Devon is the setting for a couple of classic works of fiction, Lorna Doone and Tarka the Otter. Both are typical Sunday afternoon serial material and offer good plots, bags of atmosphere and a story the whole family can enjoy.

Lorna Doone

Lorna Doone is a character in a well known book that became a much loved film. (For many Americans she is synonymous with shortbread bisuits but that’s another story!) The book, subtitled A Romance of Exmoor is a novel by Richard Doddridge Blackmore. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset. The hero John Ridd’s father, a respectable farmer, was murdered in cold blood by one of the notorious Doone clan, a once noble family, now outlaws, in the isolated Doone Valley. Battling his desire for revenge, John grows up to take good care of his mother and two sisters and become a farmer like his father.  One day he meets a girl, Lorna, and falls hopelessly in love. Tragically she seems to be not only the granddaughter of Sir Ensor Doone but destined to marry the evil heir of the Doone Valley, Carver Doone. Carver will let nothing get in the way of his marriage to Lorna, which he plans to force upon her once Sir Ensor dies and he comes into his inheritance.

Lorna Doone Country

The Exmoor countryside becomes almost another character in the book and some of the descriptions make the Moor sound a very bleak, yet hauntingly beautiful place. There are lots of walks available that are based on the story and it is fairly easy to find the real life models for many places mentioned in the book. At the heart of Loona Doone Country is Malmsmead, where visitors can find Lorna Doone Farm, and nearby Oare House and Oare Church, where R D Blackmore’s grandfather was once rector.

Tarka the Otter

Tarka the Otter is another well loved story set in the Devon countryside. Tarka was written by Henry Williamson and first published in 1927. It starts with Tarka as  a cub growing up in a den with his mother and siblings. As a cub, he learns how to clean himself, swim, and catch fish. When his home is attacked by hunters, he and his family must abandon it to flee from danger. Joining up with another group of otters, the family continue to travel. At some point he loses his family and his mother forgets she even had a cub named Tarka. From then on he must fend for himself.

It is a fairly realistic imagining of the life of an otter from his earliest time as a cub to the end of his life. It is not a book for the squeamish and some of the descriptions of animal behaviour are quite vivid. However it gives an amazingly realistic, althought sometimes harsh, picture of the life of the Devon countryside.

The Tarka Trail

Tarka lives his life and has his adventures in a much more realistic depiction of North Devon than Lorna Doone. The area where the book is set is well documented and there is even a Tarka Trail which you can use to help you explore.

The Tarka Trail is a series of interconnected footpaths and cyclepaths. It is a figure-of-eight route and covers some 180 miles of path. The route covers a wide variety of landscapes including: wooded river valleys, rugged moorland, coastal cliffs and sandy bays. Walking varies between easy and strenuous, depending on the location, but, in general, it is comprehensively waymarked. You can also explore the Tarka Trail by bike and cycle hire is available if you haven’t brought bikes from home.

Preparing for your holiday builds the excitement

If you are preparing for a holiday in a North Devon cottage you could do worse than add both of these to your family reading list. Children will enjoy both these books and be fascinated by finding the real places described in them. A bit of preparation like this before a holiday can provide a good theme for days out and give that feeling of being on a quest which children often find enjoyable.

Another way to prepare is to find videos of both these stories and here are a couple to get you started.

The first is a trailer for the film of Tarka the Otter (available on DVD) and will give you a taste of the sort of countryside you will be exploring form your cottage.

The second is set on Exmoor itself and is a trailer for the 1960s film of Lorna Doone. I couldn’t resist showing you it but I fear it may give a rather strange impression of Lorna Doone’s setting. Do you think they’d ever been to the UK?

A quick look round youtube also leads to the whole of the more recent BBC classic serial of the story with Amelia Warner and Richard Coyle  but I’m not about to link to that here as the BBC may well insist it is taken down. You can however buy the series on DVD. Lorna Doone [DVD]

I think that doing a bit of preparation when you are getting ready for a holiday helps to build excitement and will add to your chances of a really good holiday in your North Devon cottage.

image credit: nicksarebi

Technorati Tags: Lorna Doone Country, north devon cottages, Tarka the Otter, Tarka Trail

Clovelly is a very special coastal village that’s been preserved by the efforts of one family and well worth a visit.

North Devon Cottages - Clovelly cc Kit Logan

“Suddenly a hot gleam of sunlight fell upon the white cottages, with their grey steaming roofs and little scraps of garden courtyard, and lighting up the wings of the gorgeous butterflies which fluttered from the woodland down to the garden.” Charles Kingsley

Charles Kingsley, who wrote The Water Babies, wrote this about Clovely over 150 years ago and it has hardly changed. Kingsley spent much of his childhood in the village and retained considerable affection for the place.

The village straggles down to the harbour in a hotch potch mix of white, slate-roofed cottages. The cottages cling to each side of the steep cleft. A series of terraces lead off from the steep main street to a tiny fishing port. Once a busy centre for the herring trade Clovelly is now mostly a tourist attraction.

Clovelly is a totally traffic free village. Cars must be parked at the top of the hill and the main street is steeply sloping with quite slippery cobbles. There’s a Land Rover ‘bus’ service for much of the year to take you back up the hill, if you can’t face the steep climb. The only other transport allowed are sledges and donkeys.

The village sits in a fold in the cliffs and has done since the Iron Age! The Saxons gave it the name “Cleave Leigh,” which means “cleft in the cliff”.

The village forms part of a private estate and in the past 800 years has only been owned by 3 families. It is this private ownership that keeps the village preserved as it is and prevents any development.

There’s a small charge to visit the village. This covers parking and also includes an audio visual visitor centre which gives an overview of the village and its history.

The village has shops and tea rooms, The Charles Kingsley Museum, a cottage museum shows the life of a typical fishing family in the 19th century. There’s also Clovelly Court, the manor house.

The famous Red Lion Hotel serves food and has rooms. It is looks out over the 14th century harbour.

Go  east from Clovelly and you will find the delightful seaside hamlet of Bucks Mills and there you can find classic North Devon cottages which are available for holiday lets.

Technorati Tags: clovelly, north devon cottages