Thursday, 8am. Bideford let you lie in till 10 with the overnight ticket, so I did, before deciding to stay another day, just like in the East 17 Christmas Number 1 (not US).
Who wouldn’t like to wake to views like this ?
I made myself a coffee and remembered not to spray the campervan with air freshener while the gas was on.
After that better-than-you-think Moma porridge in Spoons, I caught the bus to Ifracombe, home to a whole 3 ticks.
How have I never been to Ilfracombe before; it’s stunning.
You’ll know my approach to a new town by now. Make a comparison that upsets both places equally, and only post when I’m well out of town.
So, Ifracombe is basically Weston Super Mare with an inferior Wetherspoons. Or Ramsgate with an inferior Wetherspoons.
But with what looks like a superior secret nuclear plant on the seafront,
but which turns out to be the Landmark Theatre, as well as a nuclear power plant.
Despite the lack of any obvious sand, the town was filling up from daytrippers from Dudley and Dawlish by 11am, so I nipped in Spoons for Tick No. 1.
The Admiral Collingwood, named after England’s dogged all-rounder who once spent his holiday here between tours, has one of the more interesting Spoons beer ranges I’ve seen since the 4th July.
The Stag was a rich ruby NBSS 3.5 (Russ is keeping score) But it was deadly dull, as the seaside JDWs often are.
No-one had a clue what to do at the entrance, reading a sign seemingly instructing them to stand there. Forever. Most of them were Brummies.*
“How to behave in a pub” should be a mandatory course for 16 year olds.
“If they haven’t got a breakfast oi’ll have a bronch”
“What’s a bronch ?”
Honest. Anyway, that’s your highlight.
The GBG App, which is playing up a bit, suggested that the Hip & Pistol was ten minutes away, but actually here it is, across t’ road.
Oh, what’s this ?
I sought urgent advice from Pub Twitter.
I took the tick, and enjoyed a freshly baked if overpriced scone with enough calories to make a walk up the cliffs urgently necessary but unpleasant.
Next, some culture….
*Not that there’s THAT much wrong with Brummies, of course.
retiredmartin 
I was hoping they gave you a gun to go hipster hunting.
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There should be one of those signs outside every nouveau Craft Beer Townie bar, “This season we will not be operating as a pub…”
Good job the scone was good, a plant pot with cream tea stuffed in it is not a good look, even in Devon.
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All micropubs should have that sign outside so folk know.
(joking, or am I).
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Hip & Pistol! What sort of name is that for any self-respecting establishment? Let alone a pub. Sounds like something from an eighties sitcom.
Was the scone vegan and gluten free, as per the sign?
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T’other Paul,
I read it as “Pissed up Hipster”.
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As part of the Brummie Separatist Group (BSG) I can officially say that Weston Super Mare is THE holiday destination 😎
My parents went there for a day trip last week and confirmed it had been ‘smartened up!’
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Beautiful scenery…except for the nuclear power plant. Though if they painted them brown and put flags on top they’d look like sand castles, which would be an improvement.
Interesting reinvention of a pub business.
Must be easier to stay Covid secure when serving tea and scones, rather than Sharps Offshore Pilsner…
Discuss…. 🙂
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You can’t get drunk on Earl Grey. Or can you…
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You could be onto something there…
…though Ilfracombe looks too nice for drunkards. 🙂
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No, only in it, and that’s in Leek.
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Ahhhh! First I thought they were a homage to Ratcliffe on Soar cooling towers’, then Stoke Bottle Kilns, but of course, they’re bucket and spade sandcastles. I approve Ilfracombe…
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“just like in the East 17 Christmas Number 1”
I have no idea what that means.
“and remembered not to spray the campervan with air freshener while the gas was on.”
Oooh. Instant tan that.
“Even looks a painful journey”
No argument here.
“Love a good cliff”
What about a heath? Or is it doubly good when one combines the two? 🙂
“But with what looks like a superior secret nuclear plant on the seafront,”
We’ve been over this. That’s the prototype for Marilyn Monroe’s brassieres.
“Not much beach”
But more ‘water’ then where you live? 😉
“See if you can spot the Spoons”
The one with the street sign outside?
“(Russ is keeping score)”
That’s 3. 🙂
“Most of them were Brummies.*”
Oh I say… steady on!
““How to behave in a pub” should be a mandatory course for 16 year olds.”
And those who are mentally that age? 😉
“NOT a pub”
Good Christ!
“I took the tick, and enjoyed a freshly baked if overpriced scone”
Bloody hell. Seriously?
(not with you getting the tick, but with them forsaking beer — sheesh!)
I’m ALMOST glad I live on this side of the pond!
Cheers
PS – Get that crap sorted out before I come over in a year or two please. 🙂
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Oooh, you definitely coming over. Let me know so I can be out.
East 17 had one of the last Christmas Number 1 singles in the UK that wasn’t a talent show cover or charity song in 1994 with Stay Another Day. Slightly revered here but didn’t cross the pond.
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There won’t be much beach if the tide’s in 😛
As I said on the other post, which everyone has studiously ignored, Ilfracombe is a lot nicer than people imagine. But I bet a lot of visitors spend their time around the harbour and along Wilder Road and never realise there’s also a High Street 200 yards further inland.
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I had no image at all of Ilfracombe. Weston-super-Mare similarly surprised me on first visit, and not just because of the Dragon!
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