14 Great Days Out

1 Sculpture in a natural setting

Sculpture aficionados can enjoy impressive contemporary artworks in the loveliest of settings at Broomhill Sculpture Gardens near Barnstaple. The ten-acre garden is designed around a wooded valley and winding paths take you through thickets and glades, where you suddenly come upon extraordinary sculptures – more than 300 of them – a regularly changing exhibition from a host of internationally known sculptors. Up and coming is the work of Laury Dizengremel, who has developed further work following the previous Broomhill exhibition ‘Artists of the Silk Road’.

Broomhill is a good place to eat as well - they are five-times winners in the North Devon Good Food Awards. If you really want to extend your visit, try one of their jazz and dining concerts. On 4 April the Janette Mason Trio is featured, for which booking is essential.

Open Wed to Sun, 11am-4pm. (01271) 850262

2 Join the fantastic fudge hunt

Clovelly is North Devon’s picture-book village, a cluster of ancient cottages that tumbles down the hillside to a tiny harbour.

Explore the village this April, and at the same time you’ll have a chance to expand your waistline with the Fantastic Fudge Hunt. Ten numbered ‘fudge stones’ will be hidden around the village on the days 9-11 and 16-18 April. Your find can be exchanged for fudge in the Visitor Centre, and if you locate No 10, the prize is a whole kilo of six different types of fudge. But you’ll then have to race up and down the hill several times to work off all those calories.

For more information, (01237) 431781

3 Watery entertainment

If you’re a prospective boat owner, or even a family wanting an unusual day out, then try The Plymouth Sail and Power Show at Queen Anne’s Battery in Plymouth (26-27 April). The show caters for sail, motorboat, RIB and personal watercraft enthusiasts, and you can see more than 50 new and used boats, ranging from sleek motorboats to daysailing boats and a host of other exhibits, including clothing and accessories with both marine and non-marine themes.

Out on the water there will be plenty of action with both wakeboarding displays and Freestyle Asylum parading jaw-dropping stunts on jet skis.

With plenty of food and drinks outlets, and a bouncy castle for the kids, you can look forward to a fun day of exciting demonstrations, superb exhibits and one of the best collections of new and used boats on the south coast.

Open from 10am-6pm. For more information call Luke Bower on (02380) 450277.

4 Cycle the Plym Valley Trail

This cycle trail, part of the Devon Coast to Coast route, is ideal for families or those who want a gentle reintroduction to cycling with relatively little effort involved. Starting from the grounds of the National Trust’s Saltram House (begin your ride with the scrummy cakes from the restaurant – open from 11am-5pm daily), it’s a gently inclined northward route that follows the Plym estuary and the track of the old Great Western railway line that once ran to Princetown. You can ride as far as Clearbrook (12 miles from the start, with a brief road section near Bickleigh), and highlights include the wonderful wooded scenery, the chance of spotting peregrine falcons from one of the many viaducts and the creepy Shaugh Tunnel. But wherever you choose to stop and turn round, it’s downhill virtually the whole way back.

5 Take a river trip to Agatha Christie’s one-time home

Start at Dartmouth and catch one of the River Link boats from the Embankment, which will ferry you upriver to Greenway Quay. From Greenway Quay there’s now a footpath (uphill, and just short of a mile) to the National Trust’s Greenway House and Gardens, which will be looking their best this month with all the springtime shrubbery in full bloom. The house, which was Agatha Christie’s former holiday home, is undergoing restoration and not yet open to the public, but it’ll take you most of the day to explore the gardens and there are tea rooms serving excellent fare. From 16 April you’ll also be able to see an exhibition by the Brixham Shoal of Artists in the Barn Gallery.

River Link (01803) 834488, Greenway (01803) 842382

6 Spot a ghost or two

It’s not the simplest place to find – you take the back road from Totnes to Torquay that goes through Berry Pomeroy, and an even smaller lane off this, but Berry Pomeroy is one of those places that should not be missed. Managed by English Heritage, the castle ranks as Britain’s most haunted, and is perched on a knoll above landscape that is as bosky and tranquil as you’ll find anywhere. You can picnic on the grass outside, lunch in the tea room or stroll the paths that meander from this most peaceful of locations. Once you’ve paid to go inside, it’s worth taking one of the interactive audio tours that tell you all about the complicated history of the place – and look out for the ghosts. You may spot the White Lady, the Blue Lady or even the Lady in the Grey Dress, see strange lights, hear voices, feel unexpected cold patches or spot inexplicable shadows. A great mix for a great day out.

Open from 10am. (01803) 866 618

7 Cuddly animal time

Animal-loving children in your family? Then they’ll love a visit to Pennywell Farm near Buckfastleigh (signposted from the A38). Here you’ll find hungry lambs and goat kids to bottle-feed, ferrets to race, puppet shows, hedgehogs to meet, ponds to explore and a whole host of hands-on animal activities. Cuddle the pets, talk to the alpacas and make friends with more than 150 animals in their farmyard home, including the unusual Pennywell miniature pigs.

Rides for all ages are included in the admission price appropriate for different ages, including quad bikes for over sixes, go carts for over eights and the Rainbow Railway for whatever age.

Open daily 10am-5pm, (01364) 642023 or visit www.pennywellfarm.co.uk

8 A feast of letterboxes

To encourage reluctant children to walk, there can’t be a better way than taking them letterboxing on Dartmoor, and adults can indulge their inner child as well. It all started 154 years ago when a local Chagford resident left a glass jar with a message in it at Cranmere Pool, one of the moor’s remotest spots, with the idea that the next visitor should collect it. There are now thousands of hidden boxes on the moor, each containing a stamp, of which you collect an impression, and a visitors’ book in which you leave your own stamp. Keen letterboxers will have their own personalised stamp made up. Collection of 100 stamps qualifies you for membership of the 100 Club.

Finding the boxes requires a knack and a keen eye, so it’s best to go with someone who knows all the tricks, or buy a catalogue of clues, available from Tony Moore, 25 Sanderspool Cross, South Brent, TQ10 9LR for £7.30.

For more information visit www.letterboxingondartmoor.co.uk

9 The main event

Powderham Castle is in a spectacular situation above the Exe estuary, and is the perfect location for the newly resurrected Powderham Horse Trials. This three-day event takes place from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 April, and as it’s a fortnight before the Badminton Horse Trails, plenty of top riders will be present. Apart from the competitive riding and a stallion parade on the Saturday afternoon, two countryside arenas will be the focus of dog agility events and demonstrations of gun dogs, fly-fishing and falconry. A regional ‘food village’ and a hog roast will satisfy even the biggest of appetites, and children’s entertainment is also provided. Admission to the horse trials also includes entrance to the castle, so you can double your fun.

Further details and advanced booking via www.powderham-horse.co.uk or call (0845) 230 5177.

10 Leisure and Pleasure on the Exe

Topsham Museum has recently reopened after a major renovation. This little museum, idyllically situated in Topsham’s Strand, has been shortlisted to the last ten for the national Gulbenkian Prize, competing with such luminaries as the British Library and the London Museum of Transport.

The opening exhibition is entitled ‘Leisure and Pleasure on the Exe’, but there are other excellent exhibits with a real story behind them. The new River Gallery, for example, has four original Exe river craft, originally held by the Exeter Maritime Museum, then hived off to East Anglia, tracked down and bought back for £1 before being comprehensively restored. These include Cygnet, visually the most unusual, and the locally built salmon boat Ruby, the last of its kind anywhere.

Open Mon, Wed, Sat, Sun, 2pm-5pm, admission free, (01392) 873244.

11 Take a trip on the Tarka Line

Between Exeter and Barnstaple a 39-mile stretch of railway follows the lushly pastured valleys of the Exe, Creedy, Yeo and Taw. Travelling this stretch by train, or stopping off at one of the little stations along the way, is like travelling back into another era – you could easily imagine yourself in your own Brief Encounter. From the 21st-century bustle of central Exeter, you’re soon out into peaceful rural scenery that has changed little over the years, pottering through little villages which still maintain the station masters’ houses in their traditional livery. Many of the villages along the line have pubs which are part of the Rail Ale Trail, while at Eggesford you can wander along forest walks or stop off for lunch at the award-winning Fox and Hounds Hotel. Check beforehand which stations the train stops at, because not all of them do.

For information call National Rail Enquiries on (08457) 484950.

12 A bray of donkeys

Just outside Sidmouth there is a brilliantly run organisation which rescues and cares for unwanted or mistreated donkeys. Since its inception, the Donkey Sanctuary has provided a home for thousands of animals, and at Sidmouth you can currently see around 400, although the organisation also has some 2,000 at its various farms throughout the UK and Ireland.

It’s a calm and peaceful place, where you can wander through the fields, meet the donkeys in the barns, learn about the sanctuary’s work in the visitor centre or eat in the restaurant. It’s open from 9am until dusk, 365 days of the year, and entry to the public is free, but as the centre relies totally on donations to continue its work, please be as generous with your donations as possible.

(01395) 578222, www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk

13 Costume at Killerton

Killerton House at Broadclyst near Exeter is worth visiting in its own right – the property and its contents are fascinating and you could spend an entire day in the gardens and parkland alone – but an added attraction for those who fancy fashion is the Paulise de Bush costume collection. This is celebrating its 30th birthday with a new exhibition chosen by those who have been associated in some way with the house, ranging from students to the 91-year-old original curator of the collection. Exhibits date from the 18th to the mid-20th century.

Open 12 March – 2 November, 11am-4.30pm, closed Tuesdays. Open daily during August. (01392) 881345

14 Wine, vine and dine

Fancy a taste of Tuscany in Devon? Yearlstone Vineyard at Bickleigh is in a sun-trap situation, and looking down over the Exe Valley, with its red soils and rows of vines, can well lure you into believing you’re in Italy. In April the buds will just be bursting, but you can take a self-guided vineyard tour and afterwards enjoy a touch of local wine-tasting and sample a light seasonal lunch at the Terrace Café.

In May the vines really get growing, and you can try a guided vineyard excursion, including a tour of the winery.

For further information (01884) 855700

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