We have been very lucky with our visits to Parkham this summer and have hit on several patches of good weather in what has been for many been a very mixed season. Our August visit was no exception and we enjoyed some excellent weather.
Our walks around the village lanes were slowed considerably by the ripening blackberries which we collected and enjoyed on our breakfast cereals and in various puddings.
On this occasion we were joined in The Granary for a few days by friends from Derbyshire. Like many of our friends, our time with them is normally a few hours in a pub over a lunch or evening meal so, having them to live with us in a small cottage could be seen as slightly risky. However, all went well and we found that we had even more in common than we had expected.
They were visiting this part of Devon for the first time and once again we were able to show visitors some of our favourite haunts. They enjoyed seeing Appledore where we walked down to the lifeboat station and Instow. We walked to the lighthouse at Hartland and also to the Pebbleridge Cafe at Northam Burrows. They were particularly impressed by the meal and hospitality at The Bell and felt we were very lucky to have this facility literally on our doorstep (we agree!). On their final evening with us we even lit the barbecue and enjoyed excellent sausages and burgers from Honey's. They left with the promise of another visit and we have already planned other places and walks that they would enjoy.
The three days we spent with them were very busy and for our remaining days we spent a more leisurely time catching up with friends and visiting other quiet spots for a walk. Greencliff is still one of our favourite walks. Now that the grass and bushes along the path down to the coast have regrown, following the work done by the National Trust a year or so ago, the path looks much more natural and the views of the coast through the trees are excellent.
The coastpath at Greencliff
There was not much time left on this visit for doing jobs around the cottage however we have firmed up our plans with local people for work to be done to improve the bathroom and also to put new, real slate on the roof to replace the existing asbestos-based slates, this has needed doing for some time.
As I write this piece the weather here in Cheshire has turned distinctively autumnal but hopeful there will be few more warm days in September and we look forward to our visit later in the month.
