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Clovelly Village in North Devon
Clovelly is a small village overlooking the North Devon coast, and is close to the border between Devon and Cornwall, ten miles away from the town of Bideford. It is well known as an old fishing village, and is built into the side of a 400ft high cliff. The steepness of the village and its completely whitewashed houses make the village’s appearance very distinctive, and its appearance is maintained to keep up its 19th century aesthetic by its private owners, who have owned the village since the 18th century.
The village is famous for its donkeys , rode and loved by children throughout the summer, and the solution to the problem of transporting goods up the steep hill, especially the High Street. For bringing the goods down, they use sledges; both traditional solutions for a traditional village. Another distinctive feature of the feature is that the main village is completely traffic-free. Visitors must park near the entrance of the village, by the Clovelly Visitor Centre; you can then venture down through the village on foot, towards the harbour and lifeboat station at the foot of the cliff. The lifeboat station now plays host to the RNLI, after previously being run independently by the local people. This reincarnates the relationship that Clovelly had with the RNLI, as it used to be home to just one of two lifeboats in the entire RNLI fleet. The station was built in 1870.
Maritime life plays a huge part in the livelihood of the village, and fishing is another of its important businesses besides tourism. Fishing has declined since the days of the bustling ports when up to 9000 herring could be caught at one time, but still takes pride of place along Clovelly’s High Street, where fresh local fish can be bought in the Fish Shop, and are served in the restaurants of the local hotels. Besides food there are also shops for gifts, silk and pottery.
Venturing back to the top of the hill, where the magic begins, the Visitor Centre should be the first place that you stop on your visit to Clovelly. It includes a café and souvenir shops, as well as a 20 minute film which educates you on the history of Clovelly, including the significance of Charles Kingsley, who wrote about Clovelly in his novel ‘The Water Babies’, and thus brought the village to prominence.
Entry to Clovelly comes at a cost of £5.95 for adults, which not only funds the maintenance of the village to ensure its traditional beauty stays alive, but also the cost of parking, the film, and the two museums which can also be found in Clovelly – the Kingsley Museum and the Fisherman’s Cottage.
May 2011 Monthly Newsletter
House Sparrow Hotel – Exford on Exmoor
The RSPB have reported a 62% decline in the House Sparrow in the last 25 years but not it seems at the Exmoor White Horse Inn! They are resident in abundance thriving and nesting in the Virginia Creeper which surrounds the hotel exterior.
The foliage and thick branches provide ideal cover for the birds with an adequate food supply locally and with resident and nearby stables to sustain them they are thriving.
There has actually been a gradual decline over the last 100 years. The change from horse-drawn to motorised vehicles has played a part with the lack of cereal fed to horses being a large factor. Likewise agricultural practices i.e. milking under cover rather than in the field where cow fodder used to be easy feed for the Sparrows.
There has been a love-hate relationship between man and Sparrow but they are a welcome sight at times of the year when our other species are absent.
Although Sparrows in particular tend to be aggressive in dominating bird feeders they do have predators in the form of Owls (especially Tawny) and Sparrow hawks. Also cats thought in all my visits to Exford I can’t remember seeing a single cat so hopefully the White Horse House Sparrows are safe!
Cheddar Crusted Salmon with a Creamy Watercress Sauce
Cheddar Crusted Salmon with a Creamy Watercress Sauce
This is one dish that is packed full of flavours and textures. A simple dish to prepare that can be on the table in less than half an hour. A mature cheddar works best as it gives a good crispy crust. The following recipe is enough to feed four people
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Ingredients:
4x salmon fillet portions
100g fine breadcrumbs
100g grated mature cheddar
Salt and pepper
Drop of olive oil
300ml double cream
200ml fish or vegetable stock
100g roughly chopped watercress
Method:
Take the salmon fillets and season lightly with salt and pepper
In a bowl mix the cheese and breadcrumbs with a small amount of oil so that it just begins to bind together. Use the remainder of the oil to grease a roasting tray
Lay the salmon fillet on the roasting tray and press some of the cheese mixture onto the top.
Place in a preheated oven at 200°c for approx 20 mins.
Meanwhile rapidly boil the cream and stock in a pan until it coats the back of a spoon and then add the chopped watercress. For a sharper tasting sauce serve straight away or for a slightly more mellow flavour allow to cook out for a couple of mins
Remove the salmon from the oven and allow to relax in a warm place for five min
Pour some of the sauce in the middle of a plate and sit the salmon fillet on top
