Sidmouth and it's Surrounding Villages

We have a busy day planned for today. Firstly the Donkey Sanctuary, just outside of Sidmouth. They don't make a charge to go in and meet the donkeys, but do rely on donations and sales in their shop to be able to continue to fund the project.

The place is calm and serene, and instantly you can see that the numerous donkeys that are visible are all well fed and looked after.

Apart form the many donation boxes that are marked by the bronze statues, there are many many plaques with donation details of patrons for the sanctuary.

Having parked up the car, we headed on down to the main yard, where many donkeys were wandering, feeding and enjoying fuss from the many visitors. A wonderful idea, especially for those donkeys that are retired from beaches etc, as they were used to having the company of people during their working day

Fred made a friend for life.....

and then another!

both of the dogs were not fazed at all by having these lovely animals in close proximity, and even the donkeys seems to enjoy their company.

Moving on from the Donkey Sanctuary, popped into Sidmouth for some supplies from the supermarket and then we headed on towards Budleigh Salterton.

Budleigh is a lovely spot, and just happens to have a church yard holding some of Sally-Ann's ancestors. She hasn't had much luck in finding the graves in the past so we wanted to try again.

We were lucky enough to find someone in the church, and although they did not have the records on site for the graves we wanted to find, they did offer to ensure someone would be able to help if we called in advance to our next visit - Bonus!

So far it had been a very full day. We stopped off for some lunch at a lovely public house, The Rolle Arms. The food was excellent, and we would recommend it to anyone headed in that direction. Both of the dogs were welcomed with open arms, and given treats, while we ate our meal.

It was time to head back in the direction of the campsite once more, and so, after a drive through Exmouth, we made our last stop of the day.

A La Ronde is a National Trust property. It's a 16 sided house, that was built in the late 18th century by two spinster cousins. The top floor is completely covered in shells from the beach - yes floors walls and ceilings!

We were only given a tantalising glimpse of the shell room, from the bottom of these stairs, and when you stand in the central hallway looking up. You have to see the room via web cams that you can control yourself to see each part of the room in full.

It is such an amazing property, that looks tiny from the outside, but is actually very large inside.

If you get the chance to visit this wonderful place, take the opportunity. It really is a little gem, and of course it's free to all of us out there that are National Trust members!

Another full day over, we headed back for a restful evening at the campsite.