Lovely surprise coming across this. I really enjoyed it. Thank you ! I have now lived just over 41 years in the near by village of Combe Martin. On first arriving in Barnstaple in August of 1980 I found it to be a much lovelier town than it is these days, due to the lack of appreciation of its historic buliding and years of bad planning as can be seen today. No one seems to invest in building beautiful structures anymore. Sadly it all feels like people and the councils are nolonger caring what kind of town their children will inheret . Perhaps we ,the older generation have seen the last of what might be described as Towns of Charactor as businesses,whats left of them, and people's lives homogenise into everything looking rather bleak and sterile, with towns looking all much the same where ever you go; cut off and surrounded by gastly and inhospitable Warehouse style superstores and trading estates with their streems of cars toing and froing in an increasingly fractured community.
Thank you John. A wonderfully fascinating tour of my home town. Some of the areas you toured, like the Pannier Market, Butcher’s Row, the Guildhall and the High Street will be renovated, redecorated and even remodelled, over the next couple of years as a result of North Devon Council’s successful bid from the ‘Future High Streets Fund’. It will be an honour if you could revisit and document the changes in 2024! Best wishes. 👏 👍
I so enjoyed the Audio version of W. Barbellion. The Journal of a Disapointed Man, over 3 nights before sleep. Thoroughly enjoyed his writing. Had never heard of him, so thanks again.
Really enjoyable video, the white building at 2:06 was the Regal cinema and theatre i remember going to Christmas shows in the 1950s as a child, we could only go to Barnstaple on a friday from Brendon the only bus of the week, thankyou a great video.
We are very proudly based in Barnstaple and it’s great to see this excellent tour which highlights some of the many historical and beautiful places in the town and surrounding area!
Mr Rogers,this is AMAZING. This is coincidence (or is it?),this is synchronicity,this is God's Providence,this is Meant To Be. I am going to Barnstaple tomorrow on the NE coach and staying overnight. Never been there before. Your lovely,excellent filmed video has given me a great preview of the pretty town and now I know what things to look out for and where best to have a walk. However I'm not there as a tourist,not this time. Next day true 8th I'm getting the bus to the little rural town of Holsworthy to deal with some family business. I definitely want to visit Barnstaple in the summer as a tourist and do a stretch of that Tarka walk. I discovered The Dark Lantern by Henry Williamson when I was 17 and it was compelling reading . I tried to work my way through his entire Chronicles of Ancient Sunlight but I have missed a few. He got cancelled of course before that term was even invented as he had some dodgy political ideas. I think a walk you would really enjoy,maybe with your wife and your sons too is from Pensford in Somerset about two miles to Stanton Drew where there is a stone circle in a field that is one thousand years OLDER than Stonehenge. You just put one pound in the honesty box at the gate (if you're honest). I wanted to do it last May but it rained practically every day last May. I can't walk both ways so if I do get to do it this year I will get a taxi there and walk back to Pensford where I can get the bus back to Bristol. Also the pub at the little village does a lovely lunch and it's defo your sort of place as it's called The Druids Arms.
I'm told I walk just like my dad, and seeing your dad walking ahead of you I can say with certainty, you walk just like your dad! Great video as always. AAA+++
Many thanks for the great memories, I lived on Newport terrace when I left for Canada 60 years ago, spent the war years in Bickington on the Bideford road, I also worked in Barnstaple for a while.Great place.
Thank you for this informative and lovely tour. Our American great-nephew is currently in Barnstaple on business. It's his very FIRST visit to Great Britain. Because of you, we feel like we are right there with him.
My friend used to live in church lane, and castle mound has had all the foliage hacked away over the years; it used to look a lot nicer. We used to play there as children; you could go underneath until someone got stabbed and it was blocked off. Although, I think they blocked off most of it years before as it was an archaeological site.
I've heard of Barnstaple but only the name. Fascinating to walk around and learn so much. Those 18 mins flew by, will have to watch it again and again.
I hope these architectural features are not lost for forever, a little effort now can assure their future. New modernist is just featureless glass, as interesting as a white wall. Love your walks.
Nice little video about my home town. I lived there in the 90's and 00's and its really changed. It looked more well kept when I was younger! I have since moved away and have become a Model and Blogger. Thank you for sharing this video. I totally went down memory lane!
Watched your walking tour of Erith to Dartford as I was born there and lived there until 2008, only to find this beauty pop up on my feed. I moved to Barnstaple from Dartford! The town is about to undergo some major renovation and hopefully bring it back to it's former glory, the beautiful buildings also need some tlc before they fall into bad disrepair.
The views from the upper floor of the FE College in Old Sticklepath Hill across the river are outstanding. I was there a few years ago for a meeting and spent more time than I should've looking at it! 😊
Ahh, my lovely Barnstaple. I was born in Barnstaple and my family are from Ilfrcombe and Barnstaple but I moved away a good few years ago and now I'm in East London funny enough. It's always good to see Barnstaple, makes me want to be back there. Very much enjoyed the video, John! Any plans to do one on Ilfracombe?
My late father’s side of the family come from the area and a few years ago I spent a day in the town, staying in Eggesford (there’s a wonderful tree house you can stay in there). The day in Barnstaple was not a huge success. If only I had had your video to have primed me! For me its one of those places where to see the beauty and history it needs some effort, otherwise it is a pleasant town that has seen better days. Now, armed with your knowledge and eye I need to go back - a small matter of 5,000 miles.
How serendipitous. You made a video of a walk from St. Martin’s Church in West Drayton through the council estate where I grew up to Harmondsworth church where I was baptised. And now dear old Barnstaple, my nearest town to where I live in North Devon. Thanks John, you’ve shown me parts of Barnstaple I have missed so far. 👍
A beautiful video John, Barnstaple as someone born there is an interesting story, so much history that’s fallen away with not only the decay of time but physical decay sadly, however the story remains very relevant - overlooked as well - and it’s a very unique town for the UK in its look and feel, tonally you got this video perfect, soft with the dormant energy that has existed still present. I hope someday this town (that did win World in Bloom in 97? Around then 🤷♂️) my town will be reborn like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The story for Barnstaple isn’t over just yet, keep up the good work 👍
What a treat. As a Devonian I've been looking forward all week to seeing this. I've visited Barnstaple many many times through my work for Devon County Council, and you've shown me places in the town I never knew existed. I'll have to check them out next time I'm there... hang on, that's tomorrow! 😁👍
I walked the 14 mile tarka trail from Barnstaple to instow, through fremington, although a rather long walk there and back, it was well worth it to follow the old railway
Great video John about my home town, very interesting. Yes it has changed a lot, but i guess that's progress. I used to play with my group Quest at many a Brend hotel. My brother, drummer, Keith Jones played in many groups and at the Queens Hall even in the Pannier Market and also played in his Church which you showed, St Peters. He worked in London for four years but has now retired to Cornwall at 71. He has also seen your video which he thought was well presented like an old pro, which also includes my brother. He played with Mosaic, Flying Fortress, Saltpeter, Ark, Quest, The Oggle Band and recorded with various members of Hawkwind. Was on BBC Bargain Hunt a few years ago. Keep up the good work with your presentations of different towns and cities. Take care. God Bless.
Very evocative. I visited Barnstable in, oh, 1993? For a wedding of a friend of my then fiancée. I do well remember that long bridge but not much else. I was a drinker then, and it was a wedding after all.
wonderful video! love to see a "foreign" town, but i am always saddened seeing a castle in ruins. i've recently read m.w. thompson's "the decline of the castle" which i found to be a great reference regarding castles in england.
We've recently moved to Devon and visit Barnstable often as its our nearest town. Been wondering about the history of the beautiful old buildings there. Your video will be a great help. Thank you
Thanks for another great video. We will be staying just outside Minehead on a trip back to the UK in April. You are right, as a kid, we would always pass through Barnstaple. This time we will stay a while thanks to you. Cheers.
Thank you for inspiring me. I am from Barnstaple, and my excuse of not practicing my storytelling/ filmmaking because of where I live, is no longer valid👍
Well, if I can make one suggestion, I'd love to see a tour of Oxford. I'm Dutch but I've been there a few times because I'm a big Inspector Morse fan :) I visited most of the film locations a lot of which are pubs :)
On holiday in Bideford 1979 my parents took my sisters and I to see Moonraker at Barnstable's Boutport Street cinema. Watching your film brought back memories of the Market and along Butchers Row I haven't had for over forty years! Thankyou John this is a lovely video.
Hello, from a rainy China, having lived in Okehampton N. Devon I visited Barnstaple many times over the years but never knew about half the things you show in the video. I guess I never went as a tourist and always had a purpose to be there, what purpose escapes me right now, maybe it'll come back to me now I've seen some familiar sights. Always a good Monday morning when I watch your videos. Thanks.
Hi John, we live in Exeter and had a couple of days in Barnstaple recently and poked about in the alleys that you found. I really appreciate the geniune delight you have in all your videos when you show us hidden gems. I have the same feeling too when walking the streets of London, when ever i visit for work I make sure to get a later train back to allow for wondering about.
Hi John, Very interesting tour. I am coming down on the 7th March for a week. I am from High Wycombe like yourself. Planning to ride the Tarka trail while there. Nice to get some history before hand. I heard that Katie Hopkins is also from Barnstaple.
Visited that nightclub back in the 90's with my brother whilst on hols. "Don't worry lads, it will get busy later". It didn't, but we got to make friends with the staff :-)
John, I would be surprised if you visited Whitby and didn't like it. Mind you it must be over 15 years since I was there myself and it could have changed. What I liked the most about visiting Whitby and why it came to mind was a similar old feel I got to watching this video. Even though there is plenty of modernisation on offer I think it is wonderful that you can present a side of Barnstaple's character that some people might not otherwise even think about and go through life completely missing it. Quite educational and enjoyable at the same time.
Nice change of pace from the big smoke John. It's an area I don't know at all. The majority of the railways in North Devon were closed by the time I started travelling and it's not that handy for us Scots to visit. It would be interesting to see just how far abroad I could reach, in the time it would take me to reach Barnstaple. I think James May's programme is here on YT. He ran a Hornby electric train from Barnstaple to somewhere along the coast, passing through Instow, if I remember rightly.
Welcome to the West Country me Beauty ! A great video of a lovely place , you used to be able to go all the way to Ilfracombe by train ,also prewar there was the delightful narrow gauge Lynton to Barnstaple railway , there is a small section running in preservation with replica locomotives and carriages ! Thanks John for a very informative walk , see you back in London next week I guess !
It is with tremendous joy that I watched this video ! I relived my visits to Barnstable some years ago and I love to see the places I used to wonder through : The Pannier Market, Butchers Row, The Almshouse,The Parish House, and ,especially the historic Railway Station and the Taw bank. I remember Tom the Herald taking us around the streets of Barnstable and explaining every corner of it ! It is indeed, a very special place worth visiting and I thank you so much for taking me back there .Thank you,John.
Q; If you go to an Indian restaurant in Barnstaple, what should you order? A; Why, Tarka daal, of course! Thanks for another lovely video. Hoping your leg is improving. 👍
Nice to see this. I went to college here and its my main shopping place. I live in bideford 15 mins away. Love living here deffently a place to go to if your down. Bideford and Appledore and westward ho! Has very interesting story as well. That night club was very nice attually shame it closed.
I grew up (and still live) near Barnstaple. Really fantastic insight into the town. A slightly grissly fact is that Rose West (wife and collaborator with serial killer Fred West) was from Barnstaple.
I had girlfrend who lived in Cholchester many years ago. I have spent a lot of time in that town. I live in Suffolk. Never understood why Cholchester has two train stations.
Colchester has much of interest but the heart of the town was ripped out in the 70s by a shopping centre development policed by security with a track record for suppressing photography.
@@davidjobbins9087 That is the way a lot of large tow's/citys have gone. Sadly the internet and Covid have ripped the heart out of most towns in the U.K. The thing I loved about Colchester in the 1990s and 2000s is that you could go out drinking on a Monday night and still have a good time like a Saturday night if you wanted to.
Town station was also one end of the legendary narrow gauge Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. There is a plaque and buffer stop still there. Opened in 1898 and closed in 1935, there is now a fabulous revival going at Woody Bay station on Exmoor
I have lived in Barnstaple my whole life and I do love the history of the town. There are even buildings and doors that you can see bullet holes from the civil war and one of our majors was a pirate.
Durham, particularly in Autumn or Winter is beautiful. Lincoln is another beautiful and fascinating city (although I'm a yellerbelly so I'm probably biased!
Talking of Mounts, John, I can think of one quite dramatic. Its in Rayleigh.Essex. You can get off the train there and walk up Crown Hill passed the Dutch Cottage and along to the NT Rayleigh Mount site. Part of the moat is a pond now with ducks and moorhens and there are steps up to the top of the Mount with information boards and right next to the Windmill too. Mount dates from 1070.. And a few pubs in the High Street should you fancy a pint.
Thank you John. Really interesting as usual. I love the way you always reference the music you use on your walks. Ever thought of creating a Spotify playlist that includes all the music used? .. .just a thought.
Forgot to add... lovely to see shots of Instow beach and across the water to Bideford and Appledore. Maybe a film about them and Westward Ho! in the future? 😀
Lovely surprise coming across this. I really enjoyed it. Thank you !
I have now lived just over 41 years in the near by village of Combe Martin. On first arriving in Barnstaple in August of 1980 I found it to be a much lovelier town than it is these days, due to the lack of appreciation of its historic buliding and years of bad planning as can be seen today.
No one seems to invest in building beautiful structures anymore. Sadly it all feels like people and the councils are nolonger caring what kind of town their children will inheret . Perhaps we ,the older generation have seen the last of what might be described as Towns of Charactor as businesses,whats left of them, and people's lives homogenise into everything looking rather bleak and sterile, with towns looking all much the same where ever you go; cut off and surrounded by gastly and inhospitable Warehouse style superstores and trading estates with their streems of cars toing and froing in an increasingly fractured community.
Thank you John. A wonderfully fascinating tour of my home town. Some of the areas you toured, like the Pannier Market, Butcher’s Row, the Guildhall and the High Street will be renovated, redecorated and even remodelled, over the next couple of years as a result of North Devon Council’s successful bid from the ‘Future High Streets Fund’. It will be an honour if you could revisit and document the changes in 2024! Best wishes. 👏 👍
I so enjoyed the Audio version of W. Barbellion. The Journal of a Disapointed Man, over 3 nights before sleep. Thoroughly enjoyed his writing. Had never heard of him, so thanks again.
my dad loved this area cycling down from Croydon in about the 1930s I now have several relatives in the area because of this
Lovely video. My aunty ivy had a corner shop on Victoria street
Barnstaple the home of the traffic jam and some of the most historic potholes
Home sweet home.
Fantastic video with some great positives
Really enjoyable video, the white building at 2:06 was the Regal cinema and theatre i remember going to Christmas shows in the 1950s as a child, we could only go to Barnstaple on a friday from Brendon the only bus of the week, thankyou a great video.
In 1990-1991, I worked at what then was the Whitechapel Manor Hotel just outside South Molton!
Still many fond memories of scenic North Devon !
We are very proudly based in Barnstaple and it’s great to see this excellent tour which highlights some of the many historical and beautiful places in the town and surrounding area!
Mr Rogers,this is AMAZING. This is coincidence (or is it?),this is synchronicity,this is God's Providence,this is Meant To Be. I am going to Barnstaple tomorrow on the NE coach and staying overnight. Never been there before. Your lovely,excellent filmed video has given me a great preview of the pretty town and now I know what things to look out for and where best to have a walk. However I'm not there as a tourist,not this time. Next day true 8th I'm getting the bus to the little rural town of Holsworthy to deal with some family business. I definitely want to visit Barnstaple in the summer as a tourist and do a stretch of that Tarka walk. I discovered The Dark Lantern by Henry Williamson when I was 17 and it was compelling reading . I tried to work my way through his entire Chronicles of Ancient Sunlight but I have missed a few. He got cancelled of course before that term was even invented as he had some dodgy political ideas.
I think a walk you would really enjoy,maybe with your wife and your sons too is from Pensford in Somerset about two miles to Stanton Drew where there is a stone circle in a field that is one thousand years OLDER than Stonehenge. You just put one pound in the honesty box at the gate (if you're honest). I wanted to do it last May but it rained practically every day last May. I can't walk both ways so if I do get to do it this year I will get a taxi there and walk back to Pensford where I can get the bus back to Bristol. Also the pub at the little village does a lovely lunch and it's defo your sort of place as it's called The Druids Arms.
I'm told I walk just like my dad, and seeing your dad walking ahead of you I can say with certainty, you walk just like your dad! Great video as always. AAA+++
Many thanks for the great memories, I lived on Newport terrace when I left for Canada 60 years ago, spent the war years in Bickington on the Bideford road, I also worked in Barnstaple for a while.Great place.
Thank you for this informative and lovely tour. Our American great-nephew is currently in Barnstaple on business. It's his very FIRST visit to Great Britain. Because of you, we feel like we are right there with him.
Hope he has a great time Linda
I've driven through Barnstaple more times than I can remember but only actually walked about in the town just a handful of times. Thanks for this!
My friend used to live in church lane, and castle mound has had all the foliage hacked away over the years; it used to look a lot nicer. We used to play there as children; you could go underneath until someone got stabbed and it was blocked off. Although, I think they blocked off most of it years before as it was an archaeological site.
I've heard of Barnstaple but only the name. Fascinating to walk around and learn so much. Those 18 mins flew by, will have to watch it again and again.
Barnstaple looks an interesting place to visit. Great to see somewhere different.
I Love the West Country.. Devon Cream Scones and Cider.. Great..
I lived in Chivenor just down the road in-between Barnstaple and Braunton for 2 years, lovely place, loved it.
loved video. My best friend now lives very near and we spent many family holidays in that area
I live in Barnstaple, but i am a big fan on your London walks
Spent many happy hours in Barnstaple in my younger days.
I hope these architectural features are not lost for forever, a little effort now can assure their future. New modernist is just featureless glass, as interesting as a white wall. Love your walks.
Sadly a lot of buildings have been torn down, Barnstaple town is unrecognisable compared to 10years ago
Nice little video about my home town. I lived there in the 90's and 00's and its really changed. It looked more well kept when I was younger! I have since moved away and have become a Model and Blogger. Thank you for sharing this video. I totally went down memory lane!
Watched your walking tour of Erith to Dartford as I was born there and lived there until 2008, only to find this beauty pop up on my feed. I moved to Barnstaple from Dartford! The town is about to undergo some major renovation and hopefully bring it back to it's former glory, the beautiful buildings also need some tlc before they fall into bad disrepair.
The views from the upper floor of the FE College in Old Sticklepath Hill across the river are outstanding. I was there a few years ago for a meeting and spent more time than I should've looking at it! 😊
Loved your tour of Barnstaple John, thank you. Could you do one of Wallingford?
Ashamed I don't know more of my home town so this video is great. Thankyou.
Lovely walk around Barnstaple, John. It wasn't a Lego, but an electric model railway (Hornby) that ran from Bideford to Barnstaple on the Tarka Trail.
I live here and I’ve never seen it so beautifully captured and explained so thank you so much
Ahh, my lovely Barnstaple. I was born in Barnstaple and my family are from Ilfrcombe and Barnstaple but I moved away a good few years ago and now I'm in East London funny enough. It's always good to see Barnstaple, makes me want to be back there. Very much enjoyed the video, John! Any plans to do one on Ilfracombe?
My late father’s side of the family come from the area and a few years ago I spent a day in the town, staying in Eggesford (there’s a wonderful tree house you can stay in there). The day in Barnstaple was not a huge success. If only I had had your video to have primed me! For me its one of those places where to see the beauty and history it needs some effort, otherwise it is a pleasant town that has seen better days. Now, armed with your knowledge and eye I need to go back - a small matter of 5,000 miles.
lovely details. curvy streets,so different from grid plan i grew up with.
How serendipitous. You made a video of a walk from St. Martin’s Church in West Drayton through the council estate where I grew up to Harmondsworth church where I was baptised. And now dear old Barnstaple, my nearest town to where I live in North Devon. Thanks John, you’ve shown me parts of Barnstaple I have missed so far. 👍
This is my home town and I absolutely loved this video. Quite a few things I didn’t known!
A beautiful video John, Barnstaple as someone born there is an interesting story, so much history that’s fallen away with not only the decay of time but physical decay sadly, however the story remains very relevant - overlooked as well - and it’s a very unique town for the UK in its look and feel, tonally you got this video perfect, soft with the dormant energy that has existed still present. I hope someday this town (that did win World in Bloom in 97? Around then 🤷♂️) my town will be reborn like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The story for Barnstaple isn’t over just yet, keep up the good work 👍
Thanks for video John!
What a treat. As a Devonian I've been looking forward all week to seeing this. I've visited Barnstaple many many times through my work for Devon County Council, and you've shown me places in the town I never knew existed. I'll have to check them out next time I'm there... hang on, that's tomorrow! 😁👍
My Son was born there 97 , lovley town!
Thankyou so much for another walk with you totally enjoyed it.
Excellent video. Barnstaple looks like a place well worth visiting.
Great video! Have lived here my entire life and never knew how rich the history was! Thank you for sharing your knowledge
Great video. My favourite walk is the Teignmouth to Dawlish Coastal Path, by the railway and over the cliff. I highly recommend that to anyone.
I walked the 14 mile tarka trail from Barnstaple to instow, through fremington, although a rather long walk there and back, it was well worth it to follow the old railway
What a cute little town. Love it. Thanks, John.
Lovely city, I lived in Barnstaple for almost 5 years with my family and was an wonderful experience to grow up kids
Great video John about my home town, very interesting. Yes it has changed a lot, but i guess that's progress. I used to play with my group Quest at many a Brend hotel. My brother, drummer, Keith Jones played in many groups and at the Queens Hall even in the Pannier Market and also played in his Church which you showed, St Peters. He worked in London for four years but has now retired to Cornwall at 71. He has also seen your video which he thought was well presented like an old pro, which also includes my brother. He played with Mosaic, Flying Fortress, Saltpeter, Ark, Quest, The Oggle Band and recorded with various members of Hawkwind. Was on BBC Bargain Hunt a few years ago. Keep up the good work with your presentations of different towns and cities. Take care. God Bless.
Very evocative. I visited Barnstable in, oh, 1993? For a wedding of a friend of my then fiancée. I do well remember that long bridge but not much else. I was a drinker then, and it was a wedding after all.
wonderful video! love to see a "foreign" town, but i am always saddened seeing a castle in ruins. i've recently read m.w. thompson's "the decline of the castle" which i found to be a great reference regarding castles in england.
Many thanks- I’ll keep an eye out for that book
Thanks for sharing ❤️❤️❤️
We've recently moved to Devon and visit Barnstable often as its our nearest town. Been wondering about the history of the beautiful old buildings there. Your video will be a great help. Thank you
An other joyous video John. Wonderful to be out of London with you. Thank you.
I love Instow beach too, such a special place.
I moved here from kent at 17 yr old and love it . Great place to bring my twins up.
The architecture is absolutely beautiful in your city. Great close ups on the trim.
Thanks for another great video. We will be staying just outside Minehead on a trip back to the UK in April. You are right, as a kid, we would always pass through Barnstaple. This time we will stay a while thanks to you. Cheers.
Thank you for inspiring me. I am from Barnstaple, and my excuse of not practicing my storytelling/ filmmaking because of where I live, is no longer valid👍
the nearby towns of Torrington and Bideford also very nice with lots of history.
Wonderful. Thank you John.
Well, if I can make one suggestion, I'd love to see a tour of Oxford. I'm Dutch but I've been there a few times because I'm a big Inspector Morse fan :) I visited most of the film locations a lot of which are pubs :)
On holiday in Bideford 1979 my parents took my sisters and I to see Moonraker at Barnstable's Boutport Street cinema. Watching your film brought back memories of the Market and along Butchers Row I haven't had for over forty years! Thankyou John this is a lovely video.
Thank you John for yet another gem
My hometown for 2 and a half years now! Small town but very peaceful and lovely 😊
Hi john nice to see you in my neck of the woods. I live just outside Taunton. Spent a lot of my life in East Ham
Hello, from a rainy China, having lived in Okehampton N. Devon I visited Barnstaple many times over the years but never knew about half the things you show in the video. I guess I never went as a tourist and always had a purpose to be there, what purpose escapes me right now, maybe it'll come back to me now I've seen some familiar sights. Always a good Monday morning when I watch your videos. Thanks.
As you said I have driven past the town and never thought to have stopped there. It certainly looks like a beautiful historic place to visit
Hi John, we live in Exeter and had a couple of days in Barnstaple recently and poked about in the alleys that you found. I really appreciate the geniune delight you have in all your videos when you show us hidden gems. I have the same feeling too when walking the streets of London, when ever i visit for work I make sure to get a later train back to allow for wondering about.
Hi John, Very interesting tour. I am coming down on the 7th March for a week. I am from High Wycombe like yourself. Planning to ride the Tarka trail while there. Nice to get some history before hand. I heard that Katie Hopkins is also from Barnstaple.
Visited that nightclub back in the 90's with my brother whilst on hols. "Don't worry lads, it will get busy later". It didn't, but we got to make friends with the staff :-)
Zenaxis
John, I would be surprised if you visited Whitby and didn't like it. Mind you it must be over 15 years since I was there myself and it could have changed. What I liked the most about visiting Whitby and why it came to mind was a similar old feel I got to watching this video.
Even though there is plenty of modernisation on offer I think it is wonderful that you can present a side of Barnstaple's character that some people might not otherwise even think about and go through life completely missing it. Quite educational and enjoyable at the same time.
Nice change of pace from the big smoke John. It's an area I don't know at all. The majority of the railways in North Devon were closed by the time I started travelling and it's not that handy for us Scots to visit. It would be interesting to see just how far abroad I could reach, in the time it would take me to reach Barnstaple.
I think James May's programme is here on YT. He ran a Hornby electric train from Barnstaple to somewhere along the coast, passing through Instow, if I remember rightly.
Fascinating walk around Barnstable John,somewhere I would love to live in.More of these excursions outside London please!!
Welcome to the West Country me Beauty ! A great video of a lovely place , you used to be able to go all the way to Ilfracombe by train ,also prewar there was the delightful narrow gauge Lynton to Barnstaple railway , there is a small section running in preservation with replica locomotives and carriages ! Thanks John for a very informative walk , see you back in London next week I guess !
It is with tremendous joy that I watched this video ! I relived my visits to Barnstable some years ago and I love to see the places I used to wonder through : The Pannier Market, Butchers Row, The Almshouse,The Parish House, and ,especially the historic Railway Station and the Taw bank. I remember Tom the Herald taking us around the streets of Barnstable and explaining every corner of it ! It is indeed, a very special place worth visiting and I thank you so much for taking me back there .Thank you,John.
Q; If you go to an Indian restaurant in Barnstaple, what should you order? A; Why, Tarka daal, of course! Thanks for another lovely video. Hoping your leg is improving. 👍
Nice to see this. I went to college here and its my main shopping place. I live in bideford 15 mins away. Love living here deffently a place to go to if your down. Bideford and Appledore and westward ho! Has very interesting story as well.
That night club was very nice attually shame it closed.
Great stuff John. I would like to suggest the great medieval City of Durham with its beautiful cathedral and castle.
That was a lovely little video John. Can I suggest Bath and Wells. Cheers
I grew up (and still live) near Barnstaple. Really fantastic insight into the town. A slightly grissly fact is that Rose West (wife and collaborator with serial killer Fred West) was from Barnstaple.
Hopefully one day John, you could do a tour around Britain's first city, Colchester. Plenty of history and tale's to learn
I had girlfrend who lived in Cholchester many years ago. I have spent a lot of time in that town. I live in Suffolk. Never understood why Cholchester has two train stations.
Colchester has much of interest but the heart of the town was ripped out in the 70s by a shopping centre development policed by security with a track record for suppressing photography.
@@davidjobbins9087 That is the way a lot of large tow's/citys have gone. Sadly the internet and Covid have ripped the heart out of most towns in the U.K. The thing I loved about Colchester in the 1990s and 2000s is that you could go out drinking on a Monday night and still have a good time like a Saturday night if you wanted to.
That was really lovely, thank you, makes me want to go there.
You mention Totnes - now that’s a place you should visit
Town station was also one end of the legendary narrow gauge Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. There is a plaque and buffer stop still there. Opened in 1898 and closed in 1935, there is now a fabulous revival going at Woody Bay station on Exmoor
Hi jhon missed
You and your Explorings
Good to be back
Thanks for sharing ❣🙏
The mount is awesome.
Love the place
Sad to see all them shops
Closed 🤔
Great to lay in bed watching a John Rogers video. Thanks John 👍
I have lived in Barnstaple my whole life and I do love the history of the town. There are even buildings and doors that you can see bullet holes from the civil war and one of our majors was a pirate.
Thanks for the tip on the Cummings book. have ordered it !
Thank you John , Keep well
Cheers Dave
Durham, particularly in Autumn or Winter is beautiful. Lincoln is another beautiful and fascinating city (although I'm a yellerbelly so I'm probably biased!
Brilli any as always
Lovely. Thank you.
Talking of Mounts, John, I can think of one quite dramatic. Its in Rayleigh.Essex. You can get off the train there and walk up Crown Hill passed the Dutch Cottage and along to the NT Rayleigh Mount site. Part of the moat is a pond now with ducks and moorhens and there are steps up to the top of the Mount with information boards and right next to the Windmill too. Mount dates from 1070.. And a few pubs in the High Street should you fancy a pint.
Thank you John. Really interesting as usual. I love the way you always reference the music you use on your walks. Ever thought of creating a Spotify playlist that includes all the music used? .. .just a thought.
Love that part of Devon, shame the weather wasn’t a bit brighter for you.
Thanks John. Great walk
Hey John you were down my way, wow. Enjoy 🙂
Just been up to Barnstable this Sunday just gone , two hours drive from st Austell,
Love your walks!
Great video. Love Barnstaple.
Forgot to add... lovely to see shots of Instow beach and across the water to Bideford and Appledore. Maybe a film about them and Westward Ho! in the future? 😀