A Week in Bude #2 :: Beaches, The Breakwater & The Pepperpot

Hi there everyone 😀

We spent the second full day of our week in Bude with a really good wander on the coast.

It was an absolutely glorious day. We started off at Crooklets Beach, where we parked mum up on a bench on the prom before heading onto the sand …

… and down to the sea where a paddle was in order for Sarah and I …

From there we headed left … across Middle and Summerleaze beaches …

… towards the breakwater and Barrel Rock …

The tide wasn’t out quite far enough to cross the river to the breakwater without getting wet feet …

… but we all decided it was worth it …

We spent a fair while just mooching about, taking in the views and enjoying the sunshine …

It really is the most beautiful spot and a real favourite. 

Sarah, Mark and I were all surprised when Martin said he’d never been up to the Pepperpot and he quite fancied a look. Whilst I’ve been up before I hadn’t been since it had been resited … as it was becoming precariously close to the edge of the cliffs, which were unstable.

We made our way along the breakwater and up the cliff path and in no time at all we were there …

The views in all directions were spectacular … back across the breakwater …

… across the beach …

… into town … and across to the sea pool …

We could even see the roof of Mark’s house from up there.

We made our way back along the coast path …

… and past ‘The Pink House’ … to the sea lock and the canal …

We then headed back down onto Summerleaze beach and made our way back … around the sea pool …

… and back to the Crooklets Beach Cafe … where we met back up with mum for some light refreshments to finish off our walk …

Refreshed … we decided to head to Widemouth Bay for a walk out to the point … another favourite spot …

… though the ectoplasm looking spiders’ webs were more than a little bit strange …

Our last stop for the day was to see how David, Alison and Bobby were settling in at the caravan … as they’d arrived earlier in the day …

We all finished the day just around the corner, with a visit to The Old Wainhouse Inn for tea. 

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Next up … a trip to Boscastle and an afternoon on the beach. 🌊☀️

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A Week in Bude #1 :: Town & Tapas

Hi there everyone 😀

We were lucky enough to get to spend a glorious week in Bude, with family, over the August Bank Holiday. As we crammed so much in I thought I’d share what we got up to in a series of shorter posts. 

Bude is a real favourite of ours. Over the years we’ve stayed in the caravan, pitched our tent, rented cottages, and more recently enjoyed a few days with my sister, Sarah, and her partner Mark. The last time we were here was two years ago, when we combined a stay in Bude with a trip to Ilfracombe for a wedding.

This time round, we stayed with Sarah and Mark again and Mum came along with us too. A few days later David, Alison and Bobby joined in the fun, staying in Mum and Dad’s touring caravan just outside of Bude at Wainhouse Corner.

The weather forecast was promising and we were really looking forward to spending quality time with family and revisiting all of our favourite haunts.

Our first full day started off with a wander around the wharf and down to the lock gates …

… before heading past the castle …

… and the Bude light …

… and over Nanny Moore’s bridge into town …

After a good mooch around town we had a pitstop with pasties in Bar 35 … which was a new experience for us. It’s a bar that doesn’t serve food … but they are very happy for you to have a drink and take your own food … which is exactly what we did.

The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling in Sarah and Mark’s garden before heading out somewhere we’d been wanting to try for ages … 

The Bank at Bude, for tapas …

It turned out to be a real treat and the perfect way to round off the very first day of our holiday.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

School’s Out :: 2025

Hi there everyone 😀

It seems to have become a bit of a tradition for David, Alison and my nephew Bobby to kick off the school holidays with a few days staying with us at the lodge.

This is now the third year they’ve joined us … you can read about their previous visits here and here.

As has also become the norm, the weather forecast didn’t look too promising … but it ended up being far better than expected.

They arrived late on the evening of Bobby’s last day at school, ready for what turned out to be four very full days of adventures and new experiences.

And we really did pack a lot in! From a treasure trail around Beddgelert, a coastal walk and paddle on the beach at Borth-y-Gest, crazy golf and an escape room in Porthmadog, to a couple of dips in the pool, fish and chips on the front in Criccieth, the arcade in Pwllheli, two picnics, a wander around Caernarfon, a BBQ, and a visit to Penrhyn Castle. Phew!

Day 1 – Beddgelert
We started off with a Treasure Trail around Beddgelert, with Bobby leading the way …

It’s one of our favourite villages in North Wales … nestled at the confluence of the rivers Glaslyn and Colwyn and surrounded by mountains, it really is a beautiful spot …

Our trail took us past all our favourite places … 

… and we stopped for a riverside picnic … 

… before heading back into the village … 

… and onto the steam railway station, where we were lucky enough to spot the train awaiting its return journey to Caernarfon …

Day 2 – Borth-y-Gest & Porthmadog
On Day 2, we stayed fairly local and started with a coastal walk at Borth-y-Gest … 

… followed by a paddle on the beach …

From Borth-y-Gest, we headed into Porthmadog, where David, Alison and Bobby tackled the (not so) crazy golf course … 

Then it was ice creams in the park … 

… before our big afternoon adventure — the local escape rooms. Things didn’t go quite to plan, but we very nearly made it out, and definitely had a lot of fun trying …

We rounded off the day with fish and chips on the prom in Criccieth. 

Day 3 – Caernarfon & BBQ
By Day 3, Martin and I were starting to flag a little, so we had a slower start and headed over to Caernarfon, where we managed to bag a handy parking spot in the town square …

David, Bobby and Alison got stuck into a rather interesting Geocache … which involved a few wet feet …

We had a wander around the town walls … 

… and a well-earned pitstop in the sunshine at The Black Boy … 

… before pottering in and out of the little independent shops on our way back to the car.

Back at the lodge, we made the most of the late afternoon sunshine with a dip in the pool, followed by a BBQ to finish the day …

Day 4 – Penrhyn Castle
All too soon, it was time for our visitors to head home. But we managed to squeeze in one final stop … a visit to Penrhyn Castle, which is kind of on their way back …

After a final picnic lunch in the sunshine we waved our guests goodbye. We headed back to the lodge where we pretty much flaked out and didn’t move far at all for the next few days 😜

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