A guide to Clovelly: donkeys, cobbles and a 14th-century quay

Clovelly is one of those places that doesn’t feel quite real, and it’s an easy day out from the valley. The Clovelly Estate has been home to the Rous family for over four hundred years, in private ownership from Elizabethan times to today, which is a large part of why it’s so well preserved.

It’s still a working fishing village, and a steep one: flower-strewn cottages tumble down a cleft in the cliff to the harbour, a drop of some four hundred feet. The cobbled high street is traffic-free — goods still come down by sledge, and you’ll meet the village donkeys along the way.

At the bottom is a 14th-century working quay and a harbour that’s been earning its keep for centuries. The walk down and back is part of the pleasure, all maritime history and sea air.

If you’re here over Christmas, the Boxing Day band and barbecue is a local tradition and a fine way to work off the excess — though with the food on offer, that might have to wait another day.