Minnows Touring Park, Devon

 

There are plenty of places for visitors to Mid Devon to stay, options include hotels, B&B’s or camping, the choice is endless, but nestled in the heart of Mid Devon is a favourite of both locals and visitors; Minnows Touring Park. It’s a well established, welcoming and friendly site that’s been running for decades, bringing both new and repeat visitors to stay. It’s situated close to both major road routes and the south west rail line, making it easy to get to. So, whether you want to visit Exmoor, the Blackdown Hills, the north Devon coast or local towns of Exeter, Honiton and Tiverton, Minnows is in the perfect location for south-west visitors to stay and explore the varied and exciting aspects of Devon.

Toilet and shower block

Aerial view of Minnows Touring Park, Grand Western Canal and Devon countryside

Laundry room

Minnows Touring Park is set up for both Caravans and Motorhomes, and visitors have plenty of space not only for their accommodation on wheels, but for an extra car, a table and chairs, and there’s even space to hang out your laundry should you require it. The site has fifty-nine pitches across five and half landscaped acres, and there are plenty of amenities, including a toilet and shower block (inclusive of disabled facilities), a laundry room, washing up and vegetable preparation facilities, electricity and water, and disposal points.

Water and disposal facilities

A typical site

Electricity

If that isn’t enough there’s also a Main Reception and Information Centre, and a play area for children. Fourteen of the pitches also have fresh water connections, the site has 16 amp electricity connection and should it be required, butane, Camping Gaz, and Propane too. There is also a facility at Minnows for both winter and seasonal storage, and if you’re a pet lover they also accept dogs.

Main Reception

 

Children’s play area

Information Centre

There is something quite unique about Minnows, whilst the M5 motorway and north Devon link road are nearby, it has a tranquil feel to it, making it seem like you are million miles away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world. In a natural enclave, surrounded by tall trees, the site sits next to the beautiful Grand Western Canal, a local conservation area, and the last canal to be built in the UK. This only adds to the unique location of the site, making it a special and relaxing place to stay.

Beautiful trees and hedges surrounding pitches

Holbrook Bridge on the Grand Western Canal, next to Minnows

The tranquility of the site surrounded by trees

There are lots of activities to do on the Grand Western Canal including walking, canoeing and fishing, and it is a favourite with many locals, as well as returning visitors. Minnows has direct gated access onto the canal with its own landing stage that visitors can use, as well as a nearby slipway, for boats and canoes. Permits are required for boats and fishing, but these are easily accessed at Main Reception. The Grand Western Canal is also a designated cycle route, and the nearest village of Sampford Peverell is only ten minutes walk along the towpath, where visitors can find plenty of other amenities including two pubs, cycle hire, a corner shop with post office facilities and a farm shop.

Canoeists and Landing stage

Sampford Peverell

Bicycle and landing stage

Minnows Touring Park is easy to find, situated not far from Junction 27 on the M5 signposted by brown tourism signs. All visitors need to do is take the A361 to Barnstaple, and leave at the first junction signposted to Sampford Peverell where signs will direct you. The site is also within walking distance of Tiverton Parkway station, which is on the main south-west railway, with train routes across the UK. Sampford Peverell also has well connected bus routes. Minnows Touring Park is open from March through to October each year, and can be booked directly by either phoning or emailing them.  More information can be found on Minnows Touring Park website.

Aerial view of Minnows Touring Park and Grand Western Canal

For anyone who loves travelling and exploring new places in their caravan or motorhome, Minnows Touring Park is the perfect place to stay when visiting Devon. It’s in a beautiful location, run by a friendly and welcoming team, the amenities are excellent and there is so much to see and do that you’ll be spoiled for choice, and want to return year after year!

• Have you stayed at Minnows Touring Park? If so what was your favourite thing about it?

Article by Chrissie Parker, We Love Mid-Devon

Photos by Chrissie Parker. Aerial images courtesy of Minnows Touring Park.

All articles on this blog are the property of the authors and We Love Mid-Devon. Whilst we are happy for you to share, No articles are to be reproduced, copied or screenshot without the permission of the author. Please contact us if you wish to re-produce in a publication.

Grand Western Canal

Situated in Mid-Devon, is the Grand Western Canal. It’s just over eleven miles long and starts at Tiverton basin, winding its way through the rolling mid-Devon countryside, before ending abruptly at Lowdswells close to the Somerset border.

The Grand Western Canal was the last canal to be built in the UK, work started on it in 1810 and finished in 1838. The original intention was for it to link up with the Taunton canal/river Tone, but it was never completed due to the advent of the railways which is why it ends so abruptly. The canal was built to transport coal and limestone, there are two old limekilns, the remains of an old quarry railway, and The Waytown Tunnel – a barge wide tunnel at Greenham. The canal meanders its way through the countryside, and has no locks due to the way it was constructed. At Lowdswells the canal continues as a rough, dry section, and it is possible to walk the intended route, around 13miles, to Taunton. This section has remnants of locks and lifts, and is a lovely section to explore. It makes you wonder what it would have looked like if it had ever been completed, and connected to Taunton and Bridgwater Canal.

Nowadays, the canal is a conservation area. There is a lot to see especially if you love a multitude of wildlife that includes swans, moorhens, ducks, and a variety of other birds such as birds of prey and kingfishers. Pike and other fish haunt the depths of the water hiding among the vegetation and it is also home to elusive otters. The canal is beautiful, serene, and a perfect place to walk whatever the weather. In winter fog hugs the water and ice clings to the bare branched trees. In spring the towpath fills with colour as daffodils, bluebells and primroses bloom in riotous colour. In summer growing cygnets paddle the water accompanied by their proud parents, enjoying the bright sunshine. In autumn leaves of russet and gold flutter to the towpath and vegetation dies back to prepare for another winter.

As well as being a haven for wildlife the canal is also a popular tourist attraction. Runners, walkers and cyclists stretch their legs daily, kayakers and paddle-boarders explore the water, and fishermen cast their lines in search of a catch. At Tiverton basin the history and heritage of the canal is displayed in a small museum, a colourful and traditional, horse-drawn barge offers visitors the chance to experience a trip along the canal, and there are two tearooms, where weary visitors can rest their feet.

Wherever you look, there is much evidence of the old canal industry, and visitors can only imagine what the area would have been like at its height during the industrial revolution, as it seems so far away from the beautiful conservation area that it has now become. As well as the canal so many other interesting things sit next to it. The canal is surrounded by public footpaths that take walkers across fields, through picturesque villages and there is even an old monastery that dates back centuries, giving a real insight into the ancient land that surround this wonderful tourist attraction.

• Have you visited the Grand Western Canal? If so, which is your favourite part?

 

Article by Chrissie Parker, We Love Mid-Devon

Photos by Chrissie Parker.

All articles on this blog are the property of the authors and We Love Mid-Devon. Whilst we are happy for you to share, No articles are to be reproduced, copied or screenshot without the permission of the author. Please contact us if you wish to re-produce in a publication.