Wintry Weekends in Devon

Devon was made for winter – in fact, now is the perfect time of year for a West Country weekend escape. Wassail away evil spirits before tucking into some apple brew, enjoy blustery walks on the frosted moor, hole up at the pub by a crackling fire, learn how to interior design your home or even solve a murder Sherlock Holmes style. 

Check out Visit Devon’s guide to wintry weekends for a slew of cultural attractions, bracing outdoor activities and feasting opportunities to keep the whole family well-fed and happily entertained this winter:

Get into character or learn a skill…

Sherlock Holmes Weekend on Dartmoor
• Gear up for Guy Richie’s new Sherlock Holmes film, released on 25 December, with a Holmes-themed Dartmoor weekend in the area that provided the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of Baskervilles. 100 years on, budding detectives can stay right on the moor at the delectable Prince Hall Hotel, take a wild winter walk to the treacherous Grimpen Mire and join a Hound of the Baskervilles Safari to discover the secrets behind the book (www.dartmoorsafaris.co.uk). For your evening entertainment, head off by horse and carriage to Laughter Hole House for a Victorian soiree of dining, high drama and mystery solving with the Baskerville Dining Experience (www.baskerville-experience.co.uk).

Be Your Own Interior Designer at The Hamptons Hotel, 15 – 17 Jan, 19 – 21 Feb, 19 – 21 March 2010
• If you don’t fancy braving the cold this winter then prepare for a fabulous new year’s refurb! This 2-day workshop of lectures and exercises will help you create a design scheme for a room in your own home. Get advice from The Hampton’s owner and professional interior designer, Janine Powell, on how to plan your room’s layout and style, with talks on colour and texture, soft furnishing and decorative lighting, and come away with your own sample board. From £378 per person, or £598 per couple for a 2-day package, including boutique B&B accommodation and a buffet lunch on Sat and Sun - The Hamptons.

Learn to cook the West Country way at Asburton Cookery School
• If you want to perfect your pasty or get to grips with game then book yourself in for a weekend course at Ashburton Cookery School. Located in the pretty town of Ashburton on the edge of Dartmoor, the award winning school opened a state-of-the art new premises this winter offering day and weekend courses. Try ‘Taste of the West Country’ for local fayre, get in to ‘Gastro’ or perfect ‘Patteserie’. One day courses from £149. Make a weekend of it and stay on site from £79 for a double room (www.ashburtoncookeryschool.co.uk).

Enchanting events…

Winter Solstice Woodland Bushcraft – Churston, East Devon, 21 Dec
• Head deep into the beautiful Grove Woodland to celebrate the shortest day of the year by learning traditional bush craft skills. From fire lighting and shelter building, to making wreaths from wild ivy, this workshop promises a fun-filled and unique day out, available to all ages. Woodland Bushcraft. 

The Wonderful World of Rodney Peppé, Until 11 April 2010
• Celebrate toys galore at this collection of illustrations, toys and models by the artist Rodney Peppé, housed at Torre Abbey in Torquay. This exhibition of humour, imagination and craftsmanship will undoubtedly brighten up any winter’s day. Keep an eye out for Peppé’s kettle pirate ship. Rodney Peppe exhibition.

Magical Tales for Mid-Winter at Cookworthy Forest, West Devon 19 Dec 2009
• Draw in close around the fire in the Celtic roundhouse, warm your hands, and let your imagination take you on a journey! Join Raventales for a magical mid-winter evening of seasonal stories and songs with enchanting shadow theatre. Wrap up warm; bring a torch and a blanket or cushion to sit on (www.forestry.gov.uk).

Dartmouth Comedy Festival, 3 – 6 February 2010
• For an uproariously entertaining night of slapstick, stand-up, monologues and even comedic poetry and music, head for the Flavel Arts Centre in Dartmouth for a festival of laughter guaranteed to ward off any post-Christmas blues. Dartmouth Comedy Festival. 

Eat, drink and be merry…

Cider seekers
• Head for the Cider Press Centre to sample Devon’s most famous tipple, or why not cut a path to the Occombe Orchard Wassailing near Paignton on 17 January 2010 for a fantastical, kiddy-friendly celebration of the apple harvest. Sip apple juice, make mini toffee apples and follow the lantern-lit musical procession to the orchard to scare away bad spirits.

England’s most isolated Inn
• For something really remote, drive deep within the weather-beaten Moors between Princetown and Moretonhampstead to encounter a lone pub standing isolated high upon Dartmoor. The Warren House Inn (www.warrenhouseinn.co.uk) is a traditional Inn with oak beams, classic pub grub, real ales, and a fire that’s said to have been burning since 1845. Its location is truly extraordinary and on a crisp winter’s day you can see for miles.

Go ‘slow’ at a special winter’s farmers’ market, 29 Nov & 20 Dec 2009
• Stock up your winter larder with regional meats, cheeses, fish, fruit, preserves and more at the Slow Food Market in Topsham, outside Exeter. Set up as “an antidote to fast living”, this collection of small producers sell their wares at Matthews Hall, with food writer, fine wine importer and Topsham resident, Marc Millon on hand to assist with ‘Taste’ workshops. Slow Food Devon.

Brace yourself for an active winter’s weekend…

Get wild on the rapids of the River Dart
• The River Dart provides the perfect location for a wild whitewater experience. Open to Kayakers from October to March, the River Dart with its steep granite rivers and challenging rapids offers options for all levels of experience. CRS Adventures offers whitewater rafting on six person rafts down the Dart led by a fully qualified and experienced guide. From £35 per person. CRS Adventures. 

Head out on horseback and overnight in a cosy farmhouse, North Devon
• Dean Riding Stables houses a cutesy mid-18th century farmhouse, set 2 miles from the spectacular coast of North Devon, with riding stables onsite. Wrap up warm and hop on a horse or pony (nervous and novice riders welcome) to ride through gorgeous winter woodland, dramatic coastland and moorland tracks - www.deanridingstables.co.uk

Walk the windswept beer smuggler route, from Beer Head to Branscombe
• Walk in the footsteps of Jack Rattenbury, the 19th Century Beer smuggler known as ‘Rob Roy of the West’! The striking chalk outcrop of Beer Head is particularly dramatic in winter and holds many stories from prehistoric settlements to World War II. Listen to landscape detective, archaeologist Dr Martin Gillard describe the finds from the 2006 dig (call 0870 042 0092), or just ramble across cliff-top paths with breathtaking coastal views over Lyme Bay and the delightful combes of Branscombe -(www.eastdevonaonb.org.uk/documents/Beerwalkv3_000.pdf ).

Go for a wintry round of golf – Bovey Castle
• Voted 12th Best Hotel in the World by the Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Bovey Castle is seriously swanky. Pack your Hunter Wellies, your Golf Spikes and your swishest evening attire. Enjoy crisp winter walks through the gorgeous castle estate, and test your golfing prowess on the 18-course championship golf course, designed to rival its sister course at Gleneagles in Turnberry, no less. Special winter package of £140 pp per night Nov – March, including 2 rounds of golf - (www.boveycastle.com).

And relax… at a seaside Inn, a grand old Manor, or a working Farm…

A frosted farmhouse – Twistgates Farm Cottages, Devon Upottery, near Honiton
• Deep in the Blackdown Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Twistgates Farm’s 3 self-catering cottages sleep from 2-5 people – a remote haven for the whole family to hunker down in, with a myriad of winter wildlife. Cottages come with wood-burning stoves, local produce for the fridge on request, and endless frosted valleys at your feet. From £235 per week. Twistgates Farm. 

To the manor born – Lewtrenchard Manor, Lewdown, near Okehampton
• A grand winter’s weekend beckons. This elevated Jacobean house is a stylish haven to enjoy elegant gardens, first-rate service and old-school pastimes like falconry lessons; and there are luxuriously fitted bedrooms to sink down in after. From £135 per night based on two sharing, includes breakfast. Lewtrenchard Manor. 

Bed down in a cosy pub – The Lamb Inn, Sandford, Crediton
• The Lamb Inn is a real country gem, a pub-lovers pub. Large open fires warm the residents of comfy sofas, whilst diners tuck into hearty fayre and the less traditional watch a film in the pubs own cinema room cum skittle alley. And the best bit, you can stay over in style. Think large luxurious rooms, underfloor heating, flat screen TVs & sumptuous beds. Country pubs don’t come much better. From £75 per room per night. The Lamb Inn.  

Spa by the sea – Cary Arms, Babbacombe Beach, South Devon
• This boutique inn is the epitome of effortless seaside charm. Set on the stunning Babbacombe coast, it has just 8 rooms, plus 1, 2 and 4-bedroom cottages, all fitted out in contemporary shabby-chic style. If you tire of the incredible sea views, soothing spa treatments and home-cooked food, nip to nearby Torquay for entertainment shopping. From £150 per night based on two sharing, includes breakfast. Cary Arms.