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Monty Hall's Great Escape
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Browns Hill Arts
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Browns Hill Arts
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Haldon Forest Cycling Trail
Family Favourites - July 2014
With some good weather over Easter and half-term and now with longer days we have recently had some lovely day trips with the children. We have really fallen in love with the South Hams (again!)
In Dartmouth itself we’ve happened upon two new activities, both of which come highly recommended. The first is Monty Halls’ Great Escapes who organise shore walks throughout the season. At Easter we went along for the Seashore Safari at Castle Cove, organised by Monty and his team. The marine biologist (Alana) who led the group was fantastic and honestly could have answered any question we threw at her, she let us smell and taste the edible plants, showed us caves to walk through and explained about all the animals in the rock pools. While the older children and adults were thoroughly engrossed in the talk and looking at the plants and animals up close, I was busily involved trying to stop a toddler falling into the rock pools. However I still managed to hear enough to learn a lot about our amazing coastline and make the trip worthwhile. For more information on their shore walks and full day excursions including diving and boat trips take a look at their website www.greatescapesdartmouth.co.uk. This summer they are offering one free child place with every paying adult (until further notice). The staff are super friendly, incredibly knowledgeable and you are guaranteed a good time.
The second gem we have recently found on our doorstep is the recently opened Browns Hill Arts at the end of Foss Street. This is a gallery/studio/workshop space run by Helena Clews, an artist (and also teacher) who with strong Dartmouth links has now settled here and opened a shop. My daughter and I happened upon one of Helena’s Crafty Kids workshops called Paint a Masterpiece. As soon as Emma sat down she was ready for her painting lesson and after an hour with Helena she had painted her own beautiful canvas of boats on the beach at Torcross. The activity and Helen were a hit with Emma and we will definitely be back for her holiday craft sessions for kids (no minimum age, as long as they can sit on a chair and not fall off, she will get them involved) and you get to take your treasured masterpiece home with you. She also runs an after school club every Wednesday 4 - 6pm - £10 per session, which includes all materials, squash and biscuits. Helena would also run a crafty birthday party for you – which sounds great to me! Look at www.brownshillarts.com/CRAFTY-KIDS for more information.
Another of our local family favourites is the Dart Café, next to St Saviour’s church. Not only is it a perfect spot for a quiet half hour with a book but it’s also very family friendly with a kiddies’ menu, booster seats, delicious cakes and a shelf full of cookery books to peruse over. While you are there you could also pop into St Saviour’s Church, and look at the newly refurbished building. There’s a children’s corner at the back with gorgeous knitted ark and animals to look at, a beautiful starry blue ceiling, newly refurbished gas lights that have been restored … yet another gem in the middle of Dartmouth.
Over May half term when the weather was beautiful and with family staying in nearby Thurlestone we took the chance to venture over towards Hope Cove and found a new favourite in South Milton Sands. It is both doggy and child friendly with a big car park. The beach is huge and beautiful at low tide with a gently shelved beach perfect for paddling and plenty of rock pools to explore. There are also facilities for paddle boarding and other watersports on the beach and The Beach Hut’s menu also comes highly recommended. But for an easy and cheap day out take a picnic with your buckets and spades! Perfect.
On another sunny day we set off with another family with a car full of bikes to explore Haldon Forest near Exeter. There are a number of well marked trails at various levels with the shortest marked route suitable for Emma who has only really learnt to ride off road in the past couple of months. There are plenty of stopping points along the way, passing places for faster cyclists, picnic spots and little exciting dens and things to see as we went along. There are also fabulous views over Exeter from the top of the ridge at Haldon Forest, although I had difficulty looking at the view, as I was trying to concentrate on keeping Emma going along the path in front of me! In celebration of The Gruffalo’s 15th birthday the trail is also littered with the much loved characters from the books – great excitement for my little one, Tom, who was leaning out of his bike seat all the way (nearly tipping my bike over), whilst shouting the words from the book! Such a happy day. We took a big picnic, but there is a café and park/play area. There is also a little scrambling route for bigger kids on bikes and other well marked routes for more advanced cyclists. This is definitely a place for the whole family www.forestry.gov.uk/haldonforestpark.
And finally don’t forget Dartmouth Outdoor Pool is already open for the summer. Such a lovely pool, with friendly staff and a real suntrap – perfect for a swim and relax on the grass or just nip up for a quick dip on cooler days, because the water is so warm. Have a lovely summer!
First Published By The Dart July 2014