Went for a quick trip to Instow....

The other day it was gorgeous weather - sunny and warm - so how could I not nip to the beach eh?

As I drove to Instow, I noticed the tide was coming in and also that I could park along the road about half way between Bideford and Instow, alongside the river......


I went through the gap in the hedge and emerged onto the cycle track of the Tarka Trail, it used to be the old railway line and since the trains don't run down this way anymore, the council have taken the rails away and made it a cycle track, which means everyone can now walk or cylce alongside the river for miles.




This is a beautiful walk, and if I had an electric wheelchair, I'd be whizzing up and down here....

You can see Appledore Shipyard and this is obviously the place to be when they next finish off a boat/ship.....


and you can see Instow beach down the river......


I then drove up to the start of Instow village and parked so I was by the marina. Now I've driven past this for years now, but never stopped. I decided that day to do so and see what it was like there..........

Instow is a very small village with only a few shops and it was here that I parked.....


This store is a mini supermarket and run by a well-known family in Instow called Johns. Johns also run the ferry boat which goes between Appledore and Instow. When I visited Appledore last year, I saw that they have now bought my father's old shop on Appledore Quay, so they are expanding!!!




as the tide was almost in, it meant the ferry was running and things were much easier to get to. This is the ferry dock and the ferry was just about to deposit the passengers.....


There were some canoeists enjoying the calm water....






These are two beacons indicating where the boats should steer inbetween, so they get to the slipway correctly.....

To the left was the marina ....



Those are all new buildings, as before there used to be just fields. Now it's turned into a very nice area........ I then went back to the car and drove just round the corner to the main beach and it was lovely there - the tide was almost full and with it being so warm, there were quite a few people enjoying the beach.




Well I sat there for about an hour or so, in fact I'd been out for over 2 hours - time well spent I think.