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Devon is beautiful

Surely you can cycle anywhere in Devon? What's the difficulty in getting to Burrator Reservoir?
I don't ride a bike, so I don't know how far it is fair to assume that someone can cycle! If distance is no object, I would recommend Dartmoor every time. Definitely Burrator but Foggator Res is also lovely. Princetown is foreboding and quite eerie at this time of the year but has good walks (usually in the rain. It has high rainfall). Yelverton and all around Roborough Common is good and probably quite accessible by bike.
 
There are some lovely hidden places. For example, Burrator Reservoir is well worth a visit, but I'm not sure you have access to a vehicle? That might limit you a bit.

Surely you can cycle anywhere in Devon? What's the difficulty in getting to Burrator Reservoir?


it's not exactly easy to find stuff round there, only been up there once and it involved a bit of getting lost and swearing. and it is quite a trek out of plymouth, suppose it's depending on how far you can cover. and where you can find to stay. that's why i recomended the tamar valley railway, you can get up on a really scenic railway line and hop off at bere alton and then ride up the disused rail line from there, according to the other half.

but if you do go to the area round burrator, pop into sheepstor church. i was part of the group that did their heritage stuff. the stuff we did is apparently being touted as the template for other churches to talk about themselves
 
I don't ride a bike, so I don't know how far it is fair to assume that someone can cycle! If distance is no object, I would recommend Dartmoor every time. Definitely Burrator but Foggator Res is also lovely. Princetown is foreboding and quite eerie at this time of the year but has good walks (usually in the rain. It has high rainfall). Yelverton and all around Roborough Common is good and probably quite accessible by bike.

If you're popping by Princetown, drop into the Plume of Feathers for a pint if it's still open. Last time I was there they still had a cheque behind the bar purpotedly left by the Krays when they sprang Frank 'The Mad Axeman' Mitchell from the prison in the 1960's (they had a brewery that did a rather nice 'Jail Ale' as well). Regarding the prison, it's interesting to look at from a distance, but a byelaw forbids drivers from stopping near the prison and from picking up hitchhikers as well.
 
If you're popping by Princetown, drop into the Plume of Feathers for a pint if it's still open. Last time I was there they still had a cheque behind the bar purpotedly left by the Krays when they sprang Frank 'The Mad Axeman' Mitchell from the prison in the 1960's (they had a brewery that did a rather nice 'Jail Ale' as well). Regarding the prison, it's interesting to look at from a distance, but a byelaw forbids drivers from stopping near the prison and from picking up hitchhikers as well.
I have a secret soft spot for the prison. And a not-very-secret soft spot for Jail Ale :D

Yes, I forgot about the Krays connection. In the semi-permanent fog/drizzle that surrounds Princetown, you always get the impression that something "interesting" is afoot...
 
just skip plymouth as anyhting other than a through route, best thing about the place is the ways out unless you've got a fetish for 1950s urban planning. cause anything interesting there that was left after the luftwaffe visited was destroyed a few years later.

if you're prepared to go over the border a little, you could use it as a base for visiting a few places. if you do old homes, then Cotehele is accessible from gunnislake station if you're ok with the uphill bits back to the station. antony is just over from the torpoint ferry. and it is rather pretty by either. given a choice, i'd do cotehele. it's an odd quirky place.
 
Who knew?
Just spent the weekend staying in Newton Abbott but visiting Dawlish and Shaldon. What a lovely area. I saw a stoat and many new birds! Teignmouth Bay and Ness Beach are stunning. Loved the brick smugglers' tunnels.
I wouldn't want to live there but I'm going back there next year for cycling and wildlife spotting.
Where else is nice to look at and full of nature?

All of the South Hams, just stunning. Dartmoor in a bleak way. Around the edges of Dartmoor is all good though and some great cycling without completely killing yourself, plus lots of wildlife. Yeah, that would be my recommendation. Let me know in advance when you're coming, would love to meet for a pint at some point. :)
 
been to portsmouth?

i grew up near portsmouth and it took me ages to get over this massive dejavu thing where my brain wouldn't proceess that i wasn't im portsmouth. it looked and felt that familiar.
I've been to Bournemouth, Lulworth Cove and Buckler's Hard in Dorset.
Porthcothan, P*****w and Newquay in Cornwall.
And a weird place near Pilton in Somerset.
That's all I've seen of the big leg.
 
It doesn't bother me, it fascinates me :cool:

short version is that devon was one of the last bits of england to become part of england. you can start of one hell of a ruction on both sides of the border by wanting to discuss whether it should reunite with cornwall as part of one of the original celtic nations.

if you do make it to cornwall, I can talk about some of the best places to visit, and discuss the history of them until your ears bleed. the other half can talk a but about tamar valley and dartmoor stuff.
 
Much of my job relies on me poring over maps of the southwest and then trying to pronounce my findings to people who actually grew up here. I'm amazed I haven't been laughed out of my job yet. :facepalm:
 
Much of my job relies on me poring over maps of the southwest and then trying to pronounce my findings to people who actually grew up here. I'm amazed I haven't been laughed out of my job yet. :facepalm:

wheras i tell local born and bred academics all the things they got wrong. :D
 
There are certainly pleasing placenames in Devon:
Abbotskirswell
Kingskirswell
Kingsteignton
Bishopsteignton
Totnes
Barnstaple
Combeinteignhead
Stokeinteignhead
Cheriton Fitzpaine
 
After being fed Ambrosia Devon Creamed Rice as a child, I've made a conscious effort to avoid Devon, and have never set foot in it. I may have missed out on some beautiful scenery but after 4 decades, the nightmares have finally subsided.
 
Devon Cream Teas, yum :)
devon-cream-tea.jpg
 
some one this sight recommended me a great B&B to stay in, the Globe in Buckfastleigh. It is a lovely little town, the globe is a great pub, it is near Buckfast Abbey (yes home of Buckfast wine! but also a really great spooky place to wander round at dusk, really stunning stained glass), and also there is an otters and butterflies centre where you can see otters and butterflies, a really cool little museum which was an old pub and has been left as it was since the 1950s, and a steam train that you can catch to totnes (it arrives by a river and you can pay a guy in a little boat to take you to the town centre). i think it's pretty near the moors too but we didn't bother with all the other amazing things to do.
 
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