Ilfracombe Harbour — Attraction in North Devon

A lovely little harbour full of small Yachts and tourist boats to take you up and down the coast or even book a Sea trip out to Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel to see the Puffins and other Sea birds. Along the harbour are confectionary shops and even a fish and chip shop and the usual seaside shops including a Cafe. Over on the right hand side of the harbour nestled into the corner on the left is a place called Walrus Fisheries that looks like a small industrial unit.This is where you can buy fresh Cock Crab and Lobster freshly caught just off the local coast. Yourll have to get up early though to go and buy some because they go rather quickly. Be there for 7.30am to assure you get yours. Failing that next door to the Walrus fisheries there is an eatery/restaurant where you can buy local caught Sea food cooked.There is the option of sitting outside at a table too. Be amazed by the 66" Verity Statue displaying a woman in pregnancy holding high a sword. This is a Damien Hurst cast Bronze and is an anatomically interesting piece as half of Verity shows you an intact woman whilst the other half shows you a more anatomical view of the muscles and baby. There is information by some benches beside Verity showing you the casting process and information of when and where she was forged. Along the jetty where the boats are are numerous booths where you can book Sea fishing trips and just behind the is the Ilfracombe sea Life Centre witch houses local species of fish and invertebrates. This Sea life centre also has a cafe where you can sit out in the sunshine at one of its many tables. An added bonus to this location high up and can not be missed is St Nicolas' Chappel which is the oldest maritime Chappel...

A quintessentially English harbour, set right back and around the corner from the sea. As Ilfracombe is in a classic North Devon Cove the mooring here provides safe haven indeed. You may miss it approaching from the land side, but all of a sudden there it is, sandy beach and all, with its quayside parade of pubs, eateries, ice-cream parlours, shops and dry docks; a mixture of commercial fishing and pleasure craft and the impressive RNLI Lifeboat and station tucked away in the corner. To the mouth of the harbour is "Verity" a 66' tall and imposing statue created by Damian Hurst; around her the quayside descends into a swimming platform with railings and steps. Looking down on the scene is a small church at the top of a hill which you can visit in season or walk up to at any time if you have the legs for it. We ate lunch at Lynbay Fish and Chips; the meal was exceptional and probably the best I have tasted; the fillets of cod were tender, sweet, and tasty; they were covered in a beautiful batter; light, crispy, and yellow-golden. The chips were quality; you could taste the potato and not a hint of stale cooking oil nor any greasy-ness; perfection. Lynbay also makes a gluten free batter and prides itself on only using sustainable ingredients; in particular the fish, of which they have a good variety; it's no surprise as the rich fishing grounds around Lundy island are not a million miles away. It was early November and the town relatively quiet; I can imagine that during the summer season this place is a hive of activity and industry; we will make a return visit in time and take one of the many boat trips on offer...see you...

We visited this morning during a little tour of North Devon, it's quite a few decades since my last visit, as it's quite a journey over Exmoor to reach Ilfracombe and I just can't be bothered to drag myself over (I'm so lazy!!)

We followed the signs for the harbour down through the town and found a nice set of double yellow lines to park on before reaching the car-park (worry not I have a Blue Badge of joy). We took a slow small stroll to the harbour side and could not miss the awesome "verity" statue by Damien Hirst, on loan to the town for 20 years (fun fact Damien lives in Combe Martin just down the road from Ilfracombe). We took some pictures of the harbour and made some notes about the helicopter to Lundy Island for later in the year and then stopped off at the disabled loos - here is a tip, carry a radar key unless you want to track down the harbour master for his radar key. The toilets were lovely and clean, my only gripe was the alarm cord was exceeding long and you could easily trip over it on your way out.

We then took in some of the fantastic local shops, bought a new Steif monkey to add to my collection and had a delicious ice-cream before heading off.

Ilfracombe is a great place to visit, it reminded me of some of the fishing villages in Cornwall with it's one way systems and narrow lanes - go there,...