England: Sidmouth

Since I mentioned Sidmouth before (as a contrast to Whitney, Thongs and Adventures on Sentosa, 18 April!), I thought I'd write post on it. Actually I haven't been there for a few years, but it is close to where I grew up and it is a very pretty little seaside town!

Sidmouth is situated on the south coast of Devon (a British county) - in the South West of England. It takes 2-3 hours from London to reach the nearest mainline train station at Exeter. From there you will need a car to drive the eight or so miles to the coast. Public transportation does not really exist in rural UK areas, whatever people try to tell you. Trains go the larger towns, after that you need your own wheels!

Summer is by far the prettiest and best time to see this town - though it can get crowded in July and August. In my experience most of Sidmouth's tourists are British rather than international. But if you want to sample English things outside of the 'usual' cities, Sidmouth is not a bad place to start :)

What I like most about this town are the little streets and old-fashioned buildings. You will get a definite feel of how England was back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries here if you explore some of the back-streets. It was once a favourite place of Queen Victoria's family and has an old-fashioned seaside grandeur alongside a cosy, village feeling. A lot of the town is now a conservation site.

Over the summer months there is a folk festival week (normally early August) and I've frequently seen traditional parades of Morris Dancers there. Sidmouth also regularly wins national and international awards for its town floral displays - not to mention people's own gardens. [The population here is tiny - around 15,000 - with a large percentage of garden-proud retirees!]

Traditional Morris Dancers!

Sidmouth's beach is mostly made from pebbles, with a little sand at the 'Jacob's Ladder' end. And if you are used to warm waters, be warned: the sea here is cold, even in summer - test it before jumping in! There, are, however, some stunning countryside walks across the clifftops - if trekking and views are your thing.

 


Jacob's Ladder & path down to beach


Other things you can try at Sidmouth:

1. Visit the Norman Lockyer Observatory (up the hill, on the outskirts of the town). This is a tiny, friendly place with a real, scaled-down planetarium inside! Really worth a visit.
2. Locally made, Devonshire ice-cream
3. A proper Devonshire cream tea (with scones, jam and clotted cream)
4. Scrumpy (a harsh, local farmers' cider made from apples)
5. Visit nearby attractions like the thatched village of Branscombe; plus A La Ronde, Killerton House and other National Trust sites http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/a-la-ronde/
6. Local fish and chips
7. There is a small, strange local museum!
8. Further up the coast: the posher but also very nice seaside towns of Beer and Lyme Regis (Lyme Regis is famous for fossils)

Happy visiting!

Branscombe

Photo credits, thanks to: Fotolibra, megahowto.com, door2tour, trainsferriesbuses.com, worldheritagecoast.net, paintings-art blogspot