I tagged along with the humans for a couple of days at the seaside in January. They were staying at The Harbour Hotel. Before exploring I had a quick nap on the comfy bed.
There is a lovely view from the hotel of thatched cottages, the red cliffs and the sea. I was very keen to go out and explore.
This is Jacob’s Ladder beach. Getting to the beach either involves lots of steps or a long slope.
After going down the steps I spent a while just looking out to sea.
Despite it being January and a very cold day the sun felt very pleasant on my fur so I did a spot of sunbathing.
It was soon time for some food, so we headed up to the Clock Tower cafe to get a bite to eat.
I very much enjoyed my toastie.
The following day for breakfast I had a delicious bowl of fruit and a croissant sat by the window in the hotel dining room.
After the croissant a waiter brought me a full English breakfast. It is possible to eat a very large amount of food at breakfast time in hotels!
With a very full tummy I set off along the coastal path towards Weston Beach, which isn’t anywhere near Weston-Super-Mare.
The route passed through some beautiful woods and I found an excellent resting place in the trees.
The beach behind me in the photo below is Salcombe Mouth, but it isn’t anywhere near the Salcombe that we visited a year ago.
There is a stone next to the coast path known as The Frog Stone. It does look very much like a giant frog.
There was still quite a lot of walking to do to get to the cake stop – we ended up walking across the fields and through the trees in the photo below.
Finally, we reached The Donkey Sanctuary, where I was looking forward to seeing donkeys and eating cake!
After so much walking up and down hills on the coastal path we were all very hungry, so headed quickly past the fields of donkeys to the cafe. It didn’t take me long to eat the large slice of carrot cake.
When we went back to the fields we found that all the donkeys had been brought inside for the night. Here are some of them, all busy eating in the cosy barn. They all looked very well looked after. At one point one donkey made a loud braying noise, then they all joined in and it was quite a cacophony!
Sidmouth faces East so is a great place to see the sun rise, so on my last day there I got up very early and headed down to the beach to watch.
I wasn’t disappointed. The sky turned pink and orange and the same colours reflected onto the wet sand.
Finally the sun appeared, a big blob of yellow. It was an incredible sight, probably the best sunrise I have seen so far.
After having another big breakfast it was time to leave Sidmouth. Do visit if you get a chance, it’s a lovely little seaside town with lots of hotels, a great beach, cafes, shops, and scenic walks nearby.
Horace the Alresford Bear 22/1/2024
I sat up on Eli, who was busy nibbling hay.
We continued on down the street. I wondered if I could ride down on a sledge like the one outside the pub!
After not very long we arrived at a little museum in one of the old cottages. I read all the interesting facts about Clovelly.
The fisherman’s sitting room contained many interesting things. 
There was still quite a long way for my little legs to walk down to the harbour.
I stopped and had a rest next to some sledges. Sledges are used in Clovelly for pulling goods up and down the cobbles.
The harbour below looked delightful, though as everything looked quite small I knew we still had quite a long way to walk.
My legs weren’t really made for walking; I was actually designed to sit, so sometimes I look a bit odd when I am walking…
When we finally got down to the harbour I had a little rest in Rosie.
Then being a bear with a taste for adventure, I decided to climb one of the ladders hanging from the harbour wall.
At the top I noticed a sign about fishing, it didn’t really matter though as I’d forgotten my fishing net.
There was a splendid view of the North Devon coastline from the end of the harbour wall.
Here is a selfie of me with the lifeboat station behind me to the left.
I was feeling the need for some cake after so much exercise, so we set off back up the cobbled street.
I was very pleased that we didn’t have to go too far before finding The Cottage Tearooms.
I sat outside on the terrace and enjoyed a piece of blackberry and apple crumble sponge.
There were lots of butterflies drinking nectar from the nearby flowers.
Soon it was time to continue up the steep hill.
While I was resting a dog stopped to ask if I was OK. I told him I thought the humans might carry me the rest of the way.
I said ‘hello’ to a cat. Unlike the dog, who was just visiting, the cat lived in Clovelly
After getting right to the top we went to see some more donkeys in their stable. The donkeys sometimes pull the sledges up the hill and give people rides.
I had a little sit on this one for a little while and watched the ears moving around. Donkeys have big ears.
Horace the Alresford Bear 