Watching The Boats! and other Appledore, United Kingdom Things to Do Tips

One of life's simpler pleasures is sitting watching the world go by and here in sleepy little Appledore, where the boats outnumber the cars, the boat world creates our local equivalent of traffic congestion when the tides allow the various craft to either come down-river or escape to the sea.

The main pic here is of the Kathleen and May which is the last remaining wooden-hulled three-masted top sail schooner and is currently based in Bideford, having been recently restored. Unfortunately she wasn't under sail as she passed my window but is still pretty magnificent (or magnificently pretty depending on you point-of-view).

The second pic is the equally interesting Cornish Pilot Gig "Verbena" about whom a separate little tip will eventually be written.

The other pics are pretty much self-explanatory.

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Address: The Quay, Appledore
Directions: That'll be where the water is "moy dear" ;)
Website: www.appledore.org

Here in Appledore is the North Devon Maritime Museum which really is a little gem. Even if things nautical aren't really your thing ( my thing being things naughtical, but that's on another page;o)) this is well worth an hour or two of anyone's time for an insight into local history and even more so just to appreciate the work, effort and care that has been put into this presentation of local civic pride.

The building itself is impressive, an elegant Georgian shipowners house overlooking the estuary, and the museum is thoughtfully laid-out. There are seven rooms each showcasing different aspects of the North Devon maritime tradition. Starting from the Danish incursions in the 9th century through to the present day Appledore shipyard (which is England's last remaining commercial shipbuilder) the museum also covers the evolution of seafaring in general (with some very interesting digressions) yet keeps very much a local focus.

There are various "museum pieces" such as ships bowheads, customs girth chains, pottery relics, old photos, shipwright's tools and so forth - i.e. all the usual museum stuff, but what I personally found particularly impressive was the use of beautifully intricate hand-made scale models to illustrate the various chapters of the story as presented by the museum curators.

This is definitely not a place to be missed when visiting Appledore.

Opening times are: 1st May-31st Sept - Mon-Fri 11-5, Sat&Sun 2-5 (closed for lunch 1-2) and the winter open from 2-5. Admission is 1.50 for adults and only 30p for kids.

The museum also offers an archive of local documents, reference books and photographic collections for serious research which can be made available by appointment.

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Phone: 01237 422064
Address: Odun House, Odun Road, Appledore
Directions: About half way up (or down) the hill from Marine Parade/Myrtle Street and follow the signage.
Website: www.devonmuseums.net/appledore

Whilst most of Appledore's things to do involve sitting around watching the world go by there are also some quite energetic and competitive activities such as training for The World Championship Crabbing Competition. This annual event takes place every year (strangely enough;p) during the Appledore and Instow Regatta week and involves literally dozens of competitors from all over the world - HA! well the world as we know it here in North Devon, and I do believe that some people come from as far away as Barnstaple!

I'm not sure exactly what the crab species is here (I think they are just common "Shore Crabs") but anyway they love bacon! That's the bait used and the trick is to tie a bit of bacon to a piece of string (no hooks required), chuck it over the quay and when the crab goes to have a nibble it'll grab it with its claw. Then you get a bit of tension on the string and you can haul it in.

Having caught them you keep them alive in a bucket, get them weighed and the winner is the person with the heaviest beast. Then they all get put back in the water to live again until next year and hopefully fatten up a bit ;)

There are actually a set of rules for this (for the Suffolk championships) which are quite amusing: Rule #10 - "A 10 pound fine will be made against any person falling in the water and frightening the crabs."!!! (website has the full set of rules)

One of the codicils is - "Catching crabs can be dangerous. Persons entering the Championship do so at their own risk" - HA! If you fall in the water and drown you will be fined 10 pounds and sued by the other competitors ;-0

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Address: The Quay, Appledore
Directions: Pretty unmissable - that'll be where the water is!
Website: www.explorewalberswick.co.uk/crabbing/rules.php

This annual celebration of all things nautical takes place at the end of July or beginning of August (depending on tides) and usually commences on a Sunday when most of the main events take place. This is a fun day out for all the family with some quite seriously competitive rowing and sailing events but also some more fun things to do such as the World Championship Crabbing Competition. There are model yacht races, swimming races and over the Estuary on Instow's beach, a sandcastle competition. In addition to the water born events there are various fun stalls along the quayside. Several hot dog and burger stands and of course the famouse "Hockings Ice-Cream" van are available for those in need of sustenance (as well as, of course, the local pubs).

Whilst Sunday is the main day the events continue for a week or so with various rowing and sailing competitions such as the race for traditional old Gafffers (which I think are boats rather than old bosses ;p) and the very competitive Cornish Pilot Gig sprint races.

There doesn't seem to be a website for this but further details can be obtained from Peter Reveley, the Regatta Secretary. (number below)

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Phone: 01237 470500
Address: The Waterfronts of Appledore and Instow
Directions: The twin villages are located between Barnstaple and Bideford facing each other across the Torridge estuary.

Appledore's definitely the sort of place to come to to relax and get away from the day-to-day pressures of life and just take it easy. If you are however missing the stress of having a million and one things to do then here we can offer our local equivalent.

Yep, As you are excercising the eyeballs by watching the boats bob up and down as the tides ebb and flow you can excercise the legs simultaneously by walking up and down The Quay and if you seriously want to multi-task then you can excercise the taste buds with of one our finest local products - a Hocking's Ice Cream.

Hocking's is a small family business, dating back to 1936, with a little factory up the hill here in Appledore and sells its products exclusively through its own little fleet of modern ice-cream vans at various locations around North Devon. Here in the village itself the van is parked up by the bus stop across from The Seagate Hotel. Be prepared to queue on a sunny summer day as this is a seriously good ice-cream and deservedly popular :)

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Phone: 01237 474575
Address: Various locations around North Devon including...
Directions: ...Instow Beach, Westward Ho! Seafront, Ilfracombe Seafront, Bideford Quay, Torrington Commons as well as here in Appledore - look out for the distinctive yellow and red vans!
Website: www.hockingsicecream.co.uk

This little festival came about when the local library was slated for closure in 2006 by cost-cutting bureaucrats of Devon County Council. The local outcry resulted in the formation of the formidable Friends of Appledore Library (FOAL - as good an acronym as any!), the library was duly saved and the offshoot being the the inaugural Book Festival in 2007.

The first festival, in what is basically a fishing village, was a resounding success, attracting many local writers along with a sprinkling of "big names" and visitors from all over the area. The second festival cast its net wider and the festival duly landed a few more names and visitors from further afield.

The 2009 event (which is the time of writing) looks set to go further and Appledore seems to be arriving on the literary map, not just here in North Devon but everywhere in the world that people enjoy a good read.

The festival takes place at the end of September, beginning of October and all the details are available on the website.

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Directions: All over the village!
Website: www.appledorebookfestival.co.uk

This is an annual event which takes place during the last week of May/early June and is one of the village's main events. The festival has been running since 1997 and each year attracts a diverse range of artistic talent. Each year has a theme, and previous themes have included Boatbuilding, Secret Gardens and Ritual Feasts. The 2009 theme was Fire and Fury which attracted such internationally-renowned artists such as Marcus Vergette who is in the process of creating a series of foundry-cast "Time & Tide Bells" for installation around the UK coast.

Unfortunately because this is such a popular event it means that it is my personally busiest time of the year at work and so I didn't get catch any of the happenings but it certainly makes the village come to life and seems to be a very family-orientated.

Well worth a visit and the website below gives details of past and forthcoming events.

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Directions: All over the village!
Website: www.appledorearts.org