Umberleigh Camping and Caravanning Club Site
Seaside towns, War Horse farm, sandy beaches, tennis and so much more!
We arrived at the Umberleigh Camping and Caravanning Club Site in North Devon for our five night stay. We had chosen this campsite as The Bunny Whisperer had never been to the north of the county and it seemed to be a good place to start. We were welcomed, shown where everything was and we were offered a choice of pitches. We chose a lovely flat pitch with beautiful views across the fields. The campsite is a fairly small but beautifully kept site with one toilet block which also has wash cubicles, showers, accessible facilities, parent and child facilities, washing up sinks and washing machines. There is also a dog walk, a small play area, a field for playing ball games, two tennis courts for hire and a really good games room. There was a small charge for the pool table and ping pong balls were available to buy at the small on-site shop, but we really enjoyed the skittle alley, it was great fun!
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On the first full day of our stay we chose to visit Lynton and Lynmouth. These are two villages, Lynton is at the top of the hill and Lynmouth is at the mouth of the river Lyn, at the bottom next to the sea. They are connected by the funicular which is a cliff railway dating back to 1890. In Lynmouth there are lots of places to eat, shops, museums and a Tourist Information. But the one place that we would recommend visiting (as long as you don't mind the stairs to the first floor) is the Lynmouth Flood Memorial Hall. This is a free exhibition telling the story of the flood that devastated the village in 1952. It includes a model of Lynmouth, photos, newspaper articles, newsreal and first hand accounts of the disaster.After spending all morning in Lynmouth, we travelled up to Lynton on the funicular, had a cream tea and a little look around before returning to Lynmouth. We decided to make a detour on our way back and drove across Exmoor to visit Porlock and Porlock Weir before returning to the campsite.
The following day, we decided to have a quiet morning at the campsite but we wanted something to do after lunch. We had found a leaflet in the campsite information room about the War Horse Valley Country Park which is only open from 2pm. So this was a perfect day to visit. The War Horse Country Park is the farm that was the inspiration for Michael Morpurgo's War Horse. This is the story of Joey, a horse that is sold to the British Army for use in World War One. The story was made into an award winning play and film. They even have the original Joey puppet in the museum at the farm, which we were very excited to see!
There is so much to see and do at the farm, there really is something for everyone! We enjoyed seeing all of the animals, feeding some of them and grooming the donkeys. We explored the WW1 bunker (with realistic sound effects), went on a tractor trailer ride and ate some very yummy cakes and scones. Then we all had a drive in the go-carts, before finally saying good bye to the guineafowl that had followed us around the museum and the turkey that was standing guard by the car park.
A trip to North Devon isn't complete without a visit to the seaside town of Ilfracombe The harbour full of boats, little cafes tucked away down side roads, shops overflowing with buckets and spades and lots of seaside charm. There is a crazy golf course, coastal walks, amusements and plenty more to keep you busy. We enjoyed our trip to Ilfracombe and returned to the campsite that afternoon in time for the children's free tennis coaching session. This one hour session runs every Wednesday during the school summer holidays and was very popular. The tennis coach was really great with the kids and got them all involved in different games and skills exercises that helped to develop their confidence and tennis abilities. The Bunny Whisperer had so much fun!
On the last day of our holiday in Devon the weather was beautiful and so we decided to have a beach day. There are lots of beautiful beaches in North Devon to chose from and after having lunch (delicious pasties from a local bakers shop) by the river in Bideford, we headed over to Westward Ho! The only place in the UK to have an exclamation mark at the end of its name. Westward Ho! is the perfect beach for families. It has a long sandy beach that gently slopes into the sea. The beach has been awarded a Blue Flag and is perfect for paddling, swimming and building sandcastles. It also has rocks for rock pooling which we really enjoyed. There seemed to be plenty of parking and there are lifeguards stationed on the beach during the summer. This year they were on duty between 14th May and 25th September from 10am until 6pm. Westward Ho! RNLI
Next to the beach, there are shops selling ice creams and buckets and spades, there are toilets, amusements and plenty of places to buy food. Having a rest after swimming and rock pooling, we watched a group of dads and children having a lot of fun building a large sandcastle. As we left, the tide was coming in, slowly demolishing the sandcastle. We returned to the campsite for our last night which for us is always a games night having fun playing a mixture of card games.
We had so much fun at the Umberleigh Camping and Caravanning Club Site, it has everything we wanted and more. And when you've finished enjoying this fantastic site, North Devon has wonderful beaches, beautiful countryside and so much more to offer!
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