Devon Holiday

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Euro-Feejer

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 16, 2007
Messages
68
Reaction score
36
Location
UK
Devon Holiday

Our son offered a Christmas gift of a few nights away at a B&B. We stretched it to 3 nights, and went a tad higher in quality, assuring him that his covering half was fine. I'd been attracted to a part of the UK we'd not explored yet... the NW corner of Devon. The Google sattelite images showed a long stretch of sandy beach that drew my attention (our local beaches are all pebbles). So Woolacombe was set as the destination. And the B&B was booked, which included ensuite and views of the beach and hills... only a 7-minute walk from the sand (https://www.downlandhouse.co.uk/).

The next bit of uncertainty was the weather. I assured the little lady that if there was going to be much rain, we'd drive the car. Many of the country roads in Devon are single-lanes through hedgerows, so I really wanted to go on the FJR. The forcasts were favorable as we approached the early-May dates, so we went for it.

Here's the route map. Total distance driven was 465 miles, including a short day-loop midway in our stay. Outbound we headed toward the north coast of Devon. Our day-loop took us up to Ilfracombe then down to a beach just south of the one we stayed near. A detour on the return trip home allowed us to visit friends who had moved from our town recently... a nice lunch stop.

0IqvvnP.jpg



In the first 20 minutes of our journey west, we pass the quaint town of Arundel, with its castle that was used in filming "Young Victoria".

hnhMKUf.jpg



We left the 'faster' highway 27 just before Chichester for a few reasons:
1. Too many roundabouts on that highway around that city are quite tiresome
2. Avoids lots of rushing traffic and 'freeway feel' through Portsmouth and Southhampton.
2. The angled road we took toward Petersfield was a favorite with low traffic and gentle turns that allowed 60mph.
3. A popular biker route (A272) took us from Petersfield to Winchester... also a gently curving 60mph road.

The first potty stop was at Loomies, a biker cafe on the A272 before Winchester. Notice in the photo how they use helmets as planters.

1xbFDgf.jpg



As the journey was over 5 hours in the saddle, we didn't stop much for photos along the way. There were many bright yellow fields with those plants that produce rapeseed oil (aka canola oil). Here's a stock photo I found online of what we were seeing.

Knspwkz.jpg



At one point, when traffic slowed a bit, we were pleasantly surprised to see a familiar sight on the right, so the little lady captured it on her phone.

2NehoZg.jpg



As we aimed toward the northern coast of Devon, we came upon some scenic coastal roads in the Minehead area. Here's a bum-break photo stop...

YlsoK6b.jpg



A few more photos at a further scene-soaking stop, approaching the town of Lynmouth...

uavbAS8.jpg


0kSE8SR.jpg



After settling into our B&B, we headed down to the sand of Woolacombe, 3 miles long and nearly a half-mile wide at low tide...

sSGOsst.jpg



The next morning, we woke up to the pleasant view visible from our bed and balcony...

YkiLW7u.jpg



It was not a biking day, as we'd planned to hike around the NW corner of Devon. I'll include a few photos highlighting the ragged edges of this coastline. The hike ended up being about 10 miles, and we were quite close to cliff-edges, spotting a few seals way down below...

8yu3AZC.jpg


G5BH1Th.jpg



This following pic is an example of how the squiggly trail kept going down into gullies and then up again to the cliffs... my Fitbit said we climbed up and down the equivalent of nearly 200 staircases.

wbgVeJE.jpg


7HXCOTL.jpg



And the bluebells (that we normally only see in forests in our area) covered many open meadows...

TuRYlV6.jpg



The far-point of our hike was the village of Lee, where we enjoyed some ice cream and a shandy at a pub. Thatch-roof homes are always quaint...

sAXByPH.jpg



The next day, we were back on the bike for a short loop to explore the area. We headed to Ilfracombe, just around the bend on the north coast of Devon. It's got a scenic marina, and an interesting statue at the end of the quay...

brZpLOb.jpg


nH8ooKm.jpg



Notice that this side of the statue is cut-away showing inerds...

klleMdT.jpg


UncIQcT.jpg



And one more view of the town of Ilfracombe...

3Vb3Iac.jpg



Next in our day-loop we headed toward the beach of Saunton. It's just south and similar size to the Woolacombe beach, but is more undeveloped along the shore. This beach has been used for some of the Normandy films...

IVdcnS7.jpg



And on the way back to Woolacombe, a photo stop with a view of the smaller Croyde Bay Beach...

uHd3gO1.jpg



One more walk on Woolacombe beach, with the little lady pointing at our B&B...

WACeQRL.jpg


I mentioned our detour on the journey home. We had a nice lunch stop in a tiny village where our friends had recently bought this thatch-roof cottage...

jQIaP8C.jpg



Though the forecast had chances of rain, we managed to stay dry the rest of the day. As it was a Friday afternoon, there was more traffic in some areas, and we did some 'filtering' between stopped vehicles. We chose much of the same route home to avoid the rush-hours of Southhampton, Portsmouth and Chichester.

That's all folks.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wonderful!! Thanks very much for sharing this with us. I'm envious of the fact that your wife will go with you. Looks like ya'll did just fine with the weather.

My favorite picture was the one "...approaching the town of Lynmouh". I starred at it for a second, and I was there.

Well done, sir.

 
Lovely area indeed. Thanks for the ride along.

Only been on those roads once ourselves and we loved it. We have just about the exact same shot of Stonehenge
smile.png


 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for sharing, some great shots of a truly beautiful part of the old country. Brought back fond memories of exploring the West Country on bikes with mates, and in car with wifey. As others have said, so fortunate to have a partner willing to share rides.

Looks like the weather was on your side too.

Regards,

Steve

 
Top