Cockle Cottage is a quaint, three bedroom fisherman's cottage in the unique little fishing village of Appledore in Devon.   The village is brimming with character with its cobbled courtyards, narrow pedestrian streets and grassy lanes behind the bustling quay.   The cottage is in an ideal location, as it is close to many art galleries, shops and a choice of pubs and restaurants. At high tide visitors can catch a ferry to Instow beach, take a river cruise or enjoy the family pastime of crabbing (lines and bait available locally). Sandy beaches, coastal walking, golf and indoor pool, within 2 miles.

 

 

ACCOMMODATION

Three bedrooms. Very comfortable sitting room with wood burner in original stone fireplace, door to walled courtyard and arch to well fitted kitchen. Dining room. First floor: Pretty double bedroom. Spacious bathroom/W.C. (shower attachment). Curved character stairs (low headroom) to second floor: Two charming twin bedded rooms.

• Linen (duvets) inc • Elec inc • Gas CH inc May 12th – Sep 22nd (other dates £14 pw poa) • Logs locally, 1st supply foc • TV • Radio • Microwave • Auto wm • Booster chair • Roadside parking 50 yds • Walled courtyard with furniture • Pets – 1 dog max

Appledore

Colour-washed buildings and streets only a few paces wide in places contribute to the rich character of a large fishing village whose seafaring traditions go back more than 1000 years.   It has been a base for fishermen since Anglo-Saxon times, and is said to have been granted 'free port' status by Elizabeth I in gradtitude for the part played by Appledore ships and sailors in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1568.

Modern vessels are built in a covered yard - the largest in Europe when it was opened in 1970.   At Hinks's Yard local craftsmen have built full-sized replicas of a Roman galley, a Viking longship and Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hinde, the first English ship to sail round the world.   Many aspects of the town's seafaring history are illustrated in the North Devon Maritime Museum in Odun Road.   One room is devoted to Appledore's links with Canada's Prince Edward Island in the 19th century when, faced with a timber shortage in Europe, local shipbuilders built ships on the island and then sailed them back to Appledore to be given the finishing touches by craftsmen in Richmond Dock.

The quay beside the River Torridge was completed in 1846 and used by a considerable number of sailing ships until the 1930s. A passenger ferry plies between Appledore and Instow on the opposite side of the Torridge, during the holiday season.   There are boats for hire, and a regatta is held in July or August.