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| High Bickington - Around and
About The nearest large town to High
Bickington is Barnstaple, the regional retail and commercial centre and
Britain’s oldest borough, with an extensive range of outlets including all the
high street favourites as well as more traditional shopping experiences.
The towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, Torrington and
South Molton all lie within approximately ten miles’ radius of High Bickington,
and from Barnstaple you are in easy reach of seaside resorts such as llfracombe,
Woolacombe, Saunton, Croyde, Combe Martin, Lynton and Lynmouth.
Bideford provides access to the resorts of
Westward Ho!, Clovelly and on to Bude. Torrington is well placed on the side of
the picturesque River Torridge — setting of the famous Tarka The Otter” story —
while South Molton is the gateway to Exmoor.
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Centre of the 'Tarka Trail'
Barnstaple is at the centre of the Tarka Trail, which provides walking or
cycling routes north to the coastal resorts or south along the banks of the Taw
to Bideford and beyond. |
| A notable feature of Barnstaple is
its Victorian Pannier Market and nearby Butchers Row, which is filled with
open-fronted shops selling local produce. Barnstaple also boasts the Norman
Castle Mound, Queen Anne’s Heritage Centre, the Museum of North Devon plus
world-beating floral displays in the |
Barnstaple can claim to be the world’s finest floral
town. It has consistently won competition after competition, including National
Britain in Bloom Best Town in Britain in 1996, 1997 and 1999. It won “Best Town
in World” and “Best Town in Europe” titles in 1996 and “World in Bloom” in 1998.
In 2000 Barnstaple entered the “Nations In Bloom” award and won yet again, with
the presentation taking place in Washington USA.
To get the most from your time in Barnstaple and to discover the many and varied
floral displays, you need to follow the “floral walk” starting at Rock Park.
Gifted to the town by William Rock, this park is a delight for its formal and
informal landscaping, with a wide variety of trees.
For exploring historic Barnstaple, the Heritage Trail is strongly recommended.
The significant buildings on the trail are marked by commemorative plaques. The
town grew up in the 9th and 10th centuries on a ford of the river.
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It developed as a market and commercial centre, with
pottery, metalwork and other industries that served the surrounding area. It
also became the base for enterprising merchants who traded with Europe, Ireland
and the New World. In 1588 ships sailed from Barnstaple to join the fight
against the Spanish Armada.
A fascinating link with the past that is still
very much alive today is Barnstaple’s Pannier Market, which is officially listed
as one of the top 12 indoor markets of its type in the country. Purpose-built in
1855, it hosts more than 500 stalls/spaces. It is a Victorian-style market place
in daily use with a great range of goods in a traditional and thriving
atmosphere.
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Tourism Top Spot North Devon is
now ahead of the English Riviera as the South West’s principal earner in the
tourism market, thanks in large part to a surfing boom and high-tech.
North Devon’s magnificent beaches now attract
thousands of board lovers every year, pouring millions of pounds into the area’s
economy.
The area now reportedly receives more than £454
million a year from day trippers, compared with Torbay’s £441 million. In
addition to surfing, the outstanding natural beauty of such places as Exmoor,
Clovelly and the South West coast path all help make North Devon a major holiday
and short break venue.
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Underlining the area’s surfing appeal, Woolacombe
was selected to host the 2004 European Inter-Club Surf Championships —the first
time an English beach was chosen for this honour. The boom in surfing’s
popularity is partly due to the high-tech quality of wetsuits these days which
keeps surfers warm and cosy all year, instead of being somewhat less comfortable
out of season. |
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