Picture perfect and so much more...
Devon Life|October 2020
Cobbled streets, flower-strewn cottages and resident donkeys have helped Clovelly become ‘the most Instagrammable village in the UK’. But this place is much more than just a good photo opportunity, as CHRISSY HARRIS discovers
CHRISSY HARRIS
Picture perfect and so much more...
C lovelly’s harbourmaster Stephen Perham has seen it many times. “People arrive here, walk down the street as quick as they can, have something to eat and disappear again,” he says. “But you’ve got to take your time in Clovelly; you’ve got to fully absorb it to appreciate it. When you’re sitting on the harbour wall, just think, that was built in the 1300s. Walk through the side streets, look in the museum, explore the woods, the Victorian gardens. Enjoy your time here.”

This North Devon village perched 400ft high on a clifftop has been attracting visitors from all over the world for centuries.

Clovelly is privately owned so you have to pay an entry fee, making it one of the most unique places in the country.

People love its unspoilt feel and come to admire the quaint, whitewashed cottages with flowering hanging baskets, which tumble ‘like a waterfall’ down to the port.

And then there are some of the most breath-taking views over Bideford Bay and across the coastline, towards the North Atlantic Ocean. It’s easy to see why Clovelly makes it into so many social media feeds. But this village was built around the herring fishing industry and still has a deep connection to the sea and its ‘silver darlings’, as the herring are known.

Each November, the village comes out to celebrate its world-famous heritage at the annual Herring Festival, which features cookery demonstrations, exhibitions, live music and plenty of food and drink.

This story is from the October 2020 edition of Devon Life.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the October 2020 edition of Devon Life.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM DEVON LIFEView All
Legends Of Lockdown
Devon Life

Legends Of Lockdown

A new online exhibition features an array of Devon’s lockdown legends exploring their lives and communities during the pandemic restrictions

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2020
Look Out For Intelligent Slime!
Devon Life

Look Out For Intelligent Slime!

Think you know your waxcaps from your dog vomit slime mould? Exmoor’s conservation team needs our help to record the pretty and the not-so-pretty wildlife living in this unique national park. finds out more

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2020
Retirement redefined
Devon Life

Retirement redefined

Millbrook Village’s Leah Jackson talks to AMELIA THURSTON about how wellbeing and quality of life are at the heart of the later living community

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020
Look to the future
Devon Life

Look to the future

SU CARROLL talks to Sir Antony Gormley about his contribution to Devon’s artistic life

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2020
Natural beauty
Devon Life

Natural beauty

Working with nature and the cycle of seasons, a new flower farm is blossoming in a fold of the beautiful River Teign valley

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2020
THE DIARY
Devon Life

THE DIARY

SU CARROLL recommends the best events across the county this month

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 2020
My kinda city...
Devon Life

My kinda city...

With the perfect balance of country and city life, Exeter still shines as the jewel of the West. STEPHANIE DARKES shares her insider insights into the city that stole her heart

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2020
Letting themselves in for hard work...
Devon Life

Letting themselves in for hard work...

Renovating your entire house is tough. Renovating someone else’s seven-bedroom Grade-II listed Georgian farmhouse and turning it into a high-end holiday let is even trickier. CHRISSY HARRIS went to Kingston see how it’s done

time-read
6 mins  |
November 2020
Lessons from history
Devon Life

Lessons from history

History author Ian Mortimer has taken readers on travels through time from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution. STU LAMBERT asks him how our country and our county changed in Regency times

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2020
A Reform character
Devon Life

A Reform character

The owner of North Devon’s longest standing brewery is about to take on a new challenge, as CATHERINE COURTENAY discovers

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2020