Weekend in Devon 🏖

I’m lucky enough to have a sister who lives in North Devon. We get to visit this gorgeous part of England regularly, as long as work allows.

We’ve just got home from three lovely days there and we celebrated my birthday too. The weather wasn’t brilliant but we made the best of what we had.

On the Friday, which was my birthday, we visited Docton Mills in Hartland, North Devon. As we had our dog, Toby, with us we had to find places which are dog friendly.

We had a stroll around the gardens, if you’re not good walking up hill then one part of the garden is definitely not for you, my poor sister had her 18 month old baby in a sling and had to take a breather with him saying, ” Come on mama! “. I’m not good walking up hills either so was glad of having a little rest!! ( I really need to get fit! ) but the rest of the gardens are quite flat. {The website states that the gardens aren’t suitable for wheelchair users and people with serious walking disabilities.}

There were lots of daffodils, but the bluebells were only just starting to open. I could see that in a few weeks the woodland area would be awash with the lovely blue flowers. After enjoying the gardens we had some of their lovely food, Docton Mills prides itself on their award winning cream tea, so it would have of been rude not to of had one! It was indeed very yummy, I was so hungry I ate it before I remembered to take a photo.

On the Saturday we visited our favourite beach, Instow , which allows dogs all year-long. Toby certainly enjoys it, as well as the children. There are plenty of ice cream vans along the road and we enjoyed a particularly yummy salted caramel ice cream whilst watching the local sailing club on their boats.

While hubby stayed with the kids and dog on the beach my sister and I went and had a cup of tea and a catch up whilst sat outside the local pub in the sunshine, overlooking the beach… Bliss. The pub does allow dogs inside too, so Instow is a perfect place to visit if you have a dog.

On Sunday, the weather was not good! We went to Quince Honey Farm, which is also dog friendly and it’s mostly indoors so perfect for rainy days. We visited it in the summer last year and the kids loved it. They also have a soft play area, but that is the only place dogs aren’t allowed in.

Here’s a quick summary of what they do:

Daily activities:
Bee talk
Guided tour of BeeWorld
Critter encounters
Candle rolling
Honey tasting

Every Friday there is a Bee beard show at 3pm.

There are plenty of interactive buttons to press which keep the kids happy, and we love the Exmoor heather honey you can buy from the shop, we bought another jar as we had just finished our last one.