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(2nd of a series)
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That ethereal community, the imaginary perfect English
village — what would its components be? There would surely be a village green. Of
course, the greengrocer will display the freshest fruit and veg along the footpath in
front of his tidy shop. All the call boxes will be painted with the traditional red lacquer
and the pub must have windows of leaded glass and a mahogany interior. Shouldn't the stone
church tower be the highest structure in town? And flowers! There must be climbing roses
of all colors at all times of year, and lilacs and others to festoon the roof eaves and
drip over the garden walls. But the
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architecture
what should it be? Half-timbered Tudor?
Honey-golden limestone? Thatched gingerbread? Elizabethan? Georgian? Edwardian? Regency?
Medieval?
Join us today
as we again stalk the perfect English village. This, our second nominee, is: |
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Clovelly's one street is probably both the steepest and most famous
street in the county of Devon. So steep is it
that town residents cannot use cars, wagons, prams, or wheeled carts to
haul groceries, goods, or children up Down-a-Long or down Up-a-Long, the
locals' fond nickname for their one street. So famous is it that up to
7,000 visitors a day stroll down and then struggle back up Clovelly
hill.
The hill is but one of four
remarkable aspects of the village. From the North Devon cliff
side, Clovelly village extends down to its harbor and beach, a drop of
some 400 feet in a distance of something less than half-a-mile, a
gradient of 1-in-6, or about 16%. The cobbled street remains roughly
cobbledanything else would prove too slippery when things get wet or
frosty. Wearing sturdy shoes will help visitors avoid ankle turns and
foot jarring. To move goods and people, the townsfolk still use donkeys,
or employ wooden sledges. |
CLOVELLY'S UP-A-LONG
PLUNGES TOWARD THE BRISTOL CHANNEL.
SOUTH WALES IS 40 MILES ACROSS THE
WATER. WITH NO CARS IN TOWN, THE ONLY SOUNDS
ARE FOOTSTEPS AND SLEDS ON THE COBBLES AND
CAMERA SHUTTERS. |
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CLOVELLY'S DOWN-A-LONG:
HIGH HEELS &
FLIMSY SANDALS
ARE A BAD IDEA HERE. |
Lining Clovelly's narrow main street
is a wondrous assortment of half-timbered and whitewashed houses,
usually wall-to-wall. They are shops, restaurants, churches, inns, and
residence cottages. They extend three-quarters of the way down to the
harbor. The final 25% of the hill to too steep to continue the row, and
there are perches for only two or three buildings in this steepest
section. Remarkably, Clovelly has not succumbed to visiting throngs by
becoming a town of gift shops, souvenir stores, and tourist traps. While
there is a smattering of that that sort of thing, their presence in no
way dominates Clovelly or render it tawdry. Quite the contrary, Clovelly
remains charming, with the most curious nooks and crannies begging for
poking noses. Each house has a character of its own, and, amazingly, all
the eccentricities fit together to create a satisfying unified town
style. |
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Likely, this cohesiveness, this almost showcase charm, is due to the energies of one
woman, Christine Hamlyn, who, as owner of the Clovelly estate nearly a century ago saved
the town from ruin which threatened from all sides. The town's 4,000 years of history had
been tied to the abundance of mackerel and herring in the wide Bristol Channel until the
fish population dropped spectacularly. Modern vessels and ocean navigation methods
rendered Clovelly harbor to backwater emergency status. The coming of the automobile, with
its need for wider, flatter roads than those found in Clovelly, also challenged the
continued existence of the town. While all around Britain the 20th century was changing
the character of towns and villages, Ms. Hamlyn devoted her adulthood and her personal
funds to the restoration of Clovelly as it had been during its pre-modern prosperity. Cars
were banned; donkeys and sleds continued up and down the hill, and still some fishing
boats called Clovelly home port. The cottages were lovingly renovated. Today many of them
bear the initials C. H. indicating their continued existence is owed to Christine Hamlyn. |
THERE ARE FEW TAWDRY SOUVENIR SHOPS. INSTEAD
THERE ARE GALLERIES IN SOME CLOVELLY
COTTAGES. NOTE THE EMPTY SLED
LOOKING LIKE WIRE-ENCLOSED STAIRS IN
FRONT OF THE GALLERY'S GARDEN WALL. |
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FAST FOOD
CLOVELLY STYLE |
Over time, more and more visitors came to
Clovelly. Soon the town's restoration success threatened it with
overcrowding and crass commercialism. The town determined to control its
own destiny. Its residents would willingly put up with all the visitors
and all the photography, but did not want the noise and pollution of
major parking lots on its doorstep. Nor did it want Clovelly to become a
shell of its former self converted to one steeply cobbled row of
souvenir stands. The town decided to put a modern, ugly, sprawling,
entrance-fee charging Visitors' Centre out of sight of the town on the
cliff-top, ten-minutes climb away. Here modern visitors leave their cars
in a huge car park, pay their parking-and-entrance fee (£3.50/adult,
children 7-16 £2.50), shop for trinkets, maps, books,
photos, post-cards,
ice lollies, chocolate bars, fast food, tee-shirts, commemorative
crockery, and other junk before (or, more wisely) descending through the
wood on the cobbled road into Clovelly. The whole Visitors' Centre
experienceeven with the informative multi-media showis off-putting. |
Don't be put off. But visit wisely, when crowds are less likely to take over the town
(early or late in the day, months other than July and August, and/or on weekdays—not
on holidays). Your visit can explore the town comfortably in two hours, but you can also
enjoy a good meal and even stay over night. There are several restaurants and cafιs along
the street, and two lodgings are available: the small, quaint New Inn at the top of town
and the larger, but still quaint Red Lion Hotel on the 14th century quay harborside.
Walkers looking for more than a stroll will enjoy the 3-mile-long Hobby Drive cut through
the woods along the cliffside more than 150 years ago. Longer walking is possible on the
dramatic South West Coast Path which follows the scenic north coast of Devon and goes
through Clovelly. Minimal walkers, too, can visit Clovelly. Walk down through the village
and catch a ride back up to the Visitor Centre using the Land Rover shuttle from behind
the Red Lion Hotel.
Walkers, strollers, day-trippers, overnighters,
full-course diners, and fast-food snackers are all welcome at Clovelly, where the spirit
of the dedicated stalker of perfect English villages will be satisfied like a
gourmand’s appetite after a perfect meal. |
CLOVELLY STILL HARBORS A
FISHING FLEET AND SEVERAL PLEASURE
CRAFT. SUMMER FERRY SERVICES CONNECT IN 90 MINUTES WITH LUNDY ISLAND,
KNOWN FOR ITS PUFFINS. DEVON DERIVES
FROM A CELTIC WORD MEANING 'LAND OF DEEP VALLEYS'. |
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