A Bit of Time Away

With both birthdays in November and anniversary in December, David and I go away for a break.  It has been difficult to get away this year and not done as many trips as we'd like, but such are the times we are living in.  So out break this year was a few days earlier this week to Barnstaple in north Devon and stayed at the Imperial Hotel, which is a luxury hotel with dinner, and breakfast (no having to find places to eat!).

We were blessed with sunny, if cold, days and the first morning we walked along the River Taw along what was once a railway line, but is now used for walkers and cyclists.   A pleasant walk seeing and hearing coastal birds until a couple of miles along we found a garden centre with a cafe, just right for a coffee break before making a return back to the town.  The station is no more, though the sign still remains.  This line would have taken people along the north Devon coast and there was once a bridge (completely disappeared) that crossed the river.

Back in the town it was a mooch around the shops (found a birthday present for a December birthday) and seeing the Pannier Market, which didn't have any traders so completely empty, but there were some Christmas wreaths hanging from the ceiling.

Tuesday saw us at the local museum. It has a modern extension and the older part of the building is being renovated. We spent an hour or so exploring and it even had a model railway of one of the old lines that ran through the town. One of the former industries was a furniture maker, Shapland and Petter, which made a lot of Arts and Crafts style furniture.  This cabinet below had some beautiful carving and inlay work.

I liked this panel, below

And as a more modern addition, the museum used the designs to the brickwork of the building extension and a sample was shown below.

Outside we saw some old building too. The cafe in The Strand has a statue of Queen Anne

The carving looks resplendent against the blue sky.  Nearby was a square with a mosaic timeline of the town from ancient times to modern day, which was sadly not looking its best.  (Please excuse my foot!)

So we had two lovely days of exploring and it was time to go home on the Wednesday.  Lets hope that the next year will bring more places to go to.