Travel Tips

The MS Oldenburg is Lundy's supply ship which doubles up as the main means of passenger access to the island from March until October and sails regularly up from Bideford during this period.

The ship also hosts evening jazz cruises during the summer and is available for private charter.

Every year the twin villages hold a regatta with both fun events and some fiercely competitive racing - here's one of the heats for the pilot gig competition.

Appledore is still a working fishing port, although most of the locally-caught fish are in fact landed at Bideford, about 3 miles down river.

Instow, across the estuary from Appledore, is home to the North Devon Yacht Club which has more than 400 active members. Thus, in the summer especially, the estuary becomes a riot of colour as boats of all shapes and sizes come out to play.

The Kathleen & May is the last remaining 3-masted top sail schooner and is based at the moment down the river at Bideford.

The ship was built at Connah's Quay, near Chester, in 1900, from where she plied her original trade, hauling coals around the west coast of England. In 1931 she was bought by an Appledore merchant shipper, Captain Jewell, fitted out with an engine and subsequently plied her trade mostly to and from Youghal in Ireland.

She continued as a working ship until the early 60's before falling into disrepair. In 1970 she was found by the Duke of Edinburgh who launched an appeal to attempt to restore her to her former glory. However, despite the Duke's considerable influence, the Maritime Trust set up for the restoration failed to secure the necessary funding.

In 1998 she was bought by a Bideford local who has spent the last several years fully refitting her to her original 1900 specifications (although keeping her engines).

She really is a magnificent sight under full sail but unfortunately navigates our stretch of the estuary under engine power.

Bideford is still very much a working port and the Arco Dart here, operated by Hanson Aggregates, regularly drops off cargoes of building aggregate. Needless to say the little boats tend to keep out of the way as she passes!

This is another popular summer activity. Just outside the village is the Knapp House Activity Centre offering youngsters a range of land and water-based activities. One such water-based activity is speedboat trips on the house's own RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) with its twin outboard engines. This certainly looks like fun and the youngster's screams as the throttles are opened up out in the bay often drown out the roar of the engines themselves.

Just outside Instow there's a small Royal Marine base which is dedicated to developing materiel for amphibious landings as well as training.

Thus another common sight is the deployment of the base's landing craft being trialled in the estuary and on the local beaches.