Saturday 21 July 2018

Outing to Hope Cove

Yesterday we went with our friends from the walking group to Hope Cove on the South Devon coast. In all the years I have lived in Devon (all my life bar the first two years) I have never been there! It is such a pretty place. Judge for yourself.

Our friends had been there many times, and took us to their favourite haunt, the Cottage Hotel.

We had hoped to sit on the terrace to drink our coffee but there was a strong sea breeze and in spite of the hot sunshine, it was really too cold, so we sat in the bar and were served with several cafetieres full of the most delicious coffee – I drank 4 cups! We decided to stay put and have our lunch, and explore afterwards. The food was more than excellent, and very reasonable too.

The place was quirky and fun. On the way to the bar we passed several interesting things, the first being a small snug made like a ship’s cabin, with a porthole showing a famous ship that had gone down, all in 3-D so it looked as if you were actually looking out of the porthole.

As is usual in hotels, there were various display cabinets with goods for sale, but here, these objects were a bit more unusual. This cabinet contained a selection of antique silver objects.

In another cabinet housing various vintage objects, I found this lovely Art Deco tea service.

A beautiful specimen of coral.

On a shelf in the corridor was this attractive glass globe vase full of shells.

The bar, which was made out of half of a real boat!

Beside the bar was this framed photograph showing the actual boat used to make the bar.

In our area of this informal dining area was a lovely laser-cut map of the area, cut from two different types of wood.

Before lunch I went for a wander and a little exploration and found the formal dining table laid up for the evening meal. Both this room, and the bar where we ate, had magnificent views out over the sea.

As we left the hotel I took this picture looking out over the sea.

The beach, seen from the hotel terrace.

The sea wall.

The most adorable little Methodist chapel.

Just inside the door was this decorative but functional display of hooks! I thought the shapes they made were so attractive.

The chapel.

The acoustics were amazing and we all sang a couple of hymns together. I think it is lovely that this little church is called “Hope Methodist Church.” It was so beautifully maintained, and spotlessly clean inside, with fresh flowers.

A gorgeous house with balconies.

Hope Cove is on two levels. The roads between are very steep and narrow.

An intriguing old door.

What looked like a couple of beach huts on the cliff just above the lifeboat station.

Lovely sandy beach!

The village square, complete with the obligatory seaside shop, selling buckets and spades, flip flops and all the paraphernalia associated with seaside holidays, and bringing back so many memories of childhood spent at the seaside, when it never seemed to rain.

Now the delights of the village began to reveal themselves. It is a village full of quaint old thatched cottages, some going back many hundreds of years.

In this square, all the houses seemed to have at least one animal perched on top of the roof, made of straw. Apparently this is how the thatchers sign their work! I love this first one with a mother duck and her babies.

There is even a rabbit!

A pheasant and an owl. Pheasants are a common motif on thatched windows.

An adorable little narrow street, passing between some ancient cottages.

A more grand residence, but still sporting its thatched roof!

Roses round the door! What more could you ask?

I love the rough texture on this ancient piece of thatching.

The tiny village hall. I  love the little picket fence in front.

Finally, a group photo. From behind!

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