From The Sunday
Mirror
Aug 31 2003 A BREAK MADE
IN DEVON
By Rebecca Smith
HAVE you ever had a few beers with friends and found yourself agreeing
that it would be great if your two families went on holiday together? Then
you woke up the next morning!
We did and a few weeks later found our gang of nine, including five under-
sevens and one mum five months pregnant, on the North Devon coast.
It had the potential of the holiday from Hell, but quickly became the best
family break we've ever had.
To succeed we knew the kids had to be entertained 24 hours a day, allowed
copious amounts of ice cream and as much sand castle building as they
could bear.
For us adults to survive, we needed sleep, sunshine and friendly pubs that
wouldn't turn white with fright at the sight of our five little terrors
but would dish up fantastic food. We also needed a pub with satellite TV
so that one dad wouldn't miss yet another 'crucial' Arsenal match. And we
found all this in the lovely little seaside village of Instow.
You could easily miss Instow and head for its more famous neighbour
Bideford unless you knew what delights it had to offer.
Its beautiful sandy beach was enough to put beaming smiles on our kids'
faces. Nearby sand dunes were great for racing up and down, even if they
didn't exhaust the kids' endless energy. Best of all, although we were
there during the school holidays the beach was virtually empty.
Overlooking this oasis was what became our favourite haunt, the Boathouse
Inn. Not only did they welcome our little monsters, they served great food
for the kids and even better nosh for the adults, including some fabulous
seafood.
The nearby Quay Inn made it clear children's pushchairs weren't welcome -
though we should have guessed this from their sign warning children would
be 'sold as slaves' if they didn't sit still.
If you want to eat at home there's a great village shop selling lots of
delicious local produce including Devon sticky toffee pudding which of
course could only be eaten with huge dollops of clotted cream!
Our home from home was aptly named the Anchorage, located right on the
seafront. Any fears that the nine of us would be cramped were swiftly put
aside as the fight began for the 'best bedroom'.
The three eldest kids were thrilled to be sharing a room, while the two
youngest had their own rooms, complete with en-suite.
For the adults there were bedrooms with stunning views over the bay,
luxurious sleigh beds and, best of all, en-suite facilities not muddied by
sandy little feet.
It was an excellent base to explore the North Devon Coast, with a host of
local attractions to choose from.
My favourite was the Big Sheep - yes, a tourist attraction based around
sheep. Highlight of the day was sheep racing, when the likes of
Alderknitti and Woolly Jumper competed a course including Shepherd's Brook
and Ewe Turn to be crowned the sheep of sheeps.
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