A Foreshortened Trip

Another foreshortened trip to Parkham as we had to return after 5 days because of family ill health back in the Midlands.  However, we still managed to pack a fair amount into our 4-5 days in the village.

As well as attending a coffee morning in aid of the village church we were able to watch a range of tractors, old and new heading off on the annual tractor run from the village hall. in aid of a local charity.

We caught up with friends in The Bell which seems to be getting busier every time we visit as business builds back up to pre-fire levels.

The weather was good again and we had some glorious walks on the beach at Instow, Northam and Appledore.

Northam Burrows

Instow from Northam/Greysands

Appledore

Sadly we were unable to complete some of our planned jobs on the cottage.  The decking seems to require re-painting every 12 months, due I think to North Devon's wet weather particular over the winter months and the front door also needs a coat of gloss paint.  The flat roof is due to be replaced with fibreglass in April and we will now leave these jobs until that work has been completed.

Our early return was made harder by the lovely sunshine as we left the village with the hedgerows full of primroses and the first bluebells just coming into flower.

Prior to our visit we were very happy to host for a weekend friends from Parkham on their first visit to Stourbridge.  Having friends to stay always makes you look at your home area with fresh eyes and do things which you would not normally do.

We visited the local town of Bridgnorth the last station on the Severn Valley Railway which runs from Kidderminster.  There was a weekend 'steam' event and we were able to get up close to a number of different  locomotives as they arrived or left for Kidderminster.

I have visited Bridgnorth on many occasions but never been on the funicular cliff railway which runs from High Town to Low Town  http://www.bridgnorthcliffrailway.co.uk/  although we had travelled on the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway www.cliffrailwaylynton.co.uk last  year. The Bridgnorth railway was much shorter than the Lynton railway and is no longer water-powered however it gave us some great views over the town and the river Severn.

I can now understand more clearly why some Parkham villagers like to read a different perspective on their village in this blog.

Read more at https://northdevonadventure.blogspot.com

An unseasonable February

We returned to the Midlands from Parkham over a week ago and I have just realised I have not yet got down to writing my blog for our visit at the end of February.

We were so lucky to be in Parkham for the unseasonably warm February weather where at times we were able to go around without coats and even sit outside reading on sunny afternoons.  Whilst we knew that there would be worse weather weather to come, it was a very welcome break from the cold dreary weather of January and gave everyone a real boost.

In the hedgerows around the village the snowdrops were joined by daffodils and primroses which we enjoyed on our walks with the dog.

The gardens at RHS Rosemoor were also coming into life again and there was a fantastic display of purple crocuses at the entrance.  Purple crocuses have been planted by Rotary clubs throughout the country to promote the campaign to eradicate polio worldwide.  It now only exists in very small numbers in 3 countries.  We have planted crocuses  here in the Midlands on the verge of the  local ring road, not quite such a picturesque site.

We took advantage of the lovely sunny days and walked in all the  local beaches.  Bucks Mill is our nearest beach but is just pebbles until an hour or so either side of low tide.   There are some beautiful views as you take the path down to the beach and although well surfaced, it is very steep towards the end, but well worth the effort.

The beach at Bucks Mill, close to low tide.

The beach at Instow looked like a summer's day except for the lack of people and Appledore was so peaceful with still water and beautiful reflections from the clouds right across the estuary.

Instow beach

Appledore

After owning The Granary for five years we have become acclimatised to life in this very rural part of England.  For example a short car journey can take much longer than anticipated when a major item of farm machinery is being moved or when sheep are being transferred from one field to another.  Somehow it doesn't seem to matter and we and other motorists sit quite happily waiting whereas, in the Midlands,  there would be  much revving of engines and tooting of horns.  Of course it is not always like this and you come across the occasional van driver who has his deliveries to do.

As we made our journey home we soon got back to reality as Google Maps warned us of major delays with the motorway shut near Weston Super Mare.  We followed Google's instructions and managed to avoid most of the hold up arriving back in the Midlands only 40 minutes later than planned, it could have been much worse!