Barnstaple, Devon

downshifted

Please move this if it is not in the right place

We are moving to Barnstaple next weekend, a totally new area to us. It looks ok for shopping - nice market, Butcher's Row etc. I know there is a Lidl and a Sainsbury. But I wondered if any of you nice people had any specific recommendations for particular shops/stalls etc?

Also I will need to get a second hand gas cooker as we are renting for a while and there is no cooker - any one know where I could try?

Many thanks in advance - back to the packing now!

downshifted

pmorrisjones

Try Freecycle for the cooker -There is a good community for this, or do as I did. I bought a new cooker and then went to an independent store with prices etc from internet and haggled (not very hard). My cooker was slightly more than internet but they threw in delivery and fitting for free and if there are any probs. they come out and sort it (or you can pop in shop for advice). I live not far from Barnstaple but my independent store was not in Barnstaple Im afraid so can't recommend individual shops. Don't use Currys. Thats all I'll say on subject - I have inside info about their selling methods at present - in that store (and prob. throughout country to be fair). I do not work there I hasten to add.
Re-shops. Market day on Saturday is good as is Friday. There are certain days for certain things to sell ie. food some days, arts and crafts others. Just ask in Market which days are which.
There is a Tesco (as well as 2 Lidl and a Sainsburys). There is also a discount store called Brian Fords which does great offers and has an aisle which sells things really cheap - its not far from the leisure centre. It has been there years and is well loved by many. Loads of charity shops in High Street - all pretty much at one end. In Bear Street (ask directions once in town) there is a locally well known, very knowledgeble 2nd hand book shop. Up the road (In Bear St) there is a very good pharmacy if you are into alternative medicines.
When you want to stop for a cuppa the church (in the centre) does a cheap cuppa and a bickie. Its bog standard stuff and generally you have to sit on pews but people are nice and it is cheap (they don't push religion). If you want a better choice and don't mind going out of Barnstaple (and pay more for your beverage) then St Johns' garden Centre is nice. Its next to Tesco. Difficult to explain how to drive to its car park but if you park at Tesco you can walk across. The plants aren't cheap but they are good quality and its free to look whilst drinking your cuppa. If you have children they can go into Jungleland (free) which has plants and fish to look at.
Hope this helps. I work in Barnstaple but live about 35 miles away so hope people more local can help more. Enjoy yourself - its a nice small town.

downshifted

Thank you so much for this really helpful post. The book shop sounds great - and the cuppa advice.

It's quite an exciting adventure and it's great to have inside info. We hope to buy eventually but will spend a few months looking around and deciding exactly where to go - perhaps closer to the coast

Cheers

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mambury

I live about 25 miles away from Barnstaple and I must say its 'the BIG town' round these parts!!! The pannier market is good, and there are a few independant shops but unfortunatly its just another high street and a bit lacking in some areas like toys for example. There is a good toy shop/tobacconist at one end of the high street but they really only seem to sell lego sets, airfix models etc and the only other choice is either Argos, tescos or sainsburys.

I must admit I don't really spend that much time there as its a whole day out for us as we need to get everything done in one hit.

Good luck with the move, and remember not to limit yourself to Barnstaple itself if and when you decide to move, there are some really lovely villages and hamlets around the town and further into deepest darkest devon!!

Mambury

DebtHater

Barnstaple is my home town, and we moved from there to come to Ashford about 12 years ago or so.

There isnt a lot in the way of opportunity, i.e work, hence why we had to move. And the way things have been recently with redunancy, opportunity is getting even more rare in North Devon....

But, its a very nice place to live, alot of very nice parts to not only Barnstaple, but North Devon as a whole.
The high street is one of the best I have ever been to, and the market is absolutely spot on. I always remember the egg man in the middle of the market who wears the chicken hat
The market has pretty much everything you could want and at good prices, I used to go on a Saturday as it seemed to be the best day in my opinion.
Next to the market on the right hand side, the street that runs up away from the high street, called Butchers Row, there is a very good butchers half way down. Also that is where we get our Devonshire Clotted Cream, which is a must to try!

And dont forget the fair/carnival. This year it is running from 16th September to 19th Sept, with the carnival being on the afternoon of the 19th. The fair is one of the biggest I have been to in my whole life, and I believe it is the 2nd largest in the whole country according to the council. The carnival is also very good, brings a real sense of community spirit to the town, unlike most other carnivals which seem to have died a death.

We will be down in September for the fair, I travel down every year for it and its a good reason to visit family

Rough areas of Barnstaple, when I was there and even still recently, Forches estate was one to stay away from..... For about 7 years of my younger life I grew up on this estate, and does get quite rough in places. But then, it is a council estate so trouble of sorts is to be expected.

I would highly recommend visits to the nearby Westwood Ho, Clovelly, Bideford, Yelland, Ilfracombe, and Lynton. If you fancy going a bit further out, visit Minehead, very nice place there

Hope this helps to give you a bit of an insight, hope you enjoy Barnstaple

downshifted

What a really nice bunch of people there are here - thank you so much :-)

We are renting in Roundswell - and will certainly look around a lot before we buy - I know there are nice sea views to be had in Ilfracombe for example, and we will look at small villages too. I didn't know about the fair/carnival and will look forward to it - we used to live in Abingdon and I loved it when the high street closed down for the fair - the big wheel was next to Barclays Bank!

Bitsy_Beans

Ilfracombe was looking pretty sad and run down when I last went down there (2 years ago) which I thought was a shame. I have fond memories of going there as a child.
I don't have any other tips to add other than you are very very lucky and I am very very jealous

mambury

downshifted wrote: »

What a really nice bunch of people there are here - thank you so much :-)

We are renting in Roundswell - and will certainly look around a lot before we buy - I know there are nice sea views to be had in Ilfracombe for example, and we will look at small villages too. I didn't know about the fair/carnival and will look forward to it - we used to live in Abingdon and I loved it when the high street closed down for the fair - the big wheel was next to Barclays Bank!

Roundswell is quite a nice area, just beware the morning and evening rush hour traffic!! And well away from the rough areas like Forches as DebtHater says.

Walking distance of sainsbugs, I am jealous......:D Takes me about 1/2 an hour just to get there!!

Keep on asking questions, I;m sure we will all be able to help!

Mambury

downshifted

Thanks for all your replies - inside knowledge is really helpful.

I have one other question (for now!) - which network is best for mobiles in N Devon? I have a contract with 3 which i have allowed to expire so can lose it at a month's notice if necessary - I have noticed I get really bad reception when visiting Ilfracombe - but it seems ok in Barnstaple?

cheers

superpup

downshifted wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies - inside knowledge is really helpful.

I have one other question (for now!) - which network is best for mobiles in N Devon? I have a contract with 3 which i have allowed to expire so can lose it at a month's notice if necessary - I have noticed I get really bad reception when visiting Ilfracombe - but it seems ok in Barnstaple?

cheers

Hi

I have found that Vodafone has always been best for me across North Devon. Orange is a close second. The other networks are getting better but not as good outside of Barnstaple as the first 2, IMHO.

North Devon is a beautiful place to live. I hope you enjoy it.

sp x

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Hi Downshifted,

As the thread has moved off the topic of Old Style, I've moved it over to the England board to see if you can get more local information there.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

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