A 'Mast' Year

 After a hectic time with family on our last visit to Parkham, we were able to have a more relaxed time when we came down in September for just over a week.  Although we arrived in drizzly rain we had a few good days and were able to get out and about, most of the time.

As usual we spent a fair time walking the lanes around the village and we were amazed at the abundance of acorns and horse chestnuts (conkers) this year.  It is the same in Cheshire and apparently it is because this is a ‘mast year’.  

According to the Woodland Trust, every few years, some species of trees and shrubs produce a bumper crop of their fruits or nuts. The collective term for these fruits and nuts is 'mast', and these bumper years are called mast years.  

In a mast year the trees are guaranteed that, after predation by birds, squirrels and small mammals, some fruit and nuts will still be left over to survive and grow into new trees. Producing nuts is costly work and slightly stunts the tree’s growth, but as mast years tend to happen every 5 or more years, it’s worth the payoff for some of the crop to germinate into new saplings. 

Whilst I do remember other years where we had good crops of nuts, I do not remember walking through acorns more than an inch deep under oak trees nor seeing so many very large conkers around.  I don’t believe playing conkers in school is as popular as when I was a youngster and perhaps this is part of the reason why we see so many!

Our favourite view 

On sunny days we walked along the coast path from Westward Ho! and also down to the small beach at Bucks Mills at low tide.  We did a round trip of around 4 miles from the car park at The Skern along the beach to the Pebbleridge Cafe next to the visitor centre and back.  Pebbleridge Cafe provides good coffee and is a recommended dog-friendly stopping place.

Bucks Mills

Northam Burrows

Much of our time back in the village was spent catching up with good friends over a cup of coffee or tea.  We did however plant a few more grasses grown from seed to fill in the garden area where we have removed the very scraggly lavender plants. 

We have also begun to plan future small projects in the cottage for when the weather is not so good.  One of the more urgent tasks is to repair the front door where the weather bar at the bottom has rotted and dropped off.  Hopefully this will be sorted whilst we are away, although there will still be some repainting to do.

A Very Different Visit

Our visit towards the end of August was very different from previous ones as for a major part of the time we rented the next door cottage, which we share a drive with, for our daughter and her family.  With two grandchildren aged 4 and 2, life was very different to our usual relaxing time walking, visiting friends etc although we did find some time for this at the start and end of our trip.

Living with 2 small children, albeit in the cottage next door, meant early starts with visitors around 7 o'clock each day and then it was non-stop until bedtime.  Having the village playground nearby was great and we were able to amuse the children for many a half-hour when they were getting bored.  It is a fantastic asset and one bigger towns and villages would be proud of.

Most days the children wanted a visit to the beach and luckily the weather was fine for this.  We had to forsake our usual favourite spots such as Greencliff and settled on Sandymere where there is good parking and other facilities close to the beach.  We were also able to take 2 dogs to the dog-friendly part of the sands. As we rarely bathe we were surprised at how far we had to walk to reach the sea at low tide, usually whilst chasing an excited four year-old.

We had a day off when the family went to The Big Sheep and used the opportunity to go for a coastal walk and then to visit friends in Abbotsham.

Sunday lunchtime at The Bell could have been a disaster with 2 young children but we were happily settled in the upper room and the other diners left soon after we arrived!  We all enjoyed an excellent sunday lunch including the two vegetarians amongst us.  It was so good that the children wanted to visit again so we went for lunch on the day they were leaving and they then slept for the majority of the journey to the North East.

We had a further 3 days in the village after the family left and took part in some of our more usual activities including a lovely walk at Skern and afternoon tea with friends. 

We were also delighted one evening to find that we had a hedgehog visitor on our driveway, the first we had seen in the village although we knew that they were around.

Our journey back to Knutsford started out well and we made good progress until we passed Stafford on the M6.  Despite following the SatNav we ended up in a very slow queue of traffic for 3 hours. We were able to chat with the lorry drivers we were alongside about our predicament, and many had much further to travel than we did. Sadly there had been a fatal motorcycle accident and once we had passed through the traffic moved freely.  We did however need to make an urgent stop at services not far from home to let the dog out and give ourselves a break after five hours in the car!

July in Parkham

As I come to write this blog I realise that it is 3 weeks since I was last in the village so I will have to rely on my memories. The key memory that comes to mind is of spending time with friends, both those from the village as well as other friends who were visiting Devon on holiday. For me, the strongest and best memories are not just of places, but of the time spent with friends or family at those places. It also takes me back to business trips spent in the U.S. where any sightseeing was done alone and none of which was particularly memorable. 

Some of these friends were staying in Westward Ho! as their family was having a surfing holiday. They came over to Parkham for a walk around Bocombe followed by lunch at The Bell. It was very clear that they enjoyed the peace of Parkham as a break from the hussle and bussle of Westward Ho! in the holiday season. Other friends were staying further afield in Tavistock and primarily visiting South Devon. We agreed to meet roughly half-way at the Bull and Dragon in Meeth. It was the first time we had visited this area and we followed the sat-nav’s instructions down some very narrow Devon lanes. We took the opportunity to visit the nearby nature reserve at Meeth Quarry where we were impressed by the number of butterflies including 3 silver-washed fritillary which was a first for me, although apparently they are quite common there.

We visited Rosemoor again as we hoped to catch the roses before they were over and we also enjoyed a wander around the vegetable and fruit gardens. Some of the borders were looking a little tired because of the recent very hot weather, as in our own garden in Knutsford. On a wet Sunday afternoon we decided to visit the Bideford Water Festival at the quayside. Sadly the rain did not hold-off and after an hour or so we returned to Parkham dripping wet, including the dog. We did however see some of the cardboard boat racing which was great fun and well worth getting wet for.  We also had some lovely sunny days and a walk at Greencliff provided wonderful views along the coastline.

Finally, and a first for us, was a visit to The Farmers Arms in Woolsery. At Christmas our daughter had given us a voucher for a meal and we enjoyed a lovely evening sampling the food. 

 The weather was dull when we set off on our return to Cheshire and this always makes it easier to leave the village. On this occasion we broke our journey to catch up with old friends in Stourbridge for lunch and arrived back late in the afternoon. As I write this we are looking forward to and planning our visit to the village next week.

A June visit with friends

We had delayed our June visit to Parkham so that we would be in our home town of Knutsford for the Jubilee festivities. We thought it would be a great opportunity to get to know our new neighbours better as mention had been made of street parties etc. In fact very little happened in Cheshire and we missed out on the packed programme of activities in Parkham. Looking at social media it appears that the whole village joined in the celebrations and we were sorry not to be part of them.

The first thing that we noticed in the village was the change in the hedgerows. Where there had been cow parsley, campion and a few remaining primroses ; there were now foxgloves, honeysuckle and dog and field roses.  I have to admit that I have only just become aware of the difference between the two types of roses, to me they had all been dog roses up until now and indeed the dog rose is the more common but  both can be found in the lanes around the village. 

(An explanation of the differences can be seen here https://www.treeguideuk.co.uk/dog-rose-and-field-rose/).

The warm and sunny June weather also  brought out the hummingbird hawk moths which love the valerian flowers in the garden and I was able to take a few close up photographs.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

Friends joined us in The Granary for the first time in several years and it was their first visit to this part of North Devon.  This gave us the opportunity to revisit some of our favourite haunts.  This included a walk down the coast path to Peppercombe and again at Greencliff. Having visitors to stay means that you see these places through fresh eyes and appreciate even more why we love our visits to the area and they found their stay peaceful and relaxing. Having guests also provided the opportunity for another excellent meal at The Bell and the chance to catch up with a few more friends.  

Before the friends arrived we also had (for us) a long walk from the Brownsham NT car park around Windbury Head, along the cliffs, down to Mouthmill Beach and then back up through Brownsham Wood. 

A distant view of Lundy from Mouthmill

We returned to Cheshire feeling very refreshed and the four and half journey now seems quite acceptable and provides us with the opportunity to stop at the excellent Gloucester Services, which were too close to home before we moved further north.

Parkham in May

We were pleased to be back in Parkham after a gap of four weeks and could

see that spring had properly arrived. Daffodils had all gone and primroses were

only be found in the shadiest of places. There was an abundance of colour in the

hedgerows with a few bluebells still around and campion, buttercups and  cow

parsley out in force.

Valerian was now in flower in our small courtyard garden and seedlings of a

range of plants were also appearing in all our gravelled areas - after several

hours weeding the garden and frontage were looking much better.

The grasses we planted in the gravel last summer to replace the lavender plants

that had come to the end of their life are now well established and some are

coming into flower.

It was good to see that COVID was not so prevalent in the village as on our last

visit although I am sure some people were still suffering as back in our home

town.  

We had delayed our visit to Parkham for a few days in order to be in Knutsford

for the Annual ‘Royal’ May Day Procession on 7th May.  This was our first

opportunity to see the procession which is a highlight of the town’s year.  Around

600 children including the May Queen and her attendants take part, all provided

with costumes which are repaired and stored away each year.  The streets are

closed for 3 hours (including the busy A50) and the procession led by several

bands travels through the town, ending in an area of parkland where the

maypole is erected for dancing and there is a huge funfair.  The first procession

was in 1864 and it has taken place every year except for a few years in war-time

and during the COVID lockdown.

As Knutsford is our main home we feel it is important to be around for these

major events in the town and we are also planning to be there for the Jubilee

celebrations at the beginning of June.  However, to date we have not seen

much planning going on, probably because of the focus on the May Day

procession. Things in Parkham are much more advanced with your plans for

activities from the 2nd June through to the 5th.  It looks like a great opportunity for

villagers to come together to celebrate.

On this visit we have done all our usual activities.  We visited Rosemoor late in

the afternoon for the special session where dogs are allowed. 

The sun shone and it was lovely to wander around the gardens without

worrying about the need to get back to let the dog out.  Whilst there were lots of

other dogs, all well behaved, the gardens were quiet and very peaceful and we

had the opportunity to explore corners we had not visited before.

We have also had our usual beach walks and particularly enjoyed a walk along

the coast path at Greencliff.   We had to wait while an American took a photo of

our dog to send to his wife back home as she has never seen a cocker spaniel

with a tail, they are all docked in the U.S. apparently.

We hope to be back in the village in a few week’s time when summer will be just

around the corner with the promise of long warm days to enjoy North Devon at

its very best.

It is so good to be able to plan these regular visits to Parkham again, it is easy

to forget that last year we could not get down for our first visit until June and in

2020 we were only in the village twice! 

COVID Hits Parkham

 Our visit to Parkham in March turned out to be very well-timed in terms of the weather although unfortunately COVID was rife in the village.

We saw our first bank of primroses as we drove along the A39, prior to turning off at the flag tree towards the village. It was so good to be back in Parkham in the spring for the first time since 2019. 

We made the most of the good weather by getting out and about as much as possible.  Our first trip was to Sandymouth, one of our favourite beaches when the tide is out.  Whilst the journey takes around 30 minutes it is certainly worth it for the wide expanse of sand and the rock formations in the cliffs. There were only a few cars in the car park and we had most of the beach to ourselves. 

 

Much nearer to home we parked near Greencliff farm and walked down the path to the coast path.  The views are again spectacular and we saw no-one else there despite the sunny weather.

We regularly drive down to the car park at Bucks Mills and then on to the coast path or beach.  On this occasion the drive down was even more beautiful with the Devon banks covered in primroses and daffodils. 

Our walks from The Granary around Boccombe were also much more enjoyable in the sunshine after the wet and windy conditions of January.

After having owned The Granary for 8 years some of the items we purchased at that time have reached the end of their life.  This included the garden furniture which has had to stand up to the cold and damp of seven Parkham winters.  For the last few years we have tried to clean off the algae in the spring and make it usable again but this year we decided enough was enough.  New furniture was ordered and the old furniture along with other waste from garden tidying was taken to the tip in Bideford.

Some of the paintwork inside the cottage is also beginning to look a bit shabby so we began to touch it up in the worst places but we do need to plan for decorating some of the rooms within the next 12 months.

We were limited in the friends that we could catch up with because a  number had COVID, some we were able to talk to on the phone others we chatted with at the garden gate, but keeping a healthy distance.  We did also see a few friends when we called in at The Bell a couple of times, although numbers at the bar were depleted.

For the last couple of days of our visit the weather turned decidedly cooler although it did remain dry for the most part.  As we drove over Exmoor on our return journey there was a very light covering of snow in places and the temperature dropped further.  

Family members are staying at the Granary in April and our next visit to Parkham will be in early May. By then we will be properly into spring with hopefully warmer, drier weather to look forward to.

First Visit of 2022

Having not visited Parkham since October last year we were very much looking forward to our February visit. As we planned our trip, we saw the forecast of two storms approaching the UK and decided that there was still an opportunity to arrive in the village before the first, Storm Dudley. It was a good decision, roads were clear and, whilst we arrived to some blustery weather, the storm was not too bad. Indeed on the next day we were able to get out for a good walk on the beach. 

After a break of four months the cottage was looking a little neglected and in need of some tlc. With bedrooms on the ground floor facing onto the road, blinds are particularly important. Unfortunately, the blind in our bedroom had pulled its fixings from the plasterboard and a repair was needed before we could use the room. We keep a good supply of tools in the cottage and normally bring a battery powered drill with us when d.i.y. jobs are planned. On this occasion we had decided that we would use the visit to assess what we need to do in future months and leave the drill in Cheshire. Luckily neighbours came to the rescue (again) and the load of a drill meant that after one night in the guest bedroom, our bedroom was serviceable once more. 

With a severe, red warning that the second storm, Eunice, would be arriving soon, we checked the garden properly to prevent, as far as possible, damage from the very strong winds that were forecast. The storm duly arrived as we awoke in the morning and continued beyond lunchtime. I had to rescue the barbecue on two occasions despite having wedged it in a ‘safe’ place. 

We and the rest of the village lost power at 11:30 and the Western Power website suggested that it would not be restored until 6:00. This was understandable as pictures of a damaged pole in the village appeared on Facebook. Luckily we had, as an emergency backup, a small hot plate, powered by a gas canister so we were able to warm some soup and make a cup of tea. In fact, like much of the village we had no power until 6.00 pm the following day and by that point the cottage was feeling decidedly cold. 

As regular visitors to Parkhan we have experienced power cuts before in the village but normally, they have been short-lived. This longer power cut made us realise how much we are dependent on electricity. With the warnings of potential loss of power we had charged up our mobile phones and Kindles in advance as well as a notebook computer. However, whilst we tend to think of phones, Kindles etc as important, they are not the things that really matter. We were so grateful for the small gas hot plate to provide hot food and to boil water for a cup of tea, particularly as the cottage got colder and colder. Maybe we need to consider some form of emergency gas heater, it seems ridiculous having full gas cylinders sitting next to the front door and no means of utilising the gas to keep us warm. 

Lighting is something that you cannot do much about but the sun continued to shine as the storm subsided so we were also grateful for the light until late into the afternoon. Candles then came out and for the first time we played Scrabble by candlelight, before retiring to bed under 2 duvets! The next morning a drive in the car allowed us to charge phones and to get warm with a visit to friends who had not lost power. We went for a walk in the afternoon hoping that the power might come on but the latest update was that it could be a day or more! We were delighted when everything burst into action at 6:00pm just as we were trying to prepare another meal on the gas hot plate. Never had we appreciated so much the comfort of a warm lounge and bedroom. 

With power restored we were able to visit The Bell to catch up with some of our village friends and we also were able to visit and host other friends for coffee. 

The storms were followed by some very gusty and wet weather with winter clearly still here but, as we drove around the lanes it was good to see banks of snowdrops, celandines and the occasional early daffodil in flower. We had some bracing walks at Northam Burrows and it was good to see and hear skylarks singing as they soared upwards into the sky, the sheep also looked close to delivering their spring lambs. 

We are now preparing for our next visit in March when hopefully, there will be no further power cuts and we should be able to see more signs of spring with more daffodils and the primroses in flower in the Devon banks.