Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Saturday, 25 June 2016

East Devon - Day 1 - Friday, 17th June: Sidbury

We stayed in Sidbury, a picturesque village, a few miles inland from Sidmouth for our East Devon holiday. The 300 year old cottage we had booked was lovely (cosy, comfortable, clean and full of character) and in an idyllic location with the River Sid running alongside, a small nature reserve opposite, thatched cottages nearby and a view of St Giles, the church. It was on the outskirts of the village so you could walk along lanes from the front door.

The cottage.


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The view from the front door of the bridge, River Sid and cottages.


We spent a lot of time watching wildlife on the river - birds seen included Pied and Grey Wagtail, Backbirds, Robins, Swallows, House Martins, House Sparrows (including juveniles), a family of Blackcaps, Grey Heron and B was lucky enough to see a Kingfisher.





This is the Millennium Pool on the nature reserve.


The East Devon Way passed the cottage.




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St Giles, Sidbury


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We had several meals at the Red Lion which was only a few hundred yards walk from the cottage.


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There were plenty of fish in the river.




Sidbury Castle - an iron age hill fort (sadly obscured by trees!).


Most of the photos were taken by D with the Canon SX50 - mainly because he took more photos of the village than me! This time the photos marked with asterisks were taken by me.



7 comments:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Thta sounds like aperfect spot to have a holiday. The cottage looks quaint. Hope you took photographs of the inside as I would ike to see that. Great having the river adn nature reserve nearby not to mention a pub.Looking forward to seeing more.

Ragged Robin said...

Margaret Adamson - Thanks Margaret. Sorry I didn't take photos of the inside but if you copy and paste this link there are pictures of the interior on the website. http://www.classic.co.uk/holiday-cottage/desc-3003.html

Rosie said...

Oh, what a delightful place to stay! The village and church look lovely, the cottage looks cosy and to be near the river, nature reserve and the walks too must have been wonderful:)

Ragged Robin said...

Rosie - Thanks so much. Sidbury was a really lovely village and we were so pleased with the cottage and location. I had done my homework well :)

Wendy said...

A lovely selection of photos from your holiday. I don't know this area but it looks very picturesque. I would love the combination of an old, cosy, character cottage, an idyllic spot by the river and a nature reserve on hand - it sounds perfect! You had some great sightings of birds, too. The Sidbury Castle sight looks, from it's location, as though it would have once dominated the area. I'm glad you had a great time.

Anonymous said...

A lovely part of the world, I know it well x

Ragged Robin said...

Wendy - Thanks very much Wendy. Apart from when I was a child (a very long time ago) I haven't had a holiday in Devon although we did stop just up the coast near Lyme Regis a few years ago. It is very pretty there and the high hedgerows full of wild flowers are delightful :) I checked the OS Map but I couldn't see any public footpaths which went through Sidbury Castle which was a shame as both D and I wanted to visit!

Countryside Tales - Many thanks CT - I seem to remember you had a holiday in or near Salcombe a year or so ago?