Back Roads Great Britain (Eyewitness Travel Back Roads)

DRIVE 2: Bideford to Bodmin Moor 43

Eat and Drink: inexpensive, under £25; moderate, £25–£50; expensive, over £50

EAT AND DRINK

AROUND BIDEFORD

Boathouse moderate

Lively waterside restaurant and bar

looking across the Torridge Estuary

to Appledore.

Marine Parade, Instow, EX39 4JJ (take

B3233 out of Bideford along the

estuary towards Barnstaple); 01271

861 292; http://www.instow.net/boathouse;

no reservations

Decks expensive

Smart restaurant next to the

Boathouse, specializing in English and

French cuisine using local produce.

Marine Parade, Instow, EX39 4JJ; 01271

860 671; http://www.decksrestaurant.co.uk;

open Tue–Sat

APPLEDORE

Beaver Inn inexpensive

Atmospheric old pub beside the

Torridge Estuary, with panoramic

views from its terrace. Noted for its

fresh fish dishes.

Irsha Street, EX39 1RY; 01237 474 822;

http://www.beaverinn.co.uk

The Royal George inexpensive

An old beamed pub with a dining area

overlooking the estuary.

Irsha Street, EX39 1RY; 01237 474 335

HARTLAND PENINSULA

Docton Mill Gardens Tea Room

inexpensive

Small café in the delightful gardens

serving snacks and award-winning

Devonshire clotted cream teas.

Lymebridge, EX39 6EA; 01237 441 369;

http://www.doctonmill.co.uk;

open Mar–Oct

4 Great Torrington
Devon; EX38 8AA
It’s a scenic drive beside the River
Torridge to Great Torrington, home
of Dartington Crystal, where visitors
can see glass being hand blown and
pick up bargains in the shop (tours
Mon–Fri; visitor centre and shop daily). At
the RHS Rosemoor Gardens, there
are areas devoted to roses, fruit and
vegetables, a lake and an arboretum
(open daily). The Battle of Torrington –
a Royalist rout in the English Civil War

• is brought to life at the Torrington
  1646 visitor centre with displays of
  17th-century weaponry (open Feb–
  Nov, Tue–Fri; Jun–Sep, Mon–Sat).
  ª From Great Torrington, take B3227
  to Stibb Cross; turn right on minor road

5 Hartland Peninsula

North Devon; EX39 6DU

This blissfully quiet rural pocket is

crisscrossed by narrow country lanes

leading to windswept Hartland

Quay, where dramatic cliffs give way

to a tiny 16th-century harbour with a

small shipwreck museum (open

Easter–Oct, daily). In Stoke, St Nectan’s

14th-century church is known as the

cathedral for its 350-m (128-ft) high

tower. Nearby are 16th-century

stately Hartland Abbey (open Mar–Oct

Sun, Wed & Thu) and pretty Docton

Mill Gardens (open Mar–Oct daily),

where tea is served by the mill pond.

ª From Docton Mill, take minor road

via Eddistone and Tosberry to rejoin

A39 to Bude. Park in canalside Tourist

Information Centre car park.

Lundy Island

This car-free island 17 km (11 miles)

off the coast is a sanctuary for puffins

with a resident human population of

30 – joined in summer by hordes of

day-trippers who come to go seal

watching, visit its 13th-century castle

and have a drink at Marisco Tavern.

Above left Windswept headlands of Hartland

Peninsula Above right Docton Mill Gardens

Below Mill pond at Docton Mill Gardens

to go through Woolfardisworthy to A39

(signed Bude). At Higher Clovelly, turn

right onto B3248 to Hartland, then

follow signs on minor road through

Stoke to Hartland Quay; park in car

park. Return to Stoke and turn right

down tiny lane to Docton Mill at Milford.