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Dining Out Whilst Staying At Hartpiece

Life is returning to normal in North Devon. Restaurants and home delivery services are back on the scene. Catering services too are offering their services – H&A Catering are doing “drop-off dinnerparties”. The government have also launched the Eat Out to Help Out scheme throughout August. Many restaurants in Barnstaple and the surrounding area are taking part in this.

Local supermarkets Sainsbury’s and Tesco provide full-service deliveries to Hartpiece although we prefer to pop into The Good Food Stores located at Ashford’s and St John’s Garden Centres which are well-stocked with the freshest of local ingredients.

It is best to do a bit of homework before venturing out. Not all restaurants have reopened yet, and those that have now require advance booking. Expect tables to be limited to six per party.

Personal favourites among North Devon’s many good eateries are Clayton’s the Glass House, Latitude 48 and The Silver Tree in Barnstaple. Towards the coast we like the Pack O’ Cards and The Sawmills for lunch. Another favourite is S&P Fish on the harbour in Ilfracombe where a lobster sandwich costs £10.50. We love Sunday walks in Lee Bay followed by a meal at Grampas Inn.

We are hoping for great things from the newly-reopened Muddiford Inn, two miles away, where we meet friends for a pint and al fresco lunch in their big garden. And no list would be complete without a mention of the now-famous Barricane Beach Café in Woolacombe which serves Sri Lankan-style curries nightly 5 to 7pm (guests take their food to their chosen spot on the beach).

barricane beach near barnstaple. Sandy cove
Barricane Beach

On a day trip to Exmoor, I’d plan to cap everything off at the Michelin-starred Mason’s Arms in Knowstone, or for something more casual, stop by the Hunter’s Inn. For a really indulgent treat, it would definitely have to be tea at Tarr Farm Inn after a walk across the Tarr Steps.

A good list of take-aways in the Barnstaple is available on the Just-Eat.co.uk website although we would specially recommend Clayton’s The Glasshouse or The Silver Tree take-away service.

Many local restaurants are participating in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

We have put together a list of them, but you can check if a restaurant is participating on the following website Eat Out to Help Out.

Barnstaple

  • Subway
  • Custom House
  • Barnstaple Wimpy
  • Lush Bar and Restaurant
  • The Royal and Fortescue Hotel (Bank)
  • Queen Anne’s Café
  • Banburys
  • Upstairs at the Queens Theatre
  • Boston Tea Party
  • Silver Cod (chippie)
  • The Imperial Hotel
  • Green Lanes Café
  • Barnstaple Coffee Shop
  • Bull and Bear
  • The Rolle Quay Inn
  • The Park Hotel
  • Station Master’s Café
  • McDonald’s
  • The Barnstaple Hotel
  • St Johns Garden Centre
  • The Whiddon Valley Fryer
  • Air Extreme
  • Han Court, Fremington
  • St Johns Garden Centre, Ashford
  • Hunters Inn, Newton Tracey
  • The Chichester Arms, Bishops Tawton
  • The Muddiford Inn, Muddiford

Bideford

  • The Royal Hotel
  • Riverside Bistro
  • Pannier Pantry at The Custom House
  • Secret Garden Café
  • The Chocolate Teapot
  • Cafe Collective
  • Frasier’s Foods
  • Tarka Diner
  • McDonald’s
  • Starbucks Bideford
  • The Westleigh Inn, Westleigh
  • The Thatched Inn, Abbotsham
  • The Bell Inn, Monkleigh
  • The Farmers Arms, Woolsery
  • Merry Harriers Garden Centre, Woolsery
  • The Milky Way Adventure Park
  • Coffee on the Square, Hartland
  • The Old Kitchen Tearoom, Hartland Abbey
  • Feather and Hide, Buckland Brewer

Westward Ho!

  • Pig on the Beach
  • Beach Coffee
  • The Pier House
  • The Waterfront Inn
  • Country Cousins
  • A Slice of Life
  • Pig and Olive
  • Appledore
  • Appledore Flame Factory
  • Sailors Rest
  • The Beaver Inn

Instow

  • Instow Arms
  • The Quay Inn
  • Johns of Instow
  • The Commodore Hotel

Torrington

  • l’Incontro Italian Coffee Shop
  • Lions Coffee House
  • Puffing Billy Trading Co
  • Fairways Catering, Great Torrington Golf Club
  • The Union Inn, Stibb Cross

Holsworthy

  • White Hart Hotel
  • The Rydon Inn
  • Molesworth Arms, Pyworthy

Braunton

  • The Quay Café
  • Squires Fish Restaurant
  • SQ Bar and Restaurant
  • The George Inn
  • At One Dining
  • The Siam Bistro
  • Wild Thyme Juice Café
  • The Agricultural Inn
  • The Black Horse
  • Saunton Sands Hotel

Croyde

  • The Thatch Barn Inn
  • Billy Budds
  • Blue Groove
  • Croyde Bay Holiday Resort

Woolacombe

  • Funder Island
  • The Captain’s Table
  • The Jube
  • The Smugglers Rest
  • Golden Coast Sporting Villas
  • Twitchen Park
  • The Old Mill, Ossaborough

Ilfracombe

  • Nelly May’s Parlour
  • Dice and a Slice
  • Blue Lotus
  • Grassroots Café
  • Swiss Cottage Café
  • The Brasserie at The Carlton
  • Coffee Break
  • The Quarterdeck
  • The Ilfracombe Pizza
  • The Ilfracombe Fryer
  • George and Dragon
  • The Hele Bay Pub
  • Ilfracombe Golf Club
  • GFD Depot
  • Trimstone Manor House Country House Hotel, West Down
  • The Sawmills
  • Sandy Cove Hotel, Berrynarbor
  • Park Life Resorts Watermouth Lodges
  • Mill Park

Combe Martin

  • Focsle Inn
  • Pack O Cards
  • Lion House
  • The Old Station House Inn, Blackmoor Gate

Lynton and Lynmouth

  • Cracker Barrel
  • The Old Coach House
  • The Rising Sun Hotel
  • The Bakehouse Café
  • The Village Inn
  • The Rock House Hotel
  • The Cottage Inn/Nartnapa Thai Kitchen
  • The Exmoor Manor Hotel and Beggars Roost Inn
  • Caffyns Farm
  • The Blue Ball Inn

South Molton

  • The Welcome Fryer
  • Zest
  • The South Street Kitchen
  • The North Gate Inn
  • The Poltimore Inn, North Molton
  • The Old Court House, Chulmleigh
  • Fox and Hounds Country Hotel, Eggesford
  • Libbaton Golf Club, High Bickington
  • The Bell Inn, Chittlehampton
large text with blue sky and cliffs in background North Devon

7 websites to help you plan your visit to…

If you are planning a visit to Hartpiece we have put together a guide of several websites that will help with your visit. These websites cover everything there is to do in North Devon and the surrounding area.

English Heritage or National Trust. The South West has several English heritage sites as well as National Trust properties. Tintagel is just over an hour from Hartpiece and is worth the drive. Although the castle is currently closed until Summer 2019 you can still visit the village. There are also several National Trust Properties in the area. Arlington Court being the closest to Hartpiece. The National Trust also looks after land including Morte Point, the Woolacombe sand dunes, Woolacombe Down and Baggy Point.

Steep stairs, Tintagel Castle

App for Devon. Great for when you are out and about, this free app provides details of restaurants, days out, activities, offers and more. It is available on both Apple and Android.

Surf Southwest – North Devon is well known as a surfing hot-spot. If you have never surfed before this website is a great place to start. You can book lessons, hire boards, wetsuits and ‘more. Croyde, Westward Ho! and Woolacombe all have surf schools and all are within driving distance of Hartpiece. If you want to do other activities then Active Escapes is ideal for that.

Surfer, North Devon beach

Devon Museums. There are several museums in North Devon, the largest one being in Barnstaple. However there are also smaller ones in Ilfracombe, Combe Martin, Ilfracombe, Appledore and Bideford.

Visit North Devon and Visit Exmoor. Both of these sites offer complete guides to the area. Exmoor is an official dark skies reserve, with a festival happening at the end of the year in October. Visit North Devon has several lists of attractions, restaurants, places to go, see and more.

If you are planning to visit Hartpiece with children there is plenty to do in the area with them as well. From theme parks, zoos and indoor soft plays, to tropical swimming pools. Situated at the Park Dean holiday resort in Croyde, Cascades is open to the public.

Images from Unsplash.com

close up of golf ball on tee in grass North Devon

Top Golf Courses in North Devon

North Devon is home to many golf courses and most are within an hour’s drive from Hartpiece. So if you are planning a golfing holiday to North Devon, why not make Hartpiece your choice for accommodation.

Saunton Golf club is home to two golf courses, East and West. Both of the courses have been listed in the Top 100 in the UK by Golf World and Golf monthly magazine. Visitors are normally accepted weekdays and weekends after 9:30am by prior arrangement.  Pre-booking is required. Unfortunately the courses at Saunton are not suitable for beginners. So if you haven’t played golf before this might not be the club for you.

saunton golf course in north devon
Saunton Golf Course

Portmore is located along the North Devon Link road. This means that many of our visitors pass this course on the way to Hartpiece. Portmore is suitable for all and there is also a floodlit driving range. This is perfect for everybody, from total beginners to single figure players. You can hire clubs from reception and a bucket of 50 balls is only £3. This is probably one of the cheaper courses in North Devon to play but don’t let that put you off. It is still a challenging course.

Royal North Devon at Westward Ho! was founded in 1864. It is the oldest golf course in the country and is regarded as the St Andrews of the South.

Golfers share the environment with sheep, ponies and walkers. Visitors are welcome, and again pre-booking is advised. All details can be found the Royal North Devon website.

golf courses in north devon

Located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Ilfracombe Golf Club boasts one of the most spectacular locations in the South West for an exhilarating round of golf. Situated on top of the rugged cliffs of the North Devon coast, every tee has an awe-inspiring view over the sea to the Welsh Coast, Lundy Island and as far as the eye can see on the Atlantic horizon.

Other golf courses in North Devon who offer affordable games include Libbaton Golf Club, Chumleigh Golf Club, Great Torrington and Mortehoe and Woolacombe Golf Club.

North Devon

Tour of Britain – Stage Two Devon

After a year’s absence the Tour of Britain returns to the South West of England for Stage Two on Monday September 3rd. Day two of this year’s race departs from Cranbrook in East Devon before finishing in Barnstaple, just a few miles from Hartpiece. The race will cover 174 kilometres across mid and north Devon.

cycling race devon

The peloton will travel through three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Going along the western borders of Exmoor National Park, before heading along the stunning coastal road from Combe Martin to Saunton. The race will go past the beautiful beaches of Woolacombe, Croyde and Saunton Sands. The race will finish in the centre of Barnstaple.

There will also be a surprise in store for the riders when they travel through the centre of South Molton’s famous indoor pannier market – the first time the modern Tour of Britain has ever been through a building!

This is definitely not to be missed. You can find out the full route on the Tour of Britain’s website.

North Devon

Easter Weekend 2018

Despite the weather, and the fact it was Easter, we were still out and about.

On Thursday we had a lovely meal in our go-to restaurant, The Quay in Ilfracombe. Visitors are offered stunning views of the sea and harbour, and given the unique opportunity to dine alongside original artworks by British artist Damien Hirst. The restaurant is famous for its fresh, locally sourced produce. Dishes are simply presented from a menu that takes inspiration from classic British and European cuisine.

Then over the rest of the weekend, we headed to a few of our favourite beaches. And it’s official! Hartpiece is less than 12 miles away from two of Britian’s best beaches. This is according to an article that was published in the Saturday Times, on Saturday March 31 2018.

Beautiful Barricane Beach, a few hundred metres to the east of Woolacombe, came in at number 2!  Listed as a place to toast the sunset before heading to The Beach Café for great Sri Lankan curry which is served between 5-7pm in the summer months. Barricane Beach is a slender sliver of sand tucked in between the rocks. Famously made up of tiny shell particles that have travelled here all the way from the Caribbean. So if you are thinking of visiting Hartpiece over the summer then don’t forget to bring a blanket, a few beers or a bottle of wine, and make a night of it.

Saunton Sands on the South West Coastal Path is a wonderful golden sandy beach with beach huts. It’s perfect for family days out and surfing. Beach Huts and deck chairs are available for hire seasonally. If food is more your thing then head to the friendly Beachside Grill for coffee or a full meal.