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.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Back to Shugborough

Hi there everyone 😀 

It seems to have become a bit of an annual tradition for us to spend a summer’s day at Shugborough Hall with Mum and Bobby and Jackie, Phil, Erin and now her little brother Harry.

This year was a little different, as it was just Mum, Bobby, Martin and I for the morning as the others couldn’t meet us until lunchtime, but we still had another really lovely day.

We started our visit with a wander around the walled garden. It wasn’t quite as colourful as on previous visits and was definitely showing the effects of the recent heatwaves, but we still enjoyed exploring. As usual Bobby managed to find a few tasty treats to nibble on. 

And … is it just me … or does this plant look like it is ‘giving us the finger’ 😂

We didn’t come across any Summer of Play activities in the garden this time, though it was exciting to read about the plans for the development of a new garden and a new play area due to open next year. 

From there we strolled up to the farmyard before finding a shady spot for our picnic …

After lunch we had time for a quick look inside the mansion house, where there was plenty for young explorers to look out for …

After a spot of archery we had a break in the shade whilst we waited for Jackie, Phil, Erin and baby Harry to arrive …

It had been a whole year since Bobby and Erin had last seen each other, but they were soon chatting and playing as though no time had passed at all. Despite the blazing sunshine and lack of shade in the main play area, the two of them dived straight in …

There was treasure to be found … 

Music to be made … 

And pirate ships to be sailed … 

Eventually the heat got the better of us, so we dropped anchor and headed for dry land where we stopped for ice creams and a welcome cool-down in the stables, where we discovered the soft play. That kept the little ones happy while the rest of us enjoyed a much-needed break from the sun …

Before long we decided it was time to head home for more fun in our own garden … but not before trying to recreate the iconic photo of Bobby and Erin on the step. I’m not sure they’ll both squeeze on there for many more years …

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Back at home the water play began. The Aldi splash pad couldn’t quite keep up with all the bouncing …

… but sliding was pretty fun too …

In the end we reverted to the trusty old sprinkler … which never lets us down …

It was gone six o’clock before we thought we’d better get Bobby back home. He and Erin said their goodbyes for another year, before we rounded off the day with a trip to McDonald’s to meet David and Alison for tea.

By the time we got back we were absolutely shattered 😴

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