This sceptred isle .....

..... This precious stone set in the silver sea.

                                                 Patriotic speech by John of Gaunt

                                                                                       Richard II

                                                                                Act II  Scene I

                                                                      William Shakespeare

Late afternoon on the North Devon coast.

The river frontage of Bideford

Bideford is a small, attractive, market town (pop 17,000) near the mouth of the River Torridge.

It is 56 miles due north from Plymouth, on the beautiful North Devon coast.

The journey across the South West Peninsula, from south to north, 

takes you around the southern fringe of Dartmoor 

and through the beautiful, "empty" area of Mid Devon.