A perfect weekend! Hartland Point is the centrepoint of about 20 miles of truly astonishing coast, straddling the North Devon/Cornwall border. The rock strata along the cliffs are contorted into vertically inclined zigzag patterns, with a jagged reef extending into the sea. Sandy beaches are few and far between, and landing is rarely easy or comfortable; thankfully I had a borrowed boat! Improbably, a small harbour was constructed in the midst of these forbidding shores; Hartland Quay. However, storms washed the stone quay away in the late nineteenth century.
We joined our friends Chris and Julia for the weekend. Julia isn’t a natural camper(!) but was reassured by the marvellous Stoke Barton Farm campsite. They will purchase The Times for you (the mark of a truly civilised place) and they serve hearty breakfasts of local produce in a huge dining room inside the farmhouse. If Carlsberg did campsites …
Agreed Hartland is stunning particularly in a storm, we stopped there for a night whilst walking that section of the coast path. We liked the hotel so much that we stayed an extra night, although the weather may have influenced our decision.
Did you visit the ship wreck museum at the key? I thought it was excellent.
Jus wow!
I’m afraid that I can’t forgive the Quay Hotel for the meals we were served on Saturday night. In any truly civilised society, any chef serving gravy that looked and tasted like evostick would be taken outside, shot and fed to the seagulls.
Mark R