A stunning seaside village in Devon is known for its pretty, colourful cottages and picturesque coastline – and BBC legend Jeremy Vine says he has fallen “in love” with the place. Appledore is located at the mouth of the River Torridge, some six miles west of Barnstaple and about three miles north of Bideford, and is home to a picture-postcard waterfront and charming cobbled streets.
The village has long been an important maritime hub in the region as a major shipbuilding centre, and you can learn all about its seafaring history at the North Devon Maritime Museum, which is located within an impressive Grade II-listed Georgian building. Perhaps unsurprisingly given its location, it has also got top-notch, freshly-caught seafood, with popular fare including cod, seabass, salmon, muscles and cockles, report Visit Devon.
And while it doesn’t have a beach of its own, in the nearby village of Westward Ho! you’ll find find a long strip of sand which is popular with windsurfers surfers and swimmers, according to the website.
It also has a rich cultural – especially literary – scene, hosting the popular annual Appledore Book Festival, which legendary broadcaster Jeremy Vine is a patron of.
He referenced the village in a piece for Express.co.uk this week about his love of crime novelist Agatha Christie, as he releases his first whodunnit, Murder on the Line.
Vine visited the village for the festival in 2012 to promote his memoir about 25 year at the BBC, and it was then that he “fell in love with the town, and the village”.
“Appledore is gorgeous. For years afterwards, I took my family on holiday there,” he wrote.
Vistors recommend Hockings Dairy Cream Ices, an ice cream shop that’s a local favourite founded all the way back in 1930s.
Among the top attractions on Tripadvisor are the scenic ferry ride between Appledore and nearby village Instow, and Appledore Gallery which exhibits a range of contemporary paintings, textile arts, Illustrations, cards and art prints, according to its website.
People looking to explore the landscape can also take on the Appledore & Northam Burrows Walk.
One visitor wrote of their experience in February on Tripadvisor: “Loads of wildlife, few visitors. With a fresh breeze and weak sunshine on a winter’s day, Wow. We loved the walk around the burrows and along the low tide line to Appledore and a rewarding beer in the Seagrave. Highly recommended.”
South West Coast Path classes the route as moderate in difficulty, saying it is “almost completely flat, with just one gentle climb, some stiles and some steps”, though footpaths “may be muddy or wet”.
Appledore is also close to the the popular, privately owned harbour village of Clovelly, one of the county’s most beautiful getaway spots, with a 14-century harbour and awe-inspiring coastal views.
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