The Barton, Poughill

I've written before (here and here) about the accessibility of holiday homes in the UK. If done correctly they really can be magnificently quick wins in terms of time, planning and cost. That ease in logistics however does place more of a burden on other parts of the holiday - there isn't usually a lot to do in and around the countryside so it pays to prepared.

Luckily there are plenty of options to fill the time these days. Boardgames and good old fashioned conversation are the staples, but as the future keeps getting closer we now have streaming sticks, tablets and portable videogames to add to the list. We had all these as well as a cricket bat, and so thinking back I can't really remember a bored moment in the converted barn we called home this weekend. We were staying on a farm so had some stock to checkout, although chickens and sheep do get boring after the first minute or so.



Although there is plenty to do in Devon, it's a big place and we happened to find ourselves in a pretty secluded corner of it. Still after a bit of research we did head out a few times to see what we could find to do. Canonteign Falls was probably the biggest attraction in the vicinity, although we did choose to stop our visit after seeing from afar what claims to be the highest falls in England. Torquay was then the closest seafront; it was a bit of a shock to the senses to be honest with what I imagined it to be contrasting sharply with reality.



Finally we also spent sometime aimlessly wondering around Exeter University. Now ordinarily I'd be quite excited to hang out in a uni (cough splutter) except it was a Sunday during the Summer close and so pretty much deserted. Still we did manage to get into the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies which was kind of cool.



The biggest theme of the weekend however had to be the food. Whether it was lunch or dinner, we were very well looked after. I can't of course, lay claim to any of the credit but considering it was all top notch and came to £20 per person over the three nights it couldn't not be the biggest success of the weekend away.

So yes, Devon is nice, but if anyone is thinking of going it might pay to check out what's going on in the area.