For the last of our four campsites on the 7th July we drove east of Exeter for a four night stay at the Putts Corner CMC site which gave us easy access to Sidmouth, Ottery St. Mary, Branscombe, Beer and Seaton.
Sidmouth was a very pleasant old fashioned seaside town with a certain amount of style. Many of the buildings on the front had interesting wrought-iron balconies. There was not too much sand on the beach but impressive cliffs were visible in both directions along the coast. There were quite a few independent retailers as well as some upmarket chains. My lasting memory of the place however was, a few minutes after buying an ice cream, being dive-bombed by a seagull who flew off with the entire ice cream – cone and all!
Branscombe Beach was an excellent find. Sue found it’s Sea Shanty Beach Cafe on a recommended list so off we went down the usual huge number of tiny country lanes until we got to the coast. The Cafe, a thatched building right on the beach, was struggling a bit bit with the COVID restrictions but this is a delightful place to spend a warm summer’s afternoon (if you can arrange one!)
The rain managed to hold off for our trip to Seaton and the Seaton Tramway. This route was put together in the ’70s using the recently closed British Rail trackbed between Seaton and Colyton. Trams of various ages dating back to the ’50s were acquired from around the country and refurbished. The journey takes about 25 mins and runs alongside the River Coly past a big nature reserve at the Seaton Wetlands and ending up just outside the pretty village of Colyton.
The delightfully named village of Beer was quite a revelation. A quaint village high street but at one end you find an impressive beach with a couple of cafes and an active fishing fleet of small boats. Certainly worth a visit if you are anywhere near the area.
The village of Ottery St. Mary was only a 10 minute drive from the campsite so we decided to nip down for a quick look on our way back from Beer – big mistake! Unfortunately at the same time there was an accident on the A30 just north of the village and resulted in complete gridlock on all routes in and out. It took us 2 hours to find a way back to the campsite! We tried again the following afternoon (a Saturday) and discovered the village was basically shut! A very pretty church with two towers but we couldn’t find much else to look at.
We finished our trip with an evening meal at the Hare and Hounds pub which was within easy walking distance of the campsite and is quite well known locally for the size and quality of its carvery – no complaints from me!