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.