NCN 3 Bude - Barnstaple
Ride overview
Once you have pulled yourself away from the splendours of Bude, the salty air should blow you back inland to luscious fields richly green and where cattle outnumber sheep. You ride into Devon on tree-lined narrow roads filmed with mud or dust depending on the mood of the Atlantic await you. Cob-walled houses, apple orchards and nettles, tea shops and gentler hills (compared at least to Cornwall), all lie before you. The day ends in one of the oldest borough towns in England; Barnstaple.
Ride Practicalities
START/FINISH: Bude/Barnstaple DISTANCE: 77km TOTAL ASCENT: 830m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: After the last three days, you’ll not consider this route ‘hilly’, rather it’ll be ‘gently rolling’ on some well-surfaced lanes. The Tarka Trail has a good surface with the estuary parts asphalted. RECOMMENDED CAFÈS/PUBS; The Tarka Trail; Yarde Orchard Café CAMPING: There are plenty of campsites around Bideford and Barnstaple, but they tend to be full of caravans and motorhomes ACCOMMODATION: Barnstaple; The Imperial Hotel FERRIES; NEARBY MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Barnstaple LINKS TO OTHER RIDES: The West Country Way
NB: Recommended Cafès, pubs, camping, accommodation are those which meet the WMWG mark of quality.
Ride notes
The Atlantic is set upon destroying Bude. Huge chunks of cliff are being claimed annually by the tempestuous sea. The Temple of the Winds perched high on the cliffs above the town, refuge of poets and dreamers and one of the great landmarks of the North Cornish Coast, is having to be moved stone by stone, onto safer ground. Once you can pull yourself away from the splendours of Bude, the salty air should blow you back inland to luscious fields richly green and where cattle outnumber sheep.
An essential part of the day
The West Country is home to one of the world’s rarest and most endangered habitats; the temperate rain forest. Whilst the route does not pass through some of the protected areas of rain forest, you will find in the dips along the route (there are many) the lush conditions which are perfect for the many lichens, fungi and ferns, as well as the stunted oaks and ash and pine and birch.
Meeth, close to ‘War Horse country’ where Michael Morpurgo set his story of Joey, is the start of the longest traffic-free cycle paths in Britain. The Tarka Trail, is named after Henry Williamson’s, famous tale of Tarka the Otter, which since its publication in 1928 has never been out of print. After all the hills, dales, and windblown moors, the Trail is one of ease. It is flat. It is well surfaced. It is heavily wooded and there are benches to sit on and sculptures to enjoy.
The Family Bench
To commemorate the Millennium as well as the creation of the National Cycle Network, local artist, John Butler was commissioned to create three pieces along the Tarka Trail. You’ll see them on benches as you ride, A Courting Bench, The Family Bench and the Memorial Bench, where a woman has been widowed. The carvings are made from the old railway sleepers which were laid on the Trail’s orginal railway line. The hardwood is called Jarrah, comes from Australia.
There’s a café too on the Trail, The Yarde Orchard Cafe, which serves very good home-made lunches. There are plenty of viaducts on which to admire the river views, and as the path reaches the estuaries of the Torridge and Taw, it becomes busier with visitors on hired bikes. The Trail passes Bideford and heads up river to Barnstaple.
The silting up of the River Taw put paid to Barnstaple’s continuation as a port way back in the late Tudor times. Yet the town has retained the appearance of being a bustling centre of trade. The route avoids the town centre which is blighted by traffic, so if you’re not planning to stop, you can enjoy the gracious merchant houses lining the river from the opposite bank and ride on. The town does make for a convenient, if unremarkable, over night stop.
All the details given on this route are given in good faith. However, situations on the ground can change, so if you know of any access issues, closures, or have any thoughts and feedback on the route, please include them in the comments section below.
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