Secreted in a tiny village between Torquay and Exeter this restaurant is a delight. Using mostly local ingredients to create excellent menus at what - at least to London eyes - are very reasonable prices.

www.vanillapod-cridfordinn.com/
Trusham, Teign Valley, Newton Abbot, Devon
TQ13 0NR
reservations@vanillapod-cridfordinn.com

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A working farm between Tiverton and Barnstaple - really lovely family site for relaxing. If you're a walker, it's a good spot for walking the moors or equally for local walks.

West Middlewick Farm, Nomansland, Tiverton Devon Ex16 8NP, www.westmiddlewick.co.uk , 01884 861235

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This fabulous hotel is on the Devon/Cornwall border overlooking the River Tamar. It manages to combine all of the essential ingredients of a fine country hotel in such a relaxed way that I can't believe anyone could find it anything other than perfect.

There are roaring log fires, beautiful gardens and fabulous rooms. Room 8 has handpainted wallpaper and looks straight out across the lawn and down to the river while room 1 is a gorgeous suite with doors opening directly on to the gardens and a vast bathroom complete with free standing bath which seems large and deep enough to host Olympic swimming events!

Afternoon tea is laid out at 3.30 every afternoon and is not to be missed for those whose idea of heaven is bowls of clotted cream, freshly baked scones (hot cross buns at Easter!) and traditional cakes such as Victoria Sandwich and apple and sultana cake.

Foodies will not be disappointed by the restaurant menu. The chef's risottos are fabulously creamy and rich - my particular favourite is wild mushroom with truffled brie although the fish starters are usually delicious as well. I'm not sure of the secret of the beef fillet but it is divine.

To top all of that, the staff are so friendly and truly cannot seem to do enough to assist.

www.hotelendsleigh.com/intro.html

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Autumn is a wonderful time to visit Devon with its golden vistas of beech woods that fill the landscape and, if you want more variety in your autumn colours, then a visit to Buckland Monachorum, with its magnificent acer glade, will bowl over even the most ardent leaf peeper.

Buckland Monachorum, Yelverton, near Tavistock, Devon, PL20 7LQ
www.thegardenhouse.org.uk
£5.50 entrance fee, need your own transport to get there, plant centre sells plants, garden tearooms at the place serves homemade cakes and light lunches
01822 854769

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Wetsuits for kids in Devon and Cornwall are cheap, they don't need top of the range (usually £35), just get the cheap ones (probably £10 or less). They give them sun protection, keep them warm if they are in and out of the water all day and give a bit of added buoyancy when they are learning to swim.

Get the ones with short arms and legs, you get more use out of them when they are growing fast, but remember to sun cream the lower arms and legs, or do like my kids do and wear a long UV sun suit underneath. Watch out if it's hot, especially if the kids are not going in the water much as they can get very hot with the black neoprene absorbing the heat.

They were the best things we ever bought, my daughter learned to swim in the sea when she was 4 in hers as she felt so confident.

You can buy them in surf shops (expensive), but also in most beach kiosks, bucket and spade shops in town and also in some supermarkets in beach towns. The ones from Decathlon in France are really good, and only 10 Euros.

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There are wonderful unspoilt beaches all around the West Country coasts, with no 'facilities', no development and few if any visitors. To find them, get a large-scale Ordnance Survey map (1:25,000) and look for beaches with no parking and no road nearby.

Providing you have to walk for 30 minutes to reach your beach, often down an old smugglers' path flanked by tall hedges alive with birdsong and wildflowers, at the end you should find, if you have chosen well, a little sandy cove surrounded by rocks and cliffs, with barely a soul in sight.

Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset

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