North Devon - Attractions and Activities
ROSEMOOR - A garden for gardeners, often featured on TV. Displaying
a stunning variety of garden styles, maturity, and planting with all
year round interest, Rosemoor is rapidly evolving into a garden of national
importance. Its 40 acres are designed to delight and inspire a wide range
of visitors, from the novice to the professional, and its fascinating
explorer trails are popular with children.
The Fame of 2000 roses in 200 varieties is spreading - and rightly so,
for they are truly a magnificent sight. There are beds of tender perennials,
a quarter of a mile of herbaceous borders; contrasting beds of hot and
cool colours, a newly planted Winter Garden and spectacular Plantsman's
and Foliage Garden with its bamboos, grasses and carefully selected shrubs
of fine architectural form. There is a stream that rushes through a 'new'
rock gorge planted with ferns and bamboos, then meanders through the
bog garden before tumbling down into a magnificent lake.
- Great Torrington 01805 624067
- Open all year except Christmas day, April to Sept 10am - 6pm, Oct
to March 10am - 5pm
- One mile south of Great Torrington on B3220
- Suitable for disabled
- Restaurant, gift shop & plant centre
Libbaton Golf Club - High
Bickington Tel 01769 560269
A long 18 hole parkland course, perfect for visiting golfers - (no handicap certificate
required) - 6400yds par 73. Club house open to non-members, food served all day.
Panier Markets - The
markets are a great place to find a great variety of local produce
at very reasonable prices.Barnstaple www.barnstaplepanniermarket.co.uk -
Tuesday, Friday & Saturday , South
Molton - Thursday, also a Farmers
Market on every 4th Saturday of month Hatherleigh - Tuesday, Bideford -
Tuesday and Saturday - market
information
Torrington 1646 is the Civil War heritage centre,
a unique new indoor/outdoor family attraction located at the heart of
Great Torrington. The entrance is in South Street Car Park, a few steps
from the wonderful panoramic view over the River Torridge valley.
At Torrington 1646 you will meet colourful 17th Century characters.
Dressed in period costume and speaking and acting as though they were
living in Great Torrington at the time of the civil war. They will guide
you to safety through the streets of the town on the night of the 1646
battle. Afterwards they will show you around the physic garden with many
herbs for cooking and healing, and in the Royalist encampment you can
try your hand at some of the games they used to play, or perhaps try
on some armour!
Tel 01805 622373 Open daily from Easter.
Dartington Glass Molten glass, red-hot from the furnace,
is transformed into fragile goblets, vases, jugs and many other kinds
of lead crystal glassware, under the gaze of visitors in the viewing
galleries of Dartington Glass. It takes as many as 11 glassblowers to
shape an intricate piece, but even the simplest tumbler requires the
labours of a team of six under the supervision of a master blower. Visitors
can see all stages of the process, then view and buy the finished glassware.
The Glass Centre includes a video theatre, a re-creation of an 18th century
glass-making workshop and displays on the history of glass.
- Great Torrington 01805 626244
- Factory Tours -Mon-Fri 9.30-3.30
- Factory Shops and restaurant Mon - Sat 9.30 - 5.00 Sun10.30-4.00
The Tarka Line runs for 39 miles between Exeter and Barnstaple, following
the gentle river valleys of the Yeo and Taw. From Eggesford to Barnstaple
the line forms part of the Tarka Trail. The line is among the most scenic
in the country. The rolling countryside is dotted with livestock grazing
the fields which make a green partchwork divided by traditional hedgerows.
The Tarka Line offers a wide range of things to do for all ages. For
walkers there is short walks from some of the rural stations and access
to Eggesford Forest, the Tarka Trail and Two Moors Way. Cycle hire facilities
are available at Barnstaple and Eggesford. For shoppers, Barnstaple,
famous for its floral displays, offers a range of shops and sightseeing. Call
0345 48 49 50 for train times
Cycling in the Taka Country. There
is a wide range of graded cycle routes in Tarka Country, with something
to suit everyone, from the rather wobbly to the most experienced
road or mountain biker. Off road routes away from busy traffic will
appeal to families with young children, while there are longer on-road
routes along quiet lanes which wind their way through peaceful countryside
and historic villages. The Tarka Trail can be accessed at The Puffing
Billy Pub just the other side of Torrington.
Exmoor National Park is situated
in the counties of Devon and Somerset in South West England;
Exeter is 40 km (30 miles) to the south and Taunton 20 km (13
miles) from the eastern boundary. The park contains a variety
of magnificent landscapes. Although it is one of the smaller
National Parks (693 km², 267 sq. miles) the central plateau
of open moorland is remote and spacious. To the north the moorland
terminates in towering cliffs above the Bristol Channel. Rocky
headlands, steep wooded ravines, plunging waterfalls and jumbled
heaps of fallen rock make this an area of outstanding scenic
beauty; it is defined as a Heritage Coast.
Dartmoor’s landscape is of great archaeological
importance, with over 10,000 entries on the County Sites and Monuments
Register. There are over 1,000 Scheduled Ancient Monuments and this
figure rises each year. Prehistoric evidence is everywhere to be
seen from standing stones, stone rows, barrows and kistvaens. Later
farming, quarrying and tin mining dramatically changed the landscape,
over printing an archaeological heritage to the area. There are also
over 2,500 buildings which are Listed because of their architectural
or historic interest.
