Ye Olde Cider Pub

Yes these are all ciders!

Ye Olde Cider Bar in Newton Abbot, Devon, England is a very special place for scrumpy users........ that being me!! It is a surviving example of a rarity whose numbers have dwindled over the centuries: the cider house. As the name implies, this is a bar that sells cider to the public, but a cider house is not a pub - a cider house definitely does not sell any beer!

Once upon a time there was a large number of alehouses in England, selling only ale (beer) to the public, and similarly there were many cider houses dispensing cider to their thirsty patrons. Over the years, alehouses became public houses selling a wider range of drinks than just beer - wines and spirits included. At the last count, there were only four surviving cider houses in England - in the whole of Britain, for that matter.

Entering the bar is like stepping back in time, the decor hasn't changed for a long time.......no theme pub here! No carpets and wooden stools and settles. The furniture is an interesting feature of the bar in its own right, being fashioned from cask staves with hardwood tops. Even the bar itself is clad with staves, giving the whole place an attractive rustic look.

We caught the bus from Torquay along with Suki and Rio. The idea being that we'd be doing too much tasting to be driving!
First round and I went for Sam's heritage, Oli went for something altogether more scrumpy with it's cloudy look and very woody barrel taste! I think Rio went straight for the 'suicidal!!'

After only one round we felt the need for something to soak up the apple juice...and each got a huge Devon Pasty to munch on!

Round two and three......The different number of ciders was amazing from light and fruity to flowery ciders that just ooze appleness and to orange and well brewed! You know th REALLY healthy stuff!

Infact this place also serves up MEAD!!!!!! Can you believe it.....a pub that still serves up the druids honey drink of old :) Now this made me really happy, quite literally! There is an incredible range of country wines - from birch to blackberry, parsnip to peach, sloe, cowslip, elderflower, and many more.

Well worth the trip and a great place for drinking proper country cider!!

Worm Charming

Now I know there are some strange traditions in the South West of England. We've been to the tar barrel rolling and to the Wassailing, but this one really does have to top the lot so far!

Skip back to Beltaine weekend and the counties of Devon and Cornwall were alive with old customs and rituals. Most villages were having the annual may pole dancing! Dancers perform circle dances around a tall pole which is decorated with garlands, painted stripes, flowers, flags and other emblems. In the second, dancers dance in a circle each holding a coloured ribbon attached to a much smaller pole; the ribbons are intertwined and plaited either on to the pole itself or into a web around the pole. The dancers may then retrace their steps exactly in order to unravel the ribbons. The first kind of maypole dancing is probably extremely ancient and is thought to stem from pagan fertility symbolism. It is traditionally performed in the spring around the festival of May Day, being a cross quarter day. For the Celts, Beltaine marked the beginning of the pastoral season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands. Early Gaelic sources from around the 10th century state that the druids of the community would create a fire on top of a hill on this day and drive the village's cattle through the fires to purify them and bring luck. It is still celebrated as the union of the Lord and Lady!

However, in the village of Blackawton there were not only May pole and Morris dancers but as well as the beer festival it was the World Worm Charming Championship!
The idea being that you are given a small patch of turf and during twenty minutes you have to get as many worms out of the soil without digging! It was absolutely packed out as teams dressed in all kinds of attire ready themselves. Using all kinds of weird methods to coax the worms to the surface! Am hoping to get my own team up together next year!

Castle Drogo and the Teign valley

On a brighter and much sunnier day we visited the opposite side of the moor that is closer to Drewsteignton. Off on one of our exploration days we headed towards the edge of the national park that lies at the foot of the moorlands.
Castle Drogo was built in the 1910s and 1920s for Julius Drew ( founder of home and colonial stores) and was designed by Edwin Luytins. It was the last castle to be built in England, and probably the last private house in the country to be built entirely of granite. It's in the style of the medieval and Tudor periods.
The castle has a lovely garden, which contrasts effectively with its striking setting on the edge of Dartmoor. The garden is noted for its rhododendrons and magnolias and herbaceous borders.
Luckily we had Oli's media pass else I don't think we would have paid the hefty entrance fee to have a look around.However for me the idea was to pick up 'hunter's path' and head off into the Teign Valley and Fingle bridge! From rocky outcrops we could look out towards Dartmoor and down towards the river below. We couldn't see it but it could be heard meandering somewhere below amongst the trees. The path descends steeply to the bottom of the valley where you reach Fingle Bridge.

Fingle Bridge, its very name sounds like something straight from the pages of a fairy tale, bringing images of piskies and woodland spirits to mind! The name Fingle is the name of a stream that rises on Whiddon Down and then descends to join the river Teign at the bridge. It has been suggested the stream's name derives from the Old English stem word, fang which means to, 'hold or catch'. It is true that bountiful fish supply can be found in the stream. However, the alternatives are the Old English word Fengel meaning a 'prince' or 'king' or the alternative definition of the word Fang is - 'plunder or bounty'!! The valley would have made a great hide out for outlaws and smugglers!

This part of the river is well known for its Otter population and I kept my beady eyes searching the river banks as we began our return along the valley floor. You can also see dragonflies and kingfishers and the river is full of fish including Salmon. Not an Otter in sight but it was very pretty! The water runs dark and colorful over the rocks and lichens hang like veils from the branches of the trees. Several countrymen were fly fishing, very relaxing to watch! The light filtered through the new leaves and reflections glistened in the water highlighting all the newly hatched midges that danced above the water! This was a great spot for a picnic or a lazy walk wildlife spotting.

Here is a poem by the famous poet Keats who loved to stay in the region that inspired so many of this poems.

Keats' poem

Here all the summer could I stay
For there's Bishop's teign
And King's teign
And Coomb at the clear Teign head -
Where close by the stream
You may have your cream
All spread upon barley bread.

There's arch Brook
And there's larch Brook
Both turning many a mill;
And cooling the drouth
Of the salmon's mouth,
And fattening his silver gill.

There is Wild wood,
A Mild hood
To the sheep on the lea o' the down,
Where the golden furze,
With its green, thin spurs,
Doth catch at the maiden's gown.

There is Newton Marsh
With its spear grass harsh -
A pleasant summer level
Where the maidens sweet
Of the Market Street,
Do meet in the dusk to revel.

There's the Barton rich
With dyke and ditch
And hedge for the thrush to live in
And the hollow tree
For the buzzing bee
And a bank for the wasp to hive in.

And O, and O
The daisies blow
And the primroses are waken'd,
And violets white
Sit in silver plight,
And the green bud's as long as the spike end.

Then who would go
Into dark Soho,
And chatter with dack'd-hair'd critics,
When he can stay
For the new-mown hay,
And startle the
dappled prickets?

Lydford Gorge

Out and about in the countryside that surrounds Dartmoor National Park are many rivers and gorges. Recently Oli and I visited Lydford, situated on the South Western side of Dartmoor.
We left Torquay in blazing sunshine and took the road across Dartmoor to Tavistock. By the time we reached the other side of the moor the sky was full of heavy, thunderous black clouds and the rain was akin to a tropical storm!!!
Not to worry...... in fact as it turned out the rain actually made the visit!!

Lydford is a place of importance since it was one of the thirty towns ("burhs") set up by King Alfred the Great (who reigned 871-899) as militarised communities for defence of his country against the Vikings of Denmark (who had been making progressively stronger attacks, first on northern England and then on southern and western England), and very possibly also against raiders from Cornwall. Before that it was a Saxon outpost against the Celts. Traces of the Saxons can still be seen including parts of the ramparts and the Norman keep. It was used as a prison until 1800 for offenders against the Tinner's law! The justice here had a fierce reputation. The rhyme goes ' I oft have heard of Lydford law, How in the morn they hang and draw and sit in judgement after! It was here that the folk of Dartmoor also brought their dead to be buried! The village is pretty small but offers a good pub! What we had come for was the gorge itself!

This is the deepest gorge in south-west England, and stretches a distance of about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) There are excellent beautiful walks from one end of the Gorge to the other, alongside the River Lyd and on the winding upper path that gives a view steeply down into the Gorge through the very tall and slender trees that stretch upwards to find the light.

We began our walk along a lushly wooded path that followed the curve of the river below. By now huge raindrops had begun to fall heavily, however it was really warm.....it began to feel like we were in a tropical forest! After a short distance we began to descend to the White Ladies Waterfall. Here the trees opened out around a calm pool into which the long tail like waterfall drops.
Then the foot path began to follow the river up stream. Cutting through boulders and a narrow ravines the water ran fast and with thunderous noise. The path was sometimes perilously close to the edge!!
Soon we came to another clearing. Here the warm mist rose up through the trees.......the scenery was like some thing from a Jurassic past!!! This would make a great spot to paddle in summer and perhaps watch for wildlife! From here the river cuts deeply into a gorge. The path is narrow and cuts under rock ledges.A little way along is the Devils Cauldron where the water cuts through a cave. Looking back we could see the steep sides of the gorge as the river ran down towards an open pool. The noise of the water tumbling into the cauldron was a deafening roar!! It was here that I made an offering to the waters that were swirling down below.Past this point is a path that passes a cave and comes out at tuckers pool. Really tranquil after the turmoil of the narrow gorge and a really lovely spot to rest a while, or even paddle if that takes your fancy !
During the 17th Century Lydford Gorge was infamous for being the hide-out of a large family of outlaws, the Gubbins, who terrorised the neighbourhood and stole sheep from the farms of Dartmoor.
Its not hard to let your imagination run riot here. The atmosphere was really exhilirating, enhanced by the warm temperature and rain which made the river Lyd flow in a stormy rush.