|
Barnstaple
|
|
|
BARNSTAPLE
, at the head of the Taw estuary, makes an excellent springboard, being well connected to the resorts of Bideford Bay, Ilfracombe and Woolacombe, as well as to the western fringes of Exmoor. The town's centuries-old role as a marketplace is perpetuated in the daily bustle around the huge timber-framed
Pannier Market
off the High Street, alongside which runs
Butchers Row
, most of whose 33 archways are still occupied by butchers. Also off the High Street, in the pedestrianized area between that and Boutport Street, lies Barnstaple's
parish church
, itself worth a look, and the fourteenth-century
St Anne's Chapel
, converted into a grammar school in 1549 and later numbering among its pupils John Gay, author of
The Beggar's Opera
; it's now closed to the public. At the end of Boutport Street, make time to visit the
Museum of North Devon
(Tues-Sat 10am-4.30pm; ?1, free on Sat till noon), a lively miscellany including wildlife displays and a collection of eighteenth-century pottery for which the region was famous. The museum lies alongside the Taw, where footpaths make for a pleasant riverside stroll, with the colonnaded eighteenth-century
Queen Anne's Walk
- built as a merchants' exchange - providing some architectural interest.
Barnstaple's well-equipped
tourist office
lies opposite Butchers Row on Boutport Street (May-Sept Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm; Oct-April Mon-Sat 9.30am-5pm; tel 01271/375000,
). Cyclists on the Tarka Trail can
rent bikes
from Tarka Trail Cycle Hire at the train station (tel 01271/324202) or Rolle Quay Cycle Hire on Rolle Street (tel 01271/325361), at the top end of the High Street, conveniently placed for the northern section of the Trail towards Braunton. There are plenty of
places to stay
in town, two of them five hundred yards south of Long Bridge, at the bottom of the High Street: the Georgian
Nelson House
, 99 Newport Rd (tel 01271/345929; under ?40), backing onto Rock Park and the river, and, around the corner on Victoria Road,
Ivy House
(tel 01271/371198; under ?40). A little further out, on Landkey Road - a continuation of Newport Road - is the excellent
Mount Sandford
(tel 01271/342354; ?40-50), which has a beautiful garden. A mile south of the centre on Bishops Tawton Road, the non-smoking
Lynwood House
(tel 01271/343695,
; ?60-70) has comfortable accommodation though is better known for its gourmet
restaurant
(closed Sun), where you can pick up moderate set lunches and pricier evening meals. You'll find coffees and
snacks
at the
Old School Coffee House
, a seventeenth-century building on Church Lane, near St Anne's Chapel, and at the coolly modern
PV
, 70 Boutport St (closed Sun), which has an upstairs restaurant and the ground floor becomes a wine bar in the evening. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
United Kingdom,
|