A taste of English life in the countryside...



Siouxsie, with her cute little dumbo ears, is friendly
and inquisitve, and a favourite of mine...

Our travels take us to Ashburton, Devon, where we will house and pet sit for five weeks (until the end of August, while the owners have a well-deserved break). We have a menagerie of three guinea pigs, three rats and five chickens to look after. Between cleaning, feeding, petting and breaking up pig fights, it keeps us busy enough but not so that we don't have time to explore this beautiful countryside.

Ashburton is a small, picturesque town nestled in a little valley within the boundary of the Dartmoor National Park. Around 4200 people live here, and among the 78 shops that service the town, a large number, all independently owned, sell antiques or specialist gifts. And my mission, should I  choose to accept, is to make sure I visit each and every one of them, before we leave!

Located on North, West and East streets, along with the butchery, bakeries, fish deli, greengrocer, pharmacy, cafes, pubs, and many others, this ecclectic collection of shops most certainly adds to the heart and soul of the town and is a magnet for holiday makers as they explore the Dartmoor and its surrounding areas.

The town has an ancient background. Pre-historic man once lived in the area, according to items found, i.e. flints, arrow stones and other objects. The Saxons also settled here as they set about conquering Devon from the Celts in the seventh century.

In later times, Ashburton was designated as a 'Stannary Town', when the mining of tin in the moors created a 'tin rush'. It prospered not only in tin but also as a market and woollen mill town. Now, of course, it is known for its antiques.

For us, to stop and spend some time in one place is a welcome relief. Our homesit hosts very generously loan us their car and bikes, which gives us some independence to explore Devon and the Dartmoor, all of which is right on our doorstep.

Our new home is narrow but three-storeyed and was built c1700s as part of a bigger house which was split into two in 1841. All the houses along our part of the street are neatly stacked against each other - some sharing roof lines and others narrow passageways that lead to the backyards as does ours. The yard has some original cobblestoning and shares an old stone building with a neighbour. All the houses in our block back onto the River Ashburn, a small stream that meanders through and under the town.

A local tells us that our passageway with its lockable door, is public and can be accessed by anyone who wishes to draw water from the stream. However, our backyard doesn't appear to have an opening to the stream but others, we discover, along the street, do have half-hidden little gateways that once opened directly into the stream.



St Gudulas Cross is also where the
Ancient Galwell is located - this was
 the site of a well where its water was
 said to have healing powers and
could help people with eye problems

To find out more about the town and keep busy, I join the library and set myself the task of researching, locating and photographing some of the old historical sites around the area. There are many pathways and we love to explore these whether they take us deep into the woods, across farmland or weave through old houses and laneways. Each day we find a new path or lane to explore and build up a circuit of walks around the town.



Stapleton Lane, once known as
Shame Face Lane



The upper North Street, near where we now live, was once a poor part of town.

We discover, on one of our many walks, a little lane that winds up the hill and skirts around behind the shops. In the old days, it was the lane that these poor people used to avoid the shopowners and thus paying their overdue accounts - locals called it Shame Face Lane.

Just four doors away, and to the left from our house, is the Victoria Inn and to the right, perhaps six or seven doors along and across the street, is The Bay Horse. Our house is vegetarian, so to get our meat fix we visit the old Vic for Pie night on Wednesdays (Pork & Sage or Beef, Pork & Stiltern) and Steak & Wine night on Saturdays. It seems to works quite well.





We are also within easy walking distance to the shops and visit daily for fresh bread at the Co-op, fresh vegetables from the greengrocer or fresh fish from the Fish Deli.



There are at least five pubs in this small town. We've been to three and enjoy meeting and chatting with the locals and listening to their diverse accents and stories. We are always surprised to find dogs in the pubs. Canines are privileged over here. In the UK, they go everywhere with their owners. We see dogs in pubs, dogs on trains, dogs in cafes, dogs in clothing shops and dogs on buses. We can't ever imagine it happening in NZ.

We also see a small sign at the Co-op: Home wanted for a small, deaf white collie dog; one year old, good-natured, short-haired, toilet-trained - can be let off in fields and woods - won't go far - comes back easily. Owner unable to keep.

It's a huge temptation to give the number a call and just take a look. But after checking out how much it will cost to transport it back to NZ and put a dog in quarantine, we decide not to call, therefore avoid all temptation. It's not easy, though.

One day, while giving my hair some love and attention, I chat with the hairdresser. She tells me she has just acquired a plot where she will keep a variety of animals - hens, ducks, pigs and even some geese to keep guard. Geese are particularly good at making such a din that they scare away foxes. She says she will also line her fence with some human hair to keep the wiley red critters at bay.

Another client joins in and chats about the difficulty of eating animals she has raised (she leaves them in the freezer until she can't remember who they were) but the hairdresser is quite adamant that she won't have a problem. And I pipe in that, back home, all our farm-type animals got to retire on our farmlets - we couldn't bear to eat them. They both smile politely... what strange people live in NZ, they must wonder.

Every opportunity to talk to a local is a window into daily life experienced here in Ashburton and one not to be missed.

Over the next few weeks we will explore the little villages in the moors, experience an English A & P show, walk the tors, bike the hills, go letterboxing, have close encounters of the hoofed kind, find the friendliest cafe in town, and visit towns and sights in Devon... stay tuned... we might even see a little red fox!