Clovelly
May 22, 2022
his photo sums up Clovelly.... we had such a happy stay there. Stephen Perham is a sixth generation resident, has been HM for 16 years, following his father, his cousin and his brother in the job. A typical harbour master in that he does several jobs at once... as you can see in the video!
Clovelly is a mini Venice on a hill! Its roads are so narrow that there are no cars and so steep that sledges are used to move everything around. All the houses, pubs and hotel are owned by the Clovelly Estate, home of the Rous family for 400 years. The amazing thing is very few people have ever heard of the village.... had you?
In a 2013 survey, The Times stated that the job of HM of Covelly was in the top 10 "best jobs" in the country and we can see why. The harbour is still an active fishing harbour. We learnt that if a fishing boat has no engine, it does not need licence to fish commercially, and Stephen owns one of the last boats of this type. His ""Picarooner" (see photo) has a dipping lug rig and means "sea robber" .... as it was used to race to the herring shoals ahead of the larger slower fishing boats. Clovelly is also where The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society was formed in 1838 following an accident at sea.
So what is the most unusual thing Stephen has done in his job..... he had to think as there was such a choice.... and decided on being asked to be a bodyguard to his boss. You will have to ask me the story! .
For those eagle eyed followers you will see I missed out Bude. Speaking to Paul Vincent the HM he told me the lock gates were broken. Normally I back track on foot, but Devon being so huge I failed to do so.. sorry Paul! .
Clovelly is a mini Venice on a hill! Its roads are so narrow that there are no cars and so steep that sledges are used to move everything around. All the houses, pubs and hotel are owned by the Clovelly Estate, home of the Rous family for 400 years. The amazing thing is very few people have ever heard of the village.... had you?
In a 2013 survey, The Times stated that the job of HM of Covelly was in the top 10 "best jobs" in the country and we can see why. The harbour is still an active fishing harbour. We learnt that if a fishing boat has no engine, it does not need licence to fish commercially, and Stephen owns one of the last boats of this type. His ""Picarooner" (see photo) has a dipping lug rig and means "sea robber" .... as it was used to race to the herring shoals ahead of the larger slower fishing boats. Clovelly is also where The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society was formed in 1838 following an accident at sea.
So what is the most unusual thing Stephen has done in his job..... he had to think as there was such a choice.... and decided on being asked to be a bodyguard to his boss. You will have to ask me the story! .
For those eagle eyed followers you will see I missed out Bude. Speaking to Paul Vincent the HM he told me the lock gates were broken. Normally I back track on foot, but Devon being so huge I failed to do so.. sorry Paul! .