About Instow Clovelly is a beautiful idyllic place that is worth a visit if you are in North Devon on holiday, Clovelly is known throughout the world as being a beautiful tranquil undisturbed village, and is one of the most photographed villages in the UK. The village was established in the 16th century and is made up of a single cobble street set in the side of a steep hill, the cobbled street drops about 120m in half a mile, so as you can imagine in places the high street can be a bit steep. In the main car park at the top of village there is a visitor centre, the visitors centre depicts life in the village through out the years, which can give you a real insight into the history of Clovelly, after passing through the visitors centre you will find access to the famous village’s cobbled high street.
Access is by foot, no traffic is allowed, but don’t let this put you off, there is a Landover ferry service that will ship you up and down the steep hill via a back road, at the bottom of the hill you will find the Red Lion Hotel and a wonderful picturesque harbour. The sides of the cobbled high street are lined with white washed cottages that all have their own identities, most are decorated with wood in the Tudor style .But there is one cottage that stands out and is called Oberammergau cottage, this cottage is decorated with wood carvings that were brought back from the Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps, this cottage is open to visitors at certain times. Due to no traffic being allowed in the main high street, for years the locals have used donkeys to ferry every thing up and down the cobbled high street. These faithful servants of Clovelly worked up to as recent as 1990, today the locals use sledges to transport their deliveries to their houses, as you walk down the high street you will see some of these sledges outside the cottages.
Today Clovelly’s faithful donkeys have a peaceful life to simply provide pleasure and enjoyment to many visitors, during the summer you can visit the donkeys in the meadow at the top of the village or they can be found in the nearby woods during the winter, if you like the donkeys are often here to pose for a photo for you and occasionally rides are available. Clovelly also houses its own lifeboat and station house that is all kept running by local volunteers and donations, the main trade of the village is fishing so as you can image having a local lifeboat is essential. Whilst visiting the harbour you can often see the local fishermen hard at work catching the fish that will be served in the local pubs and food outlets, if you enjoy fish then you won’t find any fresher. If you come to Devon on holiday then a visit to Clovelly is a must, it’s a beautiful panoramic picture postcard village, with some wonderful cottage tea rooms. I can’t think of anything better than working up a thirst walking down the wonderful cobbled high street and then enjoying a cold beer whilst sat on the harbour, truly wonderful! Gallery
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