30th May - Ottery St Mary - Shute Farm

Woke up this morning, and had breakfast before heading off the site and homeward bound.

Shute Farm, Ottery St Mary

We decided to take our time getting home and stopped in at Otter nursery in Ottery St Mary.
Then we headed home after a very good weekend in East Devon.  Somewhere we will visit again and not just for the sausages.

29th May - Visit to East Devon - Seaton and Sidmouth

The next morning we had a cooked breakfast including Pork U Pine 4 sausages and then packed up and set off to Sidmouth and our next stop.

We diverted to Seaton to see if it was worth taking the tram.  We parked up and decided we would take the tram if it was going to cost us up to £5 each.  The tram was in, so we quickly bought our tickets without checking how much it was going to cost and were quite shocked when we were asked for £17.50 for both of us.

However by the time we went up the line to Colyton and back we felt it was worth it.  Something you would probably only do once though.

The tram travelled through a nature reserve where you could see different types of birds. 

When we arrived at the destination of Colyton we took a stroll around the village and even found a CL that we have put on our list to visit another time.

We stopped for a cuppa at a tea shop where we watched the Llamas in the field nexdoor.

   



 After the tram ride we went back to the camper and we were going to drive to Sidmouth and then head to our next stop at The Shute, near Ottery St Mary.  However we decided to find our next stop first and then go into Sidmouth. It took us a while to find the CL, each time we passed it someone had the gate open so we could not see the sign for this site.  Eventually we found the site and then headed for Sidmouth.

We parked up in Sidmouth and walked into town along the promenade.  Sidmouth was much nicer than Seaton and well worth the visit.

We stopped for an ice cream topped with loads of clotted cream

We walked back to the van and returned to Shute Farm for the evening.

Back at Shute Farm after cooking dinner we relaxed listening to music and reading.



28th May - Visit to East Devon - Beer, Seaton

Another Bank Holiday so we headed off to East Devon for the weekend.  We had booked into a CL near Beer for the first 2 nights but could not stay the 3rd night as they were booked up so we found another CL near Sidmouth.

The first CL we stayed on was a lovely field belonging to a farmer.  It seemed as if it was in the middle of nowhere.  We set up and wandered over to the notice board to see what we needed to do about payment.  The notice board had information on things to do around the area, including walks that could be taken.  There was also information about purchasing sausages from the farm.

In the morning the farmer came round to see the new arrivals and catch up with the others on site. It turned out that Jethro's (Cornish comedian) brother was camping on the site. We asked the owners about the sausages and they said they would send some down. They were very helpful and gave us more detailed information on the area.

There were several walks into Beer or Seaton from the site but the quickest one was to walk up over the hill across the fields and then a steep hill down to Beer.



Couchill Farm CL - Our campervan taken from top of hill



We decided to head to Beer and continue to Seaton if there was time.  It was a lovely walk and although the hill was steep into Beer, it was downhill!  I wasn't looking forward to going back though.  We arrived in Beer and strolled around the few shops, we also stumbled on a small craft fayre where I bought a couple of small leather purses for presents.  We found a lovely bakery and coffee shop where we stopped for a lovely coffee and then on the way out of Beer we found a pub garden overlooking the sea and stopped for a cold drink taking in the view .

We then decided that we should continue to Seaton as there was still plenty of time.  Also I was hoping the walk to Seaton would save having to walk back up the steep hill to Beer.

What I hadn't realised was that the walk to Seaton involved climbing as it was a cliff walk and not a stroll along the promenade that I had envisaged.

It was a lovely walk and not as strenuous as I first thought.

 

Cliff path from Beer to Seaton - half way up looking down at Beer beach





We spent a couple of hours in Seaton, but we were not impressed as it was quite run down. 

We were going to take a ride on the tram but felt it was a bit late in the day. 

So we started our walk back to the campsite, using my blackberry gps for directions, but this was not the same as our previous walks as it was through a residential area, however we were quite surprised how close the CL was to Seaton and were soon back at the Couchill Farm. 

When we arrived back, our sausages had been delivered, so we decided to try them for tea.  They were lovely , just a shame they only sell Pork U Pine 4 sausages locally.  We decided to order more to take home for the freezer and will definitely return to the site for more.