Did I ever tell you I consider myself a very fortunate person. I have a wonderful family, and lots of great friends.

This last week, I was once again reminded how fortunate I am, when my sister-in-law and brother-in-law surprised me by booking a room in a hotel in Clovelly. I knew we were going to visit Clovelly, but did not expect to be staying there, because it is very small and very difficult to access. You will see why I was so excited and pleased, when you see the pictures I am going to share with you over the next few posts.

This is the Red Lion hotel where we stayed and as you can see we were blessed with lovely weather. It was once several fishermen's cottages and was joined together to form an inn a great many years ago.

Early records of the village date back to Saxon times, but it has been around in something like its present form since the 16th century. If you haven't visited Clovelly, then hopefully you enjoy thes pictures as we rambled around the harbour and up through the village itself.

The populatin in the village in 1801 was 714 people and a great many of these would have been children, since families were large and the number of cottages is quite small.

The hillside is very steep so we have to go up very slowly and you will have to take lots of breaks, but first may I suggest a small libation at the bar in the Red Lion. We also had a crab sandwich for lunch, which was delicious.

To get down to the hotel by car (as only hotel guests are permitted to do), we used what is called The Turnpike road, which in the old days was very steep and very rough and it is this way that the supplies were delivered to the village at the very bottom of the hill, only to be have to then carried up to the houses. More about this later.