July in Parkham

We arrived at Parkham in  mid-July and the first task was to give the front door a fresh coat of paint having repaired the sill on our last visit.  I decided to try out some water-based satin paint rather than using an oil-based gloss.  So much easier to clean up afterwards but will see how well it lasts.

We seem to have a got into a bit of a routine for eating out with friends and visited the Pig on the Hill, Burton Gallery and Market St Kitchen in Appledore.  We had also planned a meal at the Bell but this was postponed until our visit next month.

As we now have a National Trust membership, which we use primarily for dog walking in the grounds of properties and car parking, we decided to visit Arlington Court which is the other side of Barnstaple, heading towards Linton.  We parked our car and walked towards the entrance where we were very disappointed to be told that, as we only had a single membership only one of us could go into the grounds.  This is different to every other NT property we have visited and would have meant paying over £12 for a walk in the grounds.  We decided that we could find other places to walk at no cost and the NT lost out on the coffees and lunch which we planned to buy in the cafe.  We fully appreciate the need for joint membership to enter the properties but think this was a bit out of order, as apparently do other NT members when we looked on the internet.  We will certainly check more carefully next time we plan to visit a new property.  However,  we returned via Fremington Quay and we can definitely recommend the macaroons with the excellent coffee.

One afternoon the tide was well out so we decided to walk down to Bucks Mill.  We never fail to be amazed at the fantastic view which appears as you begin the walk between the cottages down the steep path to the beach.  Down on the beach and there were excellent views across to Hartland Point and to Peppercombe.

The view to Peppercombe

The view to Hartland

We also enjoyed our regular walks around the village including our chats with the very friendly young donkey.

And we always stop to admire the view from this gate on the lane down towards Bocombe. 

We travelled home on what was apparently the hottest July day ever.  As the external temperature rose to 35 degrees we were so pleased to have a car with air-conditioning although the shock when we got out at the services was similar to getting off a plane in Greece.