Devon Stuff

We are back from Devon now, I didn't update while I was out there as to be honest phone reception was patchy at best.  They had Wifi in the main building but it was slow and apart from check selected websites and Facebook thats all you could do.

Pretty ain't it.

Stayed in a chalet outside of Ilfracombe on the North Devon Coast, a reasonably nice place but had a purgatory version of Freeview where you can only get the 5 main channels and their digital off shoots, kinda wished they had something non BBC to watch, especially as their news is dire, highlight was seeing them interview ancient apocalypse author Graham Hancock on breakfast telly.   The lowlights are many but largely biased immigration reporting is probably the worst I've seen.  This includes, hand wringing, a charity song, some more hand wringing and nary a dissenting voice about the logistics of  housing 30,000 extra blokes and its largely blokes from the line up I saw.

Apart from the TV, and the nice weather which was out of my hands, our resort wasn't bad. It had a clubhouse / pub / reception area,  that hosted an arcade, a few slots as well as a stage area which had some pretty young ladies dancing with a giant rabbit whenever we popped in for dinner.

Not a great shot.

They also did a quiz (would have aced it if I'd of taken part) that in true Dale Winton fashion the host was several shades thicker than the audience.  She pronounced the Suez canal as the Seuss canal which gave a wonderful image of it being built by the Cat in The Hat. Also didn't know that lignite referred to wood.
Our arcade was quite nice actually, nothing for me ironically, but there were a few interesting cabs to look at, including a big rocketship ride with a built in screen, and a few old Sega cabs, apart for an obligatory House of the Dead included a Dinosaur King and a Love and Berry in shin high cabinets.  Kicking myself that it was always too busy to grab a photo of these.  Also it seems that Archer Maclean's Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker is now a quiz game.  Didn't actually get to play this either but it was part of a quiz terminal along with a few other pub staples and that.

Ilfracombe is nice, with a few good gardens and an impressive Strawberry Tree in the car park and a strange theatre with its reactor like acoustic domes.  They had a good line up of shops including an independent record shop and a few general store type things, the harbour had a sculpture of a vivisected pregnant woman by Damien Hirst, but the natural landscape with much more stunning (see top picture).  If you are into geology then there is some pretty cool looking rock strata out there which makes for excellent photos. Also a nice local museum, we like a nice museum.

Barnstaple, is the archetypal big town, nicely laid out and can recommend the Pannier Center, a covered market in the heart of town for antique stuff (wednesdays) and general market stuff (every other day).  Plenty of charity shops and free disabled parking made me quite impressed with it.

pannier center.

Lynton and Lynmouth.

Little town / village further along the coast with a working funicular railway that transports you up and down the cliff edge between the two towns.  Lots of poky shops and steep walks down to places here, so not really those who can't walk far.  Also dogs, loads and loads of dogs, dogs in shops, dogs on the street and dogs on the cliff railway, if you like dogs then there are plenty here for you.

Where's my lead go?

Combe Martin. Boasts the longest high street in the UK, 90 percent of this is made up of houses with the odd shop thrown in along its length, there are more down by the beach but not much.  Quite picturesque.

Diddly Dogber.

That is all.

They sound cool but are probably a rock band.