply cobbled old fishing village of Clovelly a 6-mile drive away. Visit the Fisherman’s Cottage as it looked in the 1930s and the Charles Kingsley rooms. There are festivals and events throughout the year and boat trips from the harbour. Clovelly Court’s Victorian kitchen garden just outside the village is a treat too.

Docton Mill Gardens and tea-rooms are also a 15-minute drive away in a peaceful valley and carefully planted for a natural look. It’s an easy walk from here to Speke’s Mill Mouth beach and impressive waterfalls. It’s 30-minutes’ to Tapely Park, near Bideford, with its Italian terraces and organic vegetable garden.

Within 30-minutes-ish drive south into Cornwall are the sandy, surfy beaches of Sandymouth, and Bude, which also has a bracing sea pool, and to the north east, near Bideford: Northam and Westward Ho!

For children: it’s a 15-minute drive to The Milky Way Adventure Park an all-weather attraction with soft play for under-7s and a Cosmic Typhoon Coaster, and alongside is the Wake Aqua Park with its inflatables and water sports. The Big Sheep family amusement farm park is just another 10 minutes away and lots of fun.

Both Bude and Bideford, each a 15-mile drive away (or take the local bus), have a range of supermarkets, shops, galleries and museums. Bideford’s Burton Art Gallery and Museum also has a good café, so does Bude Castle Heritage Centre.

You can join the traffic-free Tarka Trail cycle route in Bideford, on its route between Braunton and Meeth. Board the Landmark Trust’s MS Oldenburg which sails from Bideford (or Ilfracombe) for a day trip to Lundy Island; a helicopter flight from Hartland Point gets you there out of season.

Opposite each other on either side of the estuary where the Taw and Torridge rivers meet (and sometimes connected by ferry) are sandy Instow and pretty Appledore, good for crabbing, crafts, the North Devon Maritime Museum and its September Book Festival.

Our cottages have information on local places to visit, sports and activities: surfing, cycling, golf, horse-riding, fishing, coasteering and more…

Local Places to Eat & Drink

These nearby pubs serve food, are child and dog-friendly and have outdoor seating at Hartland Quay – a 10-minute drive/45-minute walk:

The Wreckers Retreat Bar (part of Hartland Quay Hotel) 01237 441371
A great spot, down by the sea, just off the coast path

in Hartland – a 5-minute drive/20-minute walk:

The Hart Inn, The Square, Hartland 01237 441474
The Kings Arms, Fore Street 01237 440151
Anchor Inn, Fore Street, Hartland 01237 441414

 

Clovelly – The Red Lion 01237 431237
Another great spot, down by the harbour, with bar and restaurant

Woolsery (Woolfardisworthy) - The Farmers Arms 01237 439328
a gastro village pub with sheltered garden. Book ahead

Welcombe - The Old Smithy 01288 331305
13th-century, thatched, a mile from the sea, opposite Welcombe Pottery

Morwenstow - The Bush Inn, 01288 331242
ancient bar, a modern dining room and big, runabout garden

Buckland Brewer – The Coach & Horses 01237 451395
a traditional pub in narrow-lane country

Appledore – The Royal George 01237 424138
relaxed, renovated gastro pub/hotel, great estuary views

Take-away fish & chips etc

Hartland Shamrock Fish & Chips, Fore St. 01237 439328
Woolsery Chip Shop 01237 431431