Failure is the Key to Success » General http://blog.ijhedges.com Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:30:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Return to North Devon Part 14 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/11/return-to-north-devon-part-14/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/11/return-to-north-devon-part-14/#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 21:18:25 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=589 Unfortunately, the forecast was correct for this morning; we woke up to a wet day.

By the afternoon, the weather had dried up a bit, so the kids and I went out on Hallsannery’s nature trail. It was a bit a challenge in the cow field, where the cows had licked the signs off the boards, but we just skipped those ones. As we reached the end, it started raining again, that combined with the long grass that was still soaked from earlier in the day, we got a bit wet.

At least I finally got a photo of Hallsannery before we go home tomorrow.

]]> http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/11/return-to-north-devon-part-14/feed/ 0 Return to North Devon Part 13 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/10/return-to-north-devon-part-13/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/10/return-to-north-devon-part-13/#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:17:38 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=588 Today’s plan was to return to Tunnel Beaches at Ilfracombe. The kids wanted to go rock pooling using the nets at the cottage. The tidal pool on the beach is visible from about 3 hours before low tide to 3 hours after. Low tide today was 10:08, so the pool would be there until about 1pm.
It was also a bit of a shock today to find that the Norman King pub in Dunstable had burnt down last night. A fire, which is being treated as arson, started just after midnight and had completely destroyed the thatched roof. Church Street was closed until about 5:30 this morning.
Anyway, back to Devon, it was a bit more windy than we were expecting today, so I bottled it and didn’t wear my shorts. We eventually got to Tunnel Beaches about 10:30 and made our way through the Victorian tunnels to the ‘ladies’ beach and the tidal pool. The kids and I went rock pooling, them in their crocs, me in bare feet, ouch. After an hour or so we eventually headed back to Jo and then they went down to the tidal pool. At about quarter to 1 we left the beach and took the nets and clothes back to the car. We then headed down to the front to eat at the same place we eat last year, The Wheel Inn. It appears that the pub is now in new hands and no longer serves food at lunchtime. They did recomend we eat at 6 St James Bistro, further up the road, so we went to have a look.
It was a good recommendation, I had the Exmoor venison and it was so tender. I hadn’t had venison for years, so didn’t hesitate in my choice. Jo had the steak and ale pie, P had bacon and cheese omelette and A had Margherita pizza. It’s only a small restaurant, but well worth a visit.

]]> http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/10/return-to-north-devon-part-13/feed/ 0 Return to North Devon Part 12 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/09/return-to-north-devon-part-12/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/09/return-to-north-devon-part-12/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:16:56 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=587 Today was lovely weather. After a slow start, the kids went out to play on the tennis court. We joined them after a bit and had a nice walk through the bamboo to get there. While we were playing a buzzard soared overhead and the swallows were ever present.
The afternoon was much of the same and we returned to The Clinton Arms in Frithlestock for the evening. It was a bit quieter in there tonight, but the service, food and atmosphere were still good. I asked for a real ale recommendation and tried one of the guest ales, Black Prince; very nice. I’m definitely a real ale convert.

]]> http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/09/return-to-north-devon-part-12/feed/ 0 Return to North Devon Part 11 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/08/return-to-north-devon-part-11/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/08/return-to-north-devon-part-11/#comments Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:16:08 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=586 Originally we were going to go cycling today, but when we got up it was very windy and overcast.
We changed our plans and decided to go to Lynton and Lynmouth to see the cliff railway amongst other things.  On the way we were going to stop at The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, for a ride on the restored section.
The A39 is a bit of a windy road north of Barnstaple, with a couple of hairpins. We overshot the entrance; the sign said 150 yards, but it was about half that, combined with the sat nav indicating the turn was further, we overshot.

We had drinks and cream scones in the tea rooms while waited for the next train at 12:15. It was a touch of nostalgia to hear the sound of the train travelling across the jointed track sections, clickety-clack. The section of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway restored is only a mile long, but their intention is to eventually restore the whole 19 miles. Initially, I was sceptical about their hopes, but after looking further into it, they do look to have a real chance, if they can raise the funds.
The wind was really starting to get up now and the temperature was dropping, so we headed back to Fremington Quay Cafe for lunch. It’s a single track road down to the quay and we had to use the passing places a couple of times. The wind at Fremington Quay was so strong it was hard at times to stand against it; very glad we didn’t go out on the bikes, it would have been a headwind against us all the way back.
The menu at the cafe had changed from last year and it had a bit of a different feel about it. Doing further investigation, new tenants took over the lease in October, following the departure of the previous tenant. That said the food was wonderful and well worth a visit.
We saw a RAF rescue helicopter flying around and then hovering low over the other side of the river Taw. Initially I thought it was on a rescue and then we realised that there was an airfield the other side of the river. It is the Royal Marine Base Chivenor, where the RAF has the “A” flight of 22 Squadron with two search and rescue Sea King helicopters stationed.

]]> http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/08/return-to-north-devon-part-11/feed/ 0 Return to North Devon Part 10 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/07/return-to-north-devon-part-10/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/07/return-to-north-devon-part-10/#comments Sun, 07 Aug 2011 21:15:15 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=585 Overslept this morning and was woken at about 7.30 to the sound of my car alarm. Had to rush upstairs for the keys to turn it off. Wide awake now!
It was pouring down, so apart from the fact it was late, I wouldn’t have gone out on the bike. We went out to The Big Sheep today. It was raining when we got there and we were only the third car to arrive. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but we bought some sheep food when we went in. The first place we went to was the animal barn. The puppies just inside the door were so cute and then there were the rabbits and the ferret and the lambs.

Then there were the hungry sheep; you’d put food on your hand and they’d lick it off. Before we knew where we were, nearly 3/4 of an hour had past. We came out of the barn and caught the end of the sheep show. From there the kids went to play on the jumping pillows and then we went to eat in the restaurant.
This was a bit a disappointment to me, I felt that the prices were high for what you were getting. Anyway, after that we caught the end of the lamb feeding. Jo and the kids went of to play and I waited on afterwards for the brewery talk. After the talk, I headed to the brewery shop where there was free tasting of their brews. The Big Sheep is the home of Country Life Brewery. I tried Old Appledore Ale (3.7%), Golden Pig (4.7%), Black Boar (5%) and Devonshire 10′DER’ (10%). They didn’t have any bottles of Golden Pig to buy as following the Great British Beer Festival, where they won a silver medal, they had had a bit of a rush. I bought a bottle of Old Appledore and Black Boar.
I then joined Jo and the kids who were watching the sheep dog trials and then we watched the sheep shearing and the sheep show. We went back into the animal barn and the rain came down yet again. We kids then went to play in Ewetopia, the indoor playground. After about an hour, we visited the shop and then came back to the cottage (in the rain again of course).
We eat out this evening at The Hunters Inn again. As on all previous visits, the food and service were brilliant.

]]> http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/07/return-to-north-devon-part-10/feed/ 0 Return to North Devon Part 9 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/06/return-to-north-devon-part-9/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/06/return-to-north-devon-part-9/#comments Sat, 06 Aug 2011 21:14:38 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=584 I went out on my bike again this morning. I rode down to Landcross and headed south towards Torrington. It was a more varied terrain than heading north; I think there were more uphills than downhill on the way south. After about 20 minutes, I turned round and came back. I stopped at Landcross bridge for a few minutes to admire the views before riding back to Hallsannery. About 8.5 miles, although I didn’t manage the ride all the way up the drive today.
Today was a day of heavy rainstorms and brief interludes. We spent some time with the kids helping them with their cameras. Our laziest day so far.
We went out to The Clinton Arms in Frithlestock tonight. This is a lovely pub with a really friendly atmosphere. I had a steak and ale pie, Jo had pork steaks, P had homemade cod and salmon fishcakes and A had beef burger and beans. Service was really quick, we had the meals about 10 minutes after ordering them and the food was great. We finished off with 3 icecreams and I had the fruit crumble.
When we paid, we were given tickets for kids free entry at The Big Sheep, oh well no loss if we don’t use them.
We had been planning to go to The Eden Project tomorrow, but after looking at the weather forecast have put it off for a day. While looking around for an alternate, we looked at The Big Sheep and thought why not.

]]> http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/06/return-to-north-devon-part-9/feed/ 0 Return to North Devon Part 8 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/05/return-to-north-devon-part-8/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/05/return-to-north-devon-part-8/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:13:57 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=583 I was determined not to have another slow start today, so I was up before six and went out on my bike for a short ride to get the day going. I rode down to Landcross and joined the Tarka Trail and then rode up to the Torridge Bridge and back. Only about 6.5 miles, but enough to get the day going, the last bit back up the drive and Hallsannery was a real killer; I ended up in the lowest gear and only just made it.
We went out to the historic fishing village of Clovelly today. This is famous for 3 things, its steep cobbled street, fishing harbour and donkeys.

The kids got to make a fuss of the donkeys and A got to hold a little owl. It was surprising how much time passed as we meandered down the street, looking in the shops and taking photos. About 1 o’clock we had got as far as the Treasure Chest and the Tea Rooms. The lady at the Treasure Chest was busy sticking no photography signs over all the goods in front of the shop. I understand that people taking photographs doesn’t pay the rent, but her trade is going to be tourists who are going to be taking photos. Needless to say, this was probably the only shop we didn’t go in; this photographer and his family voted with their feet.
We stopped at the Tea Rooms for some lunch; I had a ploughman’s lunch, Jo had a fisherman’s lunch, P had a crab sandwich and A had sausages in a roll. After we had eaten, we continued on down to the harbour.

After quite a time at the harbour, we made our way back up via the many shops and eventually got back to the pottery. Jo and the kids all wanted to throw their own pot, very good value for £2.50. OK, the bowls aren’t fired, but we have instructions for doing that when we get home.
We ate in tonight.

]]> http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/05/return-to-north-devon-part-8/feed/ 0 Return to North Devon Part 7 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/04/return-to-north-devon-part-7/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/04/return-to-north-devon-part-7/#comments Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:13:16 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=582 OK, this morning was a bad morning. Too much sun and not enough water yesterday took its toll. It took a lot of water and time to get going today. Lunch was bacon sandwiches.
We finally got to eat at the Old Barn Inn in Bickington. When we ordered the food, we were told that it was about 25 minutes for it to be cooked. That would have been fine, however, it was at least 50 minutes by the time it finally arrived. By this time, A, who had been fine all day, had a headache and was feeling tired and hungry. The food was nice, but the service let the meal down.

]]> http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/04/return-to-north-devon-part-7/feed/ 0 Return to North Devon Part 6 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/03/return-to-north-devon-part-6/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/03/return-to-north-devon-part-6/#comments Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:12:36 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=581 Today was The North Devon Show. It was in Umberleigh, which is only 30 minutes or so from Hallsannery. The weather was expected to be good all day, so we set off about 9am. Traffic was good until we got close and then the last mile or two crawled through the country lanes. Organisation for parking was good, with the adjacent 42 acre field being used; we were quickly directed to where they wanted us parked. At least it was easy to find; we were on the end of a row and under the telephone lines. As we were walking down to the entrance, you could hear where the dog show was.
Just as we got in Jo stumbled on the ground and fell over right by the Red Cross point. After being helped back to her feet, no serious injury had occurred, so we headed off into the show.
We watched the dancing dog show and the kids both joined the show, A seems to have got over her fear of strange dogs. Jo got dragged in as their responsible adult/’dog’ trainer.
On the edge of the Tarka ring, where the dancing dogs had been, we looked at the birds of prey. I correctly identified 2 out of the 3, the Golden Eagle and the Harris Hawk; I got the third one wrong, I thought it might be a merlin, but it was an American Kestrel.

We watched what we could see of the monster trucks, but to be honest we got there too late to get a good view. Well, Jo and I didn’t, the kids made their way to the front and saw it anyway.

Then we had a look at some of the cattle and sheep, before watching a bit of the ferret racing; more hype than excitement in my opinion.

We had Cornish Pasties for lunch, ‘freshly crimped in Cornwall that morning’ and they were delicious.
We looked at the poultry and the crafts tent before seeing some of the show jumping. Unfortunately, the show jumping was on right next to the main area, where the monster trucks were just finishing and kept revving their engines, I don’t know how distracting that must have been for the horses and riders, it was for me.
Somewhere during the day we fitted in ice creams a couple of times and then we headed back to the car. Quite a few cars had already left, so there were gaps all over the place in the carpark. Unfortunately, this meant that cars were driving at random through the parked cars. Although there was a main route out, everybody was trying the jump the queue by driving through the parked cars and joining the queue further up. This had the effect of completely gridlocking the carpark, and so it was a very slow exit. Knowing I wanted to turn right at the exit, I had to force my way into the right hand lane, only to find that both lanes were right turn only; it would have been nice if they had signed that earlier.
We picked up some food in Sainsbury’s on the way back and ate in tonight.

]]> http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/03/return-to-north-devon-part-6/feed/ 0 Return to North Devon Part 5 http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/02/return-to-north-devon-part-5/ http://blog.ijhedges.com/2011/08/02/return-to-north-devon-part-5/#comments Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:12:00 +0000 Ian http://blog.ijhedges.com/?p=580 Ate in at lunchtime and went into Barnstaple in the afternoon to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part2 at Scotts Cinema. We were in screen 2, which was a small screen, only about 75 seats, I was glad we had booked our seats online yesterday, as it was sold out. We all enjoyed it and the kids weren’t too scared.
We headed back to the Old Barn Inn in Bickington where we had tried to eat on Sunday only to find the carpark full; it looked like there was a pool match in progress. So we went back up to the Hunters Inn  in Newton Tracey. Rather then my usual coke, I tried a pint of Mainbrace, produced by Jollyboat Brewery in Bideford. Not bad.

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