We’re thinking about downsizing, and maybe moving to Devon or Cornwall. We’ve been to these areas many times over the years, and we both like them. Ideally we’d like to be in South Devon, but it’s becoming very expensive. So we thought we’d take a house-hunting trip to North Devon to see what we thought of the area. Each time we go, we learn more about what we what, what we don’t want, which areas we like, which areas to avoid etc. so these trips are useful to help us get our thoughts and priorities in order before taking the plunge. We also wanted to visit our daughter in Plymouth so we decided to combine the trip.

We found a couple of houses that we wanted to take a look at, and a couple of areas that we’d like to explore. So we booked a CAMC at Hartland. We phoned and spoke to Mr Wakefield (same surname as us!) and booked in for two nights and then off we went. We set off at a reasonable time on the Friday and drove to North Devon. We stopped off at Bucks Mills and looked at a house there, overlooking the sea. Fantastic spot but a bit more than we can afford. Then we went to Chittlehamholt to see another place. Great house, and nice village with a pub, but there’s only a single track road to get to the village. Possibly a bit remote for us. Then we went to the campsite. The owners weren’t around so we pitched up, skirted around the wandering Alpacas, and made ourselves at home. We managed to get the TV working and Sara cooked yet another amazing meal onboard.

The next day we found the campsite owners and had a chat with them about the area etc. Then we drove off to Hartland Quay. The weather was lousy, so the sea was rough. It was all quite dramatic. While we were there, we were contacted by our friend Sarah, who lives nearby. So we drove her to see her. We had lunch there and then went with her to see a beautiful house by the sea that she helps to look after when the owners are not there. We then drove to see another house on the way back to the campsite. Again. the house looked nice but the area is very remote. We’re trying to imagine living some distance from amenities and not sure that we’re there yet…

The next morning we left the site and meandered through some more North Devon villages before going over to Plymouth to see Daisy. We went for lunch near the docks. Then, in the evening, we drove back to Worcester.