Now that our holiday can go ahead, what would you recommend in Westward Ho!? Family of 4, 2 girls aged 5 and 8..
We're in a self contained house near the amusements & surf school.
Girl of my dreams says she’s gonna pick me up in the morning
Gonna head south-west, spend two weeks living in the sunshine
We’ve got the best room booked in the best hotel on the seafront
Hard-boiled eggs on a beach with a Blue Flag status
Westward Ho!
Westward Ho!
Fairground bound gonna have a little tussle with a claw crane
She meanwhile may like to see what’s going on in Northam
A Devon cream tea around half past three will be splendid
Crazy golf with a Swedish couple we befriended
Westward Ho!
Westward Ho!
Why is my fortnight suddenly coming to a standstill?
And why is Frank Ifield jumping up and down on a windmill?
And why is my girl getting married to a plasterer from Bacup?
Phoebus sinks and it all goes dark and then I wake up
Westward Ho!
Westward Ho!
Westward Ho!
(What a letdown)
(What a letdown)
(What a letdown)
(What a letdown)
Westward Ho!
(What a letdown)
(What a letdown)
(What a letdown)
(What a letdown)
And swimming surfing boogie boarding etc at Saunton Sands.
You can do all these at Westward Ho! - swimming in the rockpool good for the kids as well.
When exactly are you going to be there? Currently not too much happening but expected that much more will open from the 4th onwards
Are you taking your bikes?
It's a great beach for all of those, windsurfing etc too - kite flying (pretty windy there!).
There's the amusements/arcades if that's your bag, Clovelly is nearby, coastal paths etc, Bideford is the other side of the hill - decent park and close to the Tarka Trail.
How much stuff will be open though?
We've cancelled our August trip to West Sussex. The prospect of queuing up for everything, limited access to EH and NT sites, not being able to explore the area properly and rammed beaches with people not behaving despite the virus being about isn't worth it for us. I'd rather wait and have a less compromised holiday.
Its taken a battering this year
and here
Some nice walks in that area, circular up or down the coast path through Appledore, Bideford, Abbotsham. Clovelly is nice but steep!
Not sure if this is open
"Its taken a battering this year"
Certainly has, I took this at the spring high tide at the top of the slipway
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16CWNMQxjQq-F7uZrMQcA0pI4dWu-Qm1k/view?usp=sharing
Possibly inland, explore Exmoor? Tarka trail could be rammed. Maybe not looking at the car traffic. Depends really what you want.
Word to the wise...friend down there just shared this pic from yesterday (never seen cars queuing for Northam Burrows before)
First thought is where are they all going to go to, you know? And 30 deg in the shade, except there’s little to no shade. For-warned is fore-armed!
Strewth @malvern rider, I grew up in the Ho! and never saw anything like that even way back in the 70's when we all used to holiday at home!
Looking forward to my first trip home this year before the summer is over but not if everything is gridlocked
We've got a house, 5 mins walk from the beach so, hopefully, traffic won't be an issue.
It's more for the change of scenery.
Have a mate on Exmoor so will try and spend a day there.
That picture is a bit misleading - they've closed the access road to tbe burrows by the surf school to traffic, so that road is now the only access and it's a single lane with limited passing spaces - so it's busy for sure, but it's part of some plan to get people to walk to the beach rather than drive.
Pick up some burgers or steaks from F Heards in WH! Get yourself a small BBQ, or a disposable and head along the coast path to Abbotsham Cliffs / Greencliff. in the early evening. Bit more room / less people. sit and watch the sun go down.
Fish & Chips from Sylvester's in Appledore.
If you're at or around The Big Sheep, pop in & see Simon @ Country Life Brewery and try some of his ales brewed on site. Tell him Jeremy sent you. Also pick his brains for endless MTB and road Bike routes.
Hockings Ice Cream. With Clotted Cream on top.
Be very careful in the sea as lifeguard coverage is stretched at the moment and there are some pretty unforgiving tides & rips all along the coast.
If you need anything road bike related Craig and Alan at Cycles Scuderia in Bideford are great.
I've not checked if any of the stores are actually open at the moment
TAKE YOUR RUBBISH HOME!
Fish & Chips from Sylvester’s in Appledore.
Graylings, Fremington. Fight!
Get yourself a small BBQ, or a disposable...
TAKE YOUR RUBBISH HOME!
9 out of 10 cats love taking disposable BBQs home. Source: The Daily Bolx
Graylings, Fremington. Fight!
Can't disagree, Graylings was my chipper of choice & less than a mile away for 15+ years, but Sylvester's is closer for the OP.
Best Curry in Bideford?
Take a wetsuit. The sea is always cold. Surf. Regardless of the weather. Step sister and BIL live in Northam.
Best Curry in Bideford?
We’d usually end up going for takeout Chinese curry/extras at Mr Ho’s. Never had a bad one. It’s not posh it’s proper nosh. 1970s style.
There's a mobile chippy that parks on Golf Links Road on Saturdays that's surprisingly good - that would be walking distance for you @stevied
I haven't found a decent curry in Bideford - all very disappointing
The sea is always cold
It really isn't - although it's a bit colder currently than it will be in August/September. I never use a wetsuit if I'm just swimming or body boarding.
Thanks guys, some great info there..
There used to be (not been there for a while but assume it still exists) a lovely coastal walk through the trees from Bucks Mills to Clovelly, that brings you into the village on the village side of the gates. The only problem may be parking in Bucks Mills at the moment because there isn't much of it.
Bucks Mills - Clovelly is SWCP and was still walkable last I went about 3 years back. They’d done a lot of tree clearance and pathwork at BM. It was busy in the summer.
If you’re at or around The Big Sheep, pop in & see Simon @ Country Life Brewery and try some of his ales brewed on site.
Try some, yes. Don't waste money buying it. We bought a few bottles when we went a couple of years ago and seem to remember questioning whether the stuff in the bottles was the same as what we'd tasted.
And swimming surfing boogie boarding etc at Saunton Sands.
Whilst Saunton is one of my favourite beaches (and Braunton one of my favourite places to base myself for a week or two), not sure why you'd bother driving for 30/40 minutes to Saunton when Westward Ho beach I seem to remember being pretty epic.