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A day in Kingsbridge

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Our local town of Kingsbridge, just over 6 miles from Beeson Farm, is a wonderful local hub that sits at the head of the Salcombe Estuary.

In summer children love to sit on the embankment with their crabbing lines and watch the boats come and go. The estuary is well used by boats, kayakers and paddleboarders as well as the Kingsbridge-Salcombe ferry.

Kingsbridge town is a lovely mix of independent shops, galleries, antique/vintage shops, places of worship and cafes.

Start off your day at the very top of town at the Cookworthy Museum where you can discover the history of the local area. After your visit pop across the road to the worlds smallest nightclub, housed in a telephone box!

Head down fore street stopping at the community garden on the way.  Walk under the Shambles (an old market hall on raised granite pillars dating from Elizabethan times) and you will come across the old town hall, now the towns cinema. The cinema is one of the most recognisable buildings in the town, with its distinctive clock face which has only three faces- the fourth faced the old workhouse and so wasn’t added to prevent the inmates from clock watching!

Discover the eclectic mix of shops and galleries that line Fore Street. With something for all ages from toy shops (The Trading Post and Non Such) to independent clothes shops (Posh Totti, Cocoa, Spotted, Mint Dress Agency), galleries (the Mayne Gallery, Tidal Gallery and The Art Cafe where you can paint your own pottery) and the wonderful Harbour bookshop.

Coming off the highstreet you can find many little alleyways lined with cottages – often with fascinating names such as Squeezebelly Alley. As the name suggests it is too narrow for more than one person to pass through at a time!

Pass the entrance to the estuary and hop on the miniature railway to the end of the line where you can disembark for the recreation ground (with excellent childrens playgroud) or walk on down for a drink at the Crabhsell Inn overlooking the water.

Kingsbridge has a thriving antiques scene with the Antiques and Craft Centre on Ebrington Street and the eclectic Two Rooms on Lower Union Road (a bazaar of the bizarre, full floor to ceiling with treasures and well worth a rummage!), as well as numerous charity shops.

Kingsbridge Information Centre sits on the town square and the staff are very  happy to help  with recommendations for places to eat and things to do.

No matter what the time of year there are plenty of local events in the town to choose from, incluing the regular farmers market, Kingsbridge Food and Music Festival (June), Kingsbridge Fair Week (July) Kingsbridge Show (September) and Kingsbridge Celebrates Christmas (December)

Kingsbridge also has an indoor pool and sports centre.

Eating Out

Kingsbridge has something to suit all tastes and also numerous takeaways. For families we recommend eating the Art Café, the Crabshell Inn, Cool Beans Coffee shop, La Ranchera (amazing Mexican food) or the Fat Monkey.

For light lunches we can recommend Harbour House Café at the Arts and Yoga centre which has a delicious menu of vegetarian and vegan food, new arrival Fika, a Scandinavian inspired coffee house, and the Old Bakery which has a beautiful courtyard.

For a special meal head to Wild Artichokes (run by chef Jane Baxter) or Twenty Seven run by Jamie Rogers

Whatever you get up to on a day out in Kingsbridge we hope you enjoy it!

Start Point Lighthouse

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Trinity House has completed the modernisation of Start Point Lighthouse in Devon, upgrading the site’s aids to navigation and control systems to provide simplified maintenance and reliable performance that will extend the life of the station for a further 20 years.
Start Point Lighthouse—located on the most southerly tip of Devon—was built by Trinity House in 1836 and automated in 1993.  The peninsula runs for almost a mile out to sea on the south side of Start Bay. The walk up to Start Point Lighthouse is breathtaking – dramatic cliffs and landscape, and the South West Coast Path runs along this stretch of coastline. There are great walks towards Beesands and Torcross, or East Prawle and Salcombe. You may even see seals or dolphins out at sea – and a host of sea birds and birds of prey.

The lighthouse provides a navigational light comprised of three white flashes every ten seconds that can be seen from Prawle Point to the west and across Start Bay to the east, as well as a red sector light that marks the Skerries Bank, a shallow area to the east of the lighthouse. A hazard warning signal sounds during low visibility conditions that blasts once every 30 seconds when visibility drops below one nautical mile.

Start Point Lighthouse was modernised in 2019, upgrading the site’s aids to navigation and control systems to provide simplified maintenance and reliable performance, including the installation of new LED lamps for the main navigation light and a new hazard warning signal.

The lighthouse is now monitored and controlled from Trinity House’s Planning Centre in Harwich, Essex.

Simple Pleasures and Adventures to Treasure

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Regardless of whether you want a romantic couples break, a special celebration with friends, or family holiday adventures, South Devon is place to make special memories and to experience lifes simple pleasures.

There are a few things we think all our guests should enjoy including:

A walk to the beach at Beesands (dogs welcome), a sweep of coastline which is watched over by the Lighthouse at Start Point. Choose to set off on a walk along the South West Coastpath or relax at our local friendly pub, The Cricket Inn, which serves the freshest seafood caught in the bay outside.

Enjoy the peace, tranquillity and calm of our local beaches. With stretches of sand or shingle shores South Devons coastline is dramatic and awe inspiring, perfect for the dogs and children to burn off their energy! Get out and about on the coastpath and you may even spot seals or dolphins. The local beaches are ideal for paddling, body boarding or swimming or book in to one of our local surf or watersports schools and learn a new skill!

Try wild swimming in the sea, with proven health benefits make sure you take the plunge this year! We never regret a swim in the sea and have a small selection of childrens wetsuits available to borrow.

Crabbing and rockpooling are childhood pastimes that everyone should experience! There are numerous locations for crabbing but we especially recommend the quayside in Kingsbridge, the harbour in Salcombe or New Bridge on the way to Kingsbridge. Perfect rock pools at low tide can be found at Lannacombe, Mattiscombe and Bantham. We have nets available for guests to borrow.

Discover the fascinating local WW2 history of Torcross and Slapton Sands, find out where Agatha Christie lived and visit Burgh Island (the setting of And Then There Were None) or head up to Dartmoor in search of the Hound of the Baskervilles! There are numerous National Trust properties in South Devon to discover.

What would a visit to South devon be without a cream tea?! Just remember its cream first, not jam!  We recommend the Walkers Hut at East Soar Farm, Stokeley Farm Shop, South Allington House or the Seabreeze Café at Torcross.

Watch the sunset- sit on the beach with a bbq (don’t forget the marshmallows!) and watch the sun go down- or drive up to Start Point Lighthouse with its sweeping views over Start Bay.

Come and stay at Beeson Farm holiday cottages, we hope that you make some special memories on your holiday this year, and maybe add some more to this list… we would love to see your photos, feel free to share them to our Facebook page!

Family fun in the winter

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Thinking of booking a holiday but worried what to do if the weather isnt too good? Dont fear, South Devon has plenty to offer the whole family off season!

One of our favourite adventures is to Woodlands Family Theme Park,http://www.woodlandspark.com/ near Dartmouth. A short drive slidealong the beautiful coast road, Woodlands boasts one of the UKs largest indoor play areas and has enough variety to entertain all ages for a whole day. The are big family rides, an awesome indoor play centre (with slides, ball pools, mazes, climbing nets, rides and adventure play).

 Outside you will find a zoo-farm housing everything from Meerkats to cuddly rabbits, snakes to shire horses.

Kingsbridge and Dartmouth both have indoor swimming pools and cinmeerkatsemas and the towns offer everything from toy shops to art galleries, soft play to boutique and antique shopping.

The National Marine Aquarium at Plymouthhttp://www.national-aquarium.co.uk/ is just under an hour away and is the UKs biggest aquarium. Our children were equally as enthralled by the seahorses and lobsters as they were by the huge sharks!jellyfish

The Art Cafe in Kingsbridge http://theartcafekingsbridge.co.uk/ is always a popular choice for pottery painting- the perfect souvenir of your stay in South Devon!

artcafeIn your cottage you will find a comprehensive guide of whats on offer locally, as well as a selection of books, dvds and toys should you wish to stay in and relax! We even provide childrens wellies should you wish to get out and do some exploring along the beach – winter is the perfect time for beachcombing, you never know what treasure you might find!

So, book a stay this Winter- we would love to share all this and more with you!

Start Point Lighthouse

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One of our favourite family walks is down to Start Point lighthouse, on the most southerly headland in the country. The promontory has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), recognising the national importance of its geology, lichens, invertebrates, rare flowering plants, breeding birds (including the rate Cirl Bunting)  and an intertidal area of major biological importance (including some rare species of seaweed).img_3754

Park at the car park (charges apply in the summer months) and follow the path along the contours of the hillside, presenting sweeping views over Start Bay on one side (from the lost village at South Hallsands, to Beesands, Torcross, Slapton and beyond to Dartmouth) and the shelter of jagged ridge of prominent rocks on the other.

The Skerries (a rocky reef) extend 6.5kms off Start Point. At low water the bank is only just over 2m below the surface, the Skerries are well known as a good fishing spot but equally as a hazard to shipping. The coastline from Start Point to Dartmouth is strewn with shipwrecks of all shapes and sizes. One significant wreck nearimg_3766 Start Point found by a group of local divers contained a hoard of tin ingots and beautiful gold bracelets and shed new light on historians understanding of the trade links of civilisations during the Bronze Age. The hoard can be seen in the British Museum in London.

Following countless shipping disasters and heavy loss of life, the lighthouse was built to alert ships to the danger of Start Point and its surrounding rocks, most especially Black Rock and flashed its warning light for the first time in 1836.

The lighthouse is open to the public in the school holidays and on weekends (tickets for a family of 5 are £12- cash only!), you can check the details here http://www.startpointdevon.co.uk/open-dates.htm  Tours run on the hour and take approximately 45 minutes.

The story of the lighthouse unfolds as you ascend from the bottom to the lantern room at the top, accompanied by an incredibly knowledgeable guide. Our children were particularly fascinated by the stories of the families of lighthouse keepers who lived in the lighthouse until it was automated in 1993. Visitors can climb right to the top, under the light, from which the views are breathtaking. img_3767

We would recommend extending your walk and returning to the car park by way of visiting Mattiscombe beach (one of our absolute favourites), and from where you may spot dolphins, porposies and grey seals.