Return to North Devon Part 3

Posted by Ian on 31st Jul 2011 at 9:10 pm
2011
31 Jul

OK, there’s a pattern forming here. It was another slow start and about 10:30 we ate yesterday’s flapjacks. We then loaded the bikes onto the car and set out south to Great Torrington. We parked in the Tarka Trail carpark next to The Puffing Billy and then headed south towards East Yarde where we knew there was a cafe.

Heading south was also heading uphill. At Puffing Billy we were at 23m altitude and we climbed to 130m over the next 6.5km. The last 0.7km was downhill to 128.5m at East Yarde. It was harder work than any of us expected. We stopped for bacon sandwiches and cake at the Yarde Orchard cafe and then made our way back. The first climb was a bit of a shock to the body, but it was soon over and the downhill stretch was much easier. Outward took nearly two hours and the return was about 40 minutes.
We went out to find somewhere to eat this evening. We headed out to Instow as we thought there was somewhere there. We did find one, but it was closed on Sunday evenings. So we took a chance and headed for Newton Tracey. We found The Hunters Inn, which had a large easily accessible carpark.
They were able to find a table for us and we all had great meals. I had belly of pork and followed it with the banana and chocolate chip sponge. Jo and P had the goat cheese and caramelised onion tart followed by sticky toffee sponge and panacotta respectively. A had the ham, egg and chips followed by chocolate ice cream. The food and service were great and we’d go there again.

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Return to North Devon Part 2

Posted by Ian on 30th Jul 2011 at 9:09 pm
2011
30 Jul

It was definitely a slow start today. We headed out to Bideford around lunchtime and after looking around the farmer’s market, we had hot dogs and cheese and bacon burgers from The Devon Food Company. The best burger I think I’ve ever had. We bought some honey and sunflower flapjacks from The Bee Team and some handmade truffles from the stall next to that. We wondered around the shops and bought a few bits before heading back to the park next to where we had parked the car. We finished off with an ice cream before we went back to the cottage.
We made our way, via the scenic route to The Coach and Horses in Buckland Brewer. It was very busy in there with most of the tables reserved, but luckily they could fit us in. Jo and I had the pan fried duck, P had the wholetail scampi and A had the biggest cod and chips I have seen for a long time, and she ate all the fish and all bar a handful of the chips.

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Return to North Devon Part 1

Posted by Ian on 29th Jul 2011 at 9:09 pm
2011
29 Jul

Having liked it so much last year, we booked to go back to Hallsannery for a couple of weeks this year. Our plan was to leave about 8am, but in the end we got away about 9:15am. Travelling along the M25, the engine coolant light started to flick on and off, but after stopping at the services and topping the level up, everything was fine.
We stopped off at the Little Chef after we came off the M3 and I have to say, they have really changed their game. The appearance, service, menu and quality of food are all so much better than they ever were. We got to see a couple of planes landing at the nearby airfield while we were eating.
The traffic slowed down on the stretch of road approaching Stonehenge, but nothing like as bad as lest year. We headed for the Black Dog pub in Chilmark where we ate last year and had another great meal. After a couple of brief stops we got to Hallsannery about 16:50.
The canopy at the front of the cottage has been removed, which meant we didn’t have to unload the bikes before parking up. In the kitchen were handmade scones and jam and vase of fresh flowers.


We’d been in for about an hour when we had a bit of a storm and were very glad we weren’t out in it.
We hadn’t brought any food with us and went out to Sainsbury’s to get some ready meals for tonight and milk etc. for the week. While we were driving back the heavens opened again.

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My Tweets for the week 2011-07-24

Posted by Ian on 24th Jul 2011 at 11:30 pm
2011
24 Jul
  • Had a great time at Watling Lower School Summer Fair this afternoon. We went to promote Dunstable Music Centre and got a lot of interest. #
  • Just had to take a photo of Jo with her phone for her Facebook account. All the thousands of photos I've taken and not one decent one :( #
  • Oh what a stupid cat! She's forgotten how to meow again. The mouth opens and no sound comes out #
  • Keep the camera still!!! #torchwood #
  • What a waste of an episode #torchwood #
  • Anyone know how many episodes #torchwood is being dragged over? #
  • It must be summer again. Had my hair cut short this morning. Wonder if I'll be lazy and let it grow again… probably. #
  • Check this video out — The Firm – Star Trekkin' http://t.co/l4uSmiC via @youtube #
  • BBC News – Amy Winehouse found dead, aged 27 http://t.co/mIU8LEU #
  • The self financing Luton-Dunstable busway that no-one wants, will cost £550k out of council tax a year to maintain http://bit.ly/qn5x6y #

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My Tweets for the week 2011-07-17

Posted by Ian on 17th Jul 2011 at 11:30 pm
2011
17 Jul
  • RT @classicfm: Apparently someone in the UK has won the EuroMillions and got £166m all to themselves! Is it you?! – I hope its me!!! #
  • Are there any surprises left to come in #Torchwood after the massive selection of future clips? What a way to ruin a great series! #
  • Off to school for the last recorder group of the term. Last one with the year 4s who are off to middle school in September. Feels strange. #
  • Just getting ready to go to Dunstable Music Centre Summer Term concert at Manshead School http://bit.ly/q7nE2P #
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part two showing @GroveTheatre Dunstable Mon 15th – Thurs 18th August at 7:30pm http://bit.ly/rfeKNl #
  • Upgraded all my blogs to WordPress 3.2.1. Had to turn of a few plugins on a couple to get around the out of memory issue. No other problems. #

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My Tweets for the week 2011-07-10

Posted by Ian on 10th Jul 2011 at 11:30 pm
2011
10 Jul
  • British Gas 'not' cold calling trying to convince me to change my energy supplier. What's the point of 'no cold calling zones' in Dunstable? #
  • Dunstable traffic busy today. Over 10 minutes to get from Thorn turn to Brewers Hill Road. #
  • BBC News – Energy supplier SSE suspends all UK doorstep sales http://t.co/7KzwwXp #
  • BBC News – British Gas increases gas and electricity bills http://t.co/7HeXLfE .. and they were only trying to sign me up Wednesday. #
  • BBC News – Warren Buffett donates another $1.78bn to charity http://t.co/UUEVh3f #
  • Dunstable Music Centre end of term concert next Saturday at Manshead School http://bit.ly/q7nE2P #

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