Clovelly

Clovelly is a small village that clings to the vertical cliffs of North Devon, in SW England.

It’s pebble cobbled high street winds its way down the hillside through traditional 16th century whitewashed cottages decked with fuchsias and geraniums. This street drops 400ft in the half mile down to the small harbour. It’s a steep walk and friendly cats will watch as you descend.

Visitors have to park at the top of the hill next to the Heritage Centre as traffic is banned from the high street. There is an admission fee to the village in the Heritage Centre, but it’s easy to follow the public footpath around it and avoid charges. There is a Land Rover service which ferries visitors up and down via a back road, for those not wishing to negotiate the steep hill on foot. This service takes visitors as far as the Red Lion beside the harbour. At one time, donkeys used to be used to take visiting tourists down into the village, but these have now been retired. When this happened ( decades ago) it gave rise to the creation of a donkey sanctuary outside the village.

All deliveries for people living in Clovelly have to be taken down the hill by sledge. These sledges can be seen at the side of the cottages by anyone walking down through the village towards the harbour. This ban on traffic has preserved the atmosphere of the village.

The lower part of the village has been saved from development by the Hamlyn family, the local landowners. There are no holiday cottages allowed in the main village and no concessions to the tourist industry. Consequently, the picture postcard village is still a living village, where fishermen ( tiny in number) still mend their nets on the quay.

In the 16th C the stone quay was built and thus was established the only safe harbour between Boscastle in Cornwall and Appledore higher up the North Devon coast. The small harbour once sheltered up to sixty fishing boats but this has now dwindled to 2 or 3 boats due to the decline of the herring fishery and fishing in general. During its membership of the EU, large French and Spanish fishing vessels were allowed to drop heavy nets into these waters…the spawning beds for herring in particular…. The nets would scour the bottom destroying these breeding grounds, perhaps for ever. The whole coastline of SW England and South Wales relied on sustainable catches, and attempts are now being made to keep those vessels out ( not a political statement just a fact of life).

West from Clovelly, the North Devon Coast Path leads past various ancient structures and coastal ‘follies’ with incredible views, down to Mouth Mill. The path then climbs again and remains high all the way to Hartland Point Lighthouse. This is quite a long walk, about eight miles from Clovelly, but a worthwhile excursion. Further along is Hartland Quay, a place where a once busy harbour was totally demolished by the Atlantic breakers. The Hartland Quay Museum is close to the original site of the harbour, and there are other facilities here for the tourist. As a small group tour company we use this area as a base for a few days from which we can also explore Dartmoor.