Heaven in a beach hut

WE'VE just stayed in a beach hut.

This was no ordinary beach hut though. This beach hut had a sofa, two tellies, a DVD player, and iPod docking station, a comfy double bed, a well equipped kitchen (including a coffee making machine), a shower, with a couple of bath robes, and a rubber duck thrown in for good measure.

Oh, and there was a hot tub too.

Just about the only thing this beach hut has in common with the sort you find on the front at places like Bournemouth and Brighton is a view of the beach and the sea.

The location was Hele Bay, just around the corner from Ilfracombe in North Devon, and the resort is called Beach Cove, a cluster of luxury chalets that cling to the rock face as the steep cliffs dip towards this little inlet.

It is a lovely location and a perfect romantic retreat for a long weekend, which is exactly what we enjoyed, taking in the spring sunshine over four leisurely days.

Our “hut” was at the very front of the site, with fabulous views over the beach and sea with picturesque cliffs on the periphery.

Not that we could always see the beach – when the tide was in, the water was lapping at the steep wall some 20 feet beneath our front window. “It’s like being at the front of a boat,” my wife remarked, as we watched the waves come and go.

But when the tide is out, a broad expanse of beach is revealed, inviting exploration (which is what we did half an hour after we arrived), with rock pools to peer into, strange rock formations to photograph, and a plentiful supply of flat pebbles to skim on the surface of the sea.

The sand at Hele Bay may not be the prettiest – it’s a slate grey colour, rather than the fine gold stuff you find elsewhere in the county – but the cove itself is attractive and drawing in just one lungful of that pure sea air makes you feel ten times healthier.

And when the sun starts to go down and the dog walkers have retreated, and you sit on that sofa staring out to sea and listening to the waves, you feel it belongs to no one else but you.

It doesn’t feel right to call Beach Cove a “resort” – that description suggests holiday camps and slot machines and kiddy clubs. Beach Cove has a reception and you occasionally see maintenance people wandering around, who clearly do a great job because the place is spotlessly clean and everything in the hut is in excellent working order.

Otherwise, you are left to yourself to enjoy the peace and quiet.

And we would have been quite content to do that for the entire four days, which would have been a shame because there is plenty to see and do a short distance away.

I’d not been to Ilfracombe before and the impression I had from research was that it was a typical family holiday resort, packed with fish and chip shops, amusement arcades and processions of tourists along the prom.

While some of that was in evidence, Ilfracombe proved to be a town of surprises.

If you want to take your car, it’s just a few minutes’ drive from Hele Bay. The healthy option – not to say the more spectacular one – is to take the cliff path from the bay, which takes you straight to the harbour. You’ll need plenty of puff for the initial ascent, but it’s worth it for the views alone.

The harbour is busy with working and leisure vessels and is lined on one side by a number of interesting shops (plus an amusement arcade and chip shops).

A short climb from the harbour takes you to St Nicholas Chapel, which dates back to 1321 and as well as a place of worship, it was a small lighthouse which helped guide ships in the busy Bristol Channel.

Its history is described in an interesting exhibition inside; outside there is a breathtaking 360 degree panorama.

A short walk along the coastal path and you come to the Tunnels Beaches, a unique and quite eccentric coastal innovation.

Despite its coastal location, access to the beaches at Ilfracombe was at best difficult, with huge granite cliffs blocking the way.

In the 19th century, as enthusiasm for visiting beaches and bathing in the sea increased, it was decided to make those beaches accessible by bringing a bunch of miners across the sea from Wales who from 1823 spent the next two years carving tunnels through the cliffs… by hand.

Their hard graft is still there for all to see – pay your £2.50 at the entrance (a bargain £8.50 for a family of four), wander through the atmospherically lit tunnels, and before you know it you emerge onto a wonderfully secluded beach, which at low tide offers all sorts of nooks and crannies and sun traps for you to spend the day in.

You can also swim in one of the two tidal pools (there were originally three), which were built for those sea-loving Victorians – in those days swimming was strictly segregated, with a bugler on hand between the ladies’ and gents’ pools, ready to sound a blast if one of the latter acted in an ungengtlemanly fashion and attempted to catch a glimpse of the women in their bathing costumes. Woe betide any Peeping Tom who attempted this – he would be arrested.

We enjoyed a good day out in Ilfracombe. It may not be the sightseeing capital of the world – or even Devon, for that matter – but there is still plenty to see and do in this little town.

Beach Cove is a good base for people with all sorts of interests – walkers, wildlife lovers, watersport enthusiasts, photographers, chiller-outers… We were the last of those on our second full day. We may have felt guilty for about a minute for not seeing more of the surrounding area, but when you’ve got a well equipped beach hut and a beautiful bay in front of you, why bother?

So we explored more of the beach, read books on our little patio, had a sandwich for lunch, relaxed in the wonderful hot tub, and dined just up the road at the pleasant Hele Billy’s bar and restaurant.

And we got back from there just in time for the wife to put Poldark on the TV. Me? I was back in the hot-tub, listening to the waves hitting the shore and watching the darkening sky fill with stars.

It was heaven in Devon.

We met Verity when we went to Ilfracombe.

Verity is an extraordinary 66ft steel and bronze statue designed by local resident Damien Hirst.

She stands on the pier of the harbour, seeming to watch over vessels that enter and leave.

And typically of Hirst, she is controversial, has divided opinion, and frankly is not for the faint-hearted.

The statue depicts a naked pregnant woman standing on a pile of law books, holding a sword skywards in one hand and the scales of justice behind her back in the other.

What probably defines this as a Hirst statue is that the flesh has been pulled back on one half of the woman, revealing musculature and the unborn baby.

She looks magnificent from a distance, and even more so up close, and she is becoming an iconic landmark as you approach from land or sea.

New York has its Statue of Liberty, and Ilfracombe has its Verity. You may smirk at that comparison, but once viewed, Verity will never be forgotten.

Ilfracombe should be proud of her

We stayed at Beach Cove Coastal at Hele Bay, Ilfracombe, Devon, EX34 9QZ. Telephone: 01271 863006

A break in one of its beach huts starts from £295, depending on length of stay and time of year.

You can find more information about Beach Cove and other similar holiday parks around the country at https://www.darwinescapes.co.uk/

WE met Verity when we went to Ilfracombe.

Verity is an extraordinary 66ft steel and bronze statue designed by local resident Damien Hirst.

She stands on the pier of the harbour, seeming to watch over vessels that enter and leave.

And typically of Hirst, she is controversial, has divided opinion, and frankly is not for the faint-hearted.

The statue depicts a naked pregnant woman standing on a pile of law books, holding a sword skywards in one hand and the scales of justice behind her back in the other.

What probably defines this as a Hirst statue is that the flesh has been pulled back on one half of the woman, revealing musculature and the unborn baby.

She looks magnificent from a distance, and even more so up close, and she is becoming an iconic landmark as you approach from land or sea.

New York has its Statue of Liberty, and Ilfracombe has its Verity. You may smirk at that comparison, but once viewed, Verity will never be forgotten.

Ilfracombe should be proud of her.