Friday 19 August 2011

Stoke Gabriel

When choosing our camp site this year, I was mindful that we would have an active 16 year old boy to entertain for 2 weeks - a bit of a daunting prospect. So I chose a campsite that had a largish swimming pool - which we made use of every morning - and made sure it was in an area that had a lot of activities we thought he would like - kayaking, water slides etc but we discovered his favourite activity on the Millpond in the village next to the campsite - Stoke Gabriel.

Stoke Gabriel is on a pretty little creek of the river Dart and is a bit of a crabbing hot spot.
He would have spent every day here if we had let him. He caught 135 crabs in total!

The "River Shack" here became a firm favourite place to eat. We didn't eat "in" (the outside eating area was so pretty), but I couldn't resist taking a photo of the comfy looking interior. I bet its cosy in here when its chilly outside. They have a lovely menu using local produce and a local butcher - the quality of the food really shows.
They opened up a few times during the evening too which was handy. One of the ladies who works there decorates the pebbles and buckets that they use. I thought that these were really pretty and a great idea.
I think that the River Shack is a little bit of heaven on earth.
Stoke Gabriel is a gorgeous little place. Apart from the River Shack, it also has 2 lovely pubs and a lady opens her house to become a Bistro on certain days and evenings. "Emma's" specialises in fish, fresh from nearby Brixham and we can highly recommend that too.

12 comments:

Lyn said...

bet crab was on the menu!
x

Kimberley said...

That looks lovely! It also reminded me of a couple of holidays we've had when our children were young in Looe in Cornwall. Crab fishing was their favourite pastime and would quite happily have spent every hour of every day doing just that! Lovely memories,thank you for reminding me x

Lisa said...

You did choose a croker of a place to stay, for many reasons by the looks of it.
Lisa x

two bones and a bagle said...

You are not going to believe me when I say I read your title as 'Stroke Gabriel' and I thought 'oooh err'. It does look like a lovely spot. Off to Cornwall tomorrow. K cleaning car and im on the internet I think we have the balance just right.

greenthumb said...

Looks like you stayed in a great place,what fun finding all those crabs,

Janet said...

This post reminded me of when my step son was little-he loved to go crabbing ! mostly we`d take him somewhere local or for a treat sometimes a bit further afield where there was a nice pub for a bite to eat afterwards-its a wonderful way to relax- this post brings back a lot of happy memories !

Diane said...

What did you do with all those crabs???? Looks like you had a fantastic time. t'other Diane

Rosie said...

Looks a great place and a super restaurant. I remember my cousin and I collecting crabs from rock pools in our little buckets. I know we stayed in a caravan at Stoke something but I've a feeling it was Stoke Fleming which is further down the river than Stoke Gabriel:)

Cathy at PotterJotter said...

There are lots of crabbing spots on the suffolk coast and ours were totally addicted when they were younger (and us oldies enjoyed it too).

elsy said...

the whole holiday looks perfect diane....am seriously considering abandoning la belle france this year in favour of a home stay. as usual your travel blogs are very enjoyable reading with my coffee....ps well done re the bike, i love the idea but dont think im fit enough(shame on me)

diane b said...

It sounds a nice place with some yummy eating options. That really spices up camping.

A garden just outside Venice said...

The bucket and the pebbles would fit perfectly into the swap package I'm working on, LOL!
xxx