Be amused at Crealy Adventure Park, Exeter
Crealy is the last word in Devonian amusement parks. It started as a simple open farm in 1989, with adventure playgrounds, pony rides and farming fun. Now, 20 years later, it’s one of the West Country’s major attractions.
There are now six ‘Realms’, including the Action Realm, Magic Realm and Adventure Realm. Great rides include the Tidal Wave Log Flume and Meteorite, on which you journey up above the dinosaurs of Dina’s Lost World.
The old charms are still in place, however, with a barn full of fluffy animals to cuddle, and a pony-grooming parlour. New for 2009 is Go Wild, an aerial walkway through the treetops.
www.crealy.co.uk
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Feel huge at Babbacombe Model Village
This attention to detail on display at this world in miniature has to be seen to be believed. There are thousands of tiny buildings, people and vehicles, creating a strange alternative universe.
In the medieval village there’s a castle, complete with fire-breathing dragon. There are traditional villages with thatched cottages, and there’s a modern city.
Contemporary eco-touches include a wind farm and hydroelectric dam. It all looks great lit up at night during the Summer Evening Illuminations – there’s even simulated thunder and lightning. The extraordinary miniature gardens cover nearly four acres, and are another highlight.
www.model-village.co.uk
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Go prehistoric at Kents Cavern
A shelter for Britain’s earliest humans, this system of prehistoric caves is a fine place to cool off (they’re a constant 14ºC) on a hot day. Your guide will take you back 400 million years to when the cavern was formed under a warm tropical sea.
See the amazing stalagtites and stalagmites, and touch some of Europe’s oldest artefacts, including mammoth teeth, skulls and prehistoric tools. See the eerie ‘face’, naturally carved in the rock, beneath which Roman coins were found.
If you can stand a bit of spooking, book a fun summer Ghost Night, complete with a show and all-you-can-eat dinner.
www.kents-cavern.co.uk
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Take a steam train ride
The South Devon Railway is a seven-mile branch line, built in 1872, that runs from Buckfastleigh to Totnes, along the beautiful valley of the River Dart.
Run mainly by volunteers, the line’s gleaming steam locomotives chug away gently as you relax into your vintage seat, watching unspoiled countryside go by. Stop at Staverton for a riverside walk to the local pub, and admire the retro Great Western Railway station at Totnes, where you can also visit the nearby rare breeds farm.
At Buckfastleigh there’s a maze, lovely gardens and more locomotives to admire.
www.southdevonrailway.co.uk
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Tour the Plymouth Gin distillery
Once a Dominican monastery dating back to 1425 (what is it with monks and booze?) the Black Friars Distillery is now the home of world-famous Plymouth Gin. It is reputed to have been where the Pilgrim Fathers spent the night before heading off to the New World (there was no gin around then, obviously).
The visitor centre offers guided tours of the distillery, and chance to sample the product in the medieval refectory hall’s striking new cocktail lounge.
There’s also a café showcasing fine local produce and a shop where you can buy a bottle for the road.
www.plymouthgin.com
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Go back in time in the fishing village of Clovelly
Is Clovelly the perfect seaside village? Set on a pretty harbour with a shingle beach and bobbing fishing boats, it is backed by a steep hill where 16th-century wattle-and-daub cottages overlook the Atlantic on Devon’s north coast.
Its cobbled streets are free from traffic as there’s no access for it in this privately owned settlement (deliveries have to come in, improbably, by sledge).
In many ways, life goes on as it did hundreds of years ago, in this world removed – mosey along to the Cottage Tea Rooms for a classic Devon cream tea.
www.clovelly.co.uk
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Pop round to Sir Francis Drake’s place
When he wasn’t busy dispatching the Spanish Armada, or holding Latin American colonies to ransom, bringing tons of gold home for Good Queen Bess, Sir Francis Drake would shoot the breeze at Buckland Abbey, his home on the edge of Dartmoor.
Secluded in the Tavy Valley, north of Plymouth, the 700-year-old house has interactive historical displays and a marvellous banqueting hall within, and pleasant woodland walks without.
Look out for Drake’s ghost, who is said to haunt the place, ably accompanied by his faithful ‘hell hounds’.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/buckland
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Have a day at the races at Newton Abbot
The races are always fun (as long as you don’t bet more than you’re prepared to lose, of course…), and there are few more pleasant courses than Newton Abbot, on the banks of the Teign river. There’s flat racing over the summer and National Hunt racing (over the sticks) in winter.
Head down to the paddock to check out your favoured nag – does it look lively? Does it have a nice glossy coat?
Then it’s off to the track-side bookies to place your bet wit the tic-tac men, before you head for the stands as the atmosphere builds. Nothing beats the thrill of backing a winner.
www.newtonabbotracing.com
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Marvel at the gardens of Rosemoor
You’d expect the Royal Horticultural Society to keep a pretty impressive garden, and at Rosemoor you won’t be disappointed. Keen gardener Lady Anne Berry bequeathed it to the society in 1988, and since then it’s grown from 8 acres to 65, with splendid gardens and woodlands.
Marvel at the colourful herbaceous borders and the stunning rose gardens, and see the wonderful produce in the ’potager’, in which vegaetables are planted in a way that makes their plot as beautiful as any other garden.
The plantsman’s garden will delight aficionados and casual garden-lovers alike.
www.rhs.org.uk/rosemoor
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Hit the beach at Blackpool Sands
Now of course, Devon has a lot of great beaches, north and south. But for car-stopping good-looks, lovely golden sand and great facilities, it’s hard to beat this wonderful arc of sand, sheltered in a bay and surrounded by evergreens and pine trees.
It’s on the south coast between Dartmouth and Slapton, and has a café selling dishes made with local, organic fare, and a shop where you can buy everything from buckets and spades to chilled Cornish wine.
Jet-skis are thankfully banned, but you can hire kayaks, paddle boards and windsurfing gear. There are also toilets, showers, and lifeguards on duty in the summer months.
www.blackpoolsands.co.uk
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