Totnes in General

Totnes is well worth a visit, either on a day trip at any time of the year, or for staying at or near as a holiday base in south Devon during the summer. It is within easy reach of Torquay, Brixham and Paignton, 'the English Riviera' (about 6 miles), Plymouth (26 miles) and Exeter (30 miles), on the main train and bus (local and National Express coach) routes.

Although busy in summer (name me somewhere that isn't), here you will find ...
...(in Plymouth) seem to regard Totnes as a colony of old hippies, or the alternative lifestyle capital of the beards, peasant smocks'n'sandals brigade. Let 'em, say I.

According to legend, in prehistoric times Brutus, grandson of Aeneas of Troy, sailed up the river Dart, and founded both Totnes and the British race. Be that as it may, it was settled and fortified by the Saxons, and the Church of St Mary and Totnes castle were built by ... more

Totnes is well worth a visit, either on a day trip at any time of the year, or for staying at or near as a holiday base in south Devon during the summer. It is within easy reach of Torquay, Brixham and Paignton, 'the English Riviera' (about 6 miles), Plymouth (26 miles) and Exeter (30 miles), on the main train and bus (local and National Express coach) routes.

Although busy in summer (name me somewhere that isn't), here you will find an olde-worlde charm that, in my view, the larger towns and cities lack. In fact, some of my more townie colleagues at work (in Plymouth) seem to regard Totnes as a colony of old hippies, or the alternative lifestyle capital of the beards, peasant smocks'n'sandals brigade. Let 'em, say I.

According to legend, in prehistoric times Brutus, grandson of Aeneas of Troy, sailed up the river Dart, and founded both Totnes and the British race. Be that as it may, it was settled and fortified by the Saxons, and the Church of St Mary and Totnes castle were built by the Normans. The moat of the latter still survives and is open to the public, while the church was reconstructed in the 15th century. Two gateways remain from the medieval town, and the 17th-century Guildhall is one of the oldest surviving such buildings in the country. Many of the houses in Fore Street were built between the 16th and 18th centuries and have remained largely unspoilt.

The Guildhall has a small collection of local relics, while the Museum in Merchant's House, Fore Street, includes Saxon coins minted in the town and a display devoted to Totnes' most famous worthy, Charles Babbage, the pioneer of the computer, without whom the net might not be here. The Tudor Merchant's House includes a collection of historical period costume. Cross over the Dart to Bridgetown for the Totnes Motor Museum, a collection developed by an enthusiast who found his home simply didn't have room for his favourite hobby. I'm not surprised.

Shopping facilities in the town are good, with the usual high street banks, groceries, coffee shops, newsagents, a small Woolworths, and the ubiquitous Safeways. On a brighter note there are also four small to medium-sized secondhand and antiquarian booksellers, the largest being Pedlar's Pack on The Plains, at the bottom of Fore Street. Higher up, Harlequin Books has a good stock of new (full price and remaindered) and secondhand titles.

Friday is market day (make that market morning), so if your idea of holiday heaven is a good browse in stall after stall of not only food, garden plants and clothes but also bric-a-brac, musical instruments, old picture frames, horse brasses, books and records, go to the market piazza at the top of Fore Street, preferably bright and early. For collectors and collectables (stamps, old postcards, objets d'art and more), there is an antiques market in the Guildhall next door at the same time. Along the narrows of High Street directly above, several old, small and rather inviting antiques and craft shops are also well worth a look.

During the summer months, Elizabethan Society members dress up in period costume and can be seen mingling with the crowds, especially on market day. They also run their own charity market on Vire Island on the Dart.

If it's clubbing you're after, you will need to go out of town. But there are several pubs, some of which provide regular live music at weekends. After closing time the town can be a little on the noisy side (I speak as someone who takes the 12.05 a.m. coach from Totnes to London about three times per year), but generally avoids the after-hours incidents normally associated with the big cities' night spots.

One word of warning. Most of the shops in Totnes are in Fore Street, which is built on a fairly steep hill. Us westcountry types be used to dem hilly places [said in a Deb'nshire accent], so for those of you who aren't, make sure you're fit, and be prepared to bribe youngsters with ices or sweets if necessary! Also, at busy times it's probably almost as quick to walk up Fore Street as drive up it. Traffic is only one-way, and there is a long-running debate about pedestrianising the area. There is adequate parking within walking distance (though watch out for over-zealous traffic wardens), and if you don't mind the exercise, unrestricted parking at various places above or below the town.

The town has two websites, www.totnes.co.uk and www.totnesweb.com.
Unlike some of the town's major architectural attractions, these still seem to be partly under construction, but still provide a certain amount of information about history, sights and accommodation. The first will also give you 'a traditional Elizabethan curse' if you ask it to. There's something you don't get offered every day.

FURTHER AFIELD...

Two miles NNW is Dartington Hall, headquarters of the Dartington Trust. Its gardens are free to all, and an ever-popular magnet at any time of year for the profusion of flowers, shrubs, trees and a much-loved donkey statue by Henry Moore. At Shinners Bridge on the edge of town, you will find the Cider Press Centre, with a National Trust Information Centre, restaurant facilities and a large complex of arts and crafts workshops where you can watch artists, potters, weavers et al at work and buy their produce. There are also several nature trails in unspoilt countryside and woodland starting from this area. Another two miles on the other side of Totnes, on the road to Torbay, is Berry Pomeroy Castle. Again, only the ruins survive, but an incomplete Tudor mansion built in the keep is worth visiting.

In addition to the large towns and cities already mentioned, there are two small ancient market towns about 6-8 miles away along the A38 (Devon Expressway) between Exeter and Plymouth. Ashburton has the Dartmoor Bookshop, which in my view is probably the best secondhand bookseller in Devon, with a superb general stock covering three floors. Buckfastleigh is home to Buckfast Abbey, the Butterflies and Dartmoor Otter Sanctuary (a must for any animal lover), and the Valiant Soldier, a recently-restored pub 'that time forgot', now open as a museum. Like Totnes, both are comparatively unspoilt and preserve much of their ancient character. They are both on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, so heaven on earth is only a few minutes' drive away from either.

Some attractions listed above are only open during the summer months, but others are open all the year round. Even a day trip out-of-season, when it is quieter, is well worth consideration.
 

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