ON DAY 3 OF MY NORTH DEVON CYCLING ADVENTURE I cycle along the TARKA TRAIL from the Puffing Billy cafe at GREAT TORRINGTON station via BIDEFORD, INSTOW and FREMINGTON QUAY to BARNSTAPLE STATION. (See PART 2 for the ride back to Torrington)
Fantastic North Devon Tarka Trail family cycle route! Perfect to watch while indoor cycling or at the gym.
Be sure to check out all my virtual cycling videos on my extensive playlist!
Ideal for use at the gym on an indoor trainer, exercise bike, treadmill, cross trainer, etc! Most are in Yorkshire, but some are in Lancashire, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Derbyshire: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSLFzdkDbmLEt-qTLhospECvruSiz4Fjn
There’s a map of this North Devon Tarka Trail cycle route at the start of the video if you’re looking for North Devon cycle routes, traffic-free cycle routes for families in North Devon or want to do some North Devon cycling along the famous off-road Tarka Trail.
Link to the route on OS Maps (Ordnance Survey): https://explore.osmaps.com/route/26569175/barnstaple-and-back-on-the-tarka-trail?lat=51.02515&lon=-4.19231&zoom=11.286&style=Leisure&type=2d
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Be sure to check out my bike ride videos and the other (mainly Yorkshire) cycle ride segments – ideal for use at the gym on an indoor trainer, exercise bike, treadmill, cross trainer, etc! Most are in Yorkshire, but some are in Lancashire, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Derbyshire.
Maps: I have an Ordnance Survey Media Licence: ©Crown copyright 2025 Ordnance Survey. Media 057/25
[Music] [Music] [Music] Good morning everyone. I’m at Great Torington Station again. Um, ta trailing again today cuz it’s gorgeous weather. Gorgeous weather. And I don’t want to overdo it either, as I have done in past years. So, I’m I’m doing on, off, on, off, on, off. As far as cycling goes this week, this is an off day, a easy dayish. Oh, what a beautiful day. It’s April and it’s like the middle of summer. As I said the other day, they’re talking about extending this line to Bifford, but I don’t know how they’re going to do that without sacrificing the cycle. trail especially in the single tunnels and the bridges. That one looks as though they can manage that. Any of you with kids or or grownup kids like me may remember that on Thomas the Tank Engine? I think it was Toad, wasn’t it? Toad, the brake van. So, how far am I planning to cycle today along here? I don’t know yet. Bstable probably and back. There is a ride idea that goes over the top, but as I said, I’m not going to overdo it. I learned my lesson about that. in past years. [Laughter] Yeah, [Laughter] thanks. Here we are at the first crossing of the Toridge River. I think the next crossing is the one with the beam aqueduct on the left, the old canal. I’ve got another video that I did on Saturday, which is me cycling along here to to Remington and back. The weather wasn’t quite so sunny and I do like to watch my videos of the ta trail in winter on my exercise bike. So this is what I’m doing. Another video of the ta trail. [Laughter] And this is the bridge with the we so it’s the next one that has the aqueduct. [Applause] Wonder why the wheel was built. I have to Google it. Do check out my video from yesterday where I did a a pretty ride um up and down, up and down, up and down in the little lanes um east of that will come through in a moment. Holes worthy. Holes worthy. Quite a strenuous ride. Lots of up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down. I think it was about 22 23 miles. So, do check that out and please Please keep the lovely comments coming. I’ve had some wonderful comments, especially about whether or not I should continue making these videos. Oh, let’s just pause and look at the aqueduct [Music] again. I hope you can see it over there. That structure looks like a roads bridge, but it isn’t. It’s what used to carry the canal and um the roads up there but not that was for the canal. And the reason when they built the railway they didn’t recycle that and use that is that it twists and turns too much for a train with its coaches. So they had to build new crossings at great expense. Apparently the railway never nearly didn’t get built because of that. So I’ve been googling a little bit more. Oh, and there’s some interesting books at the cottage on the history of not that easy to Google stuff where I am at the cottage cuz the internet is terrible. I think it’s slower than the old dialup and on off as well. Still haven’t found out what that little ruin is. The little Gothic ruin at Bifford though. But hopefully I will find out by the time I edit this video. And this part of the trail has a nice newish surface tarmac. It is tarmac for a bit beyond Torington station in the other direction. But then after that round about East Yard or just before that it loses the tarmac and becomes a bit a bit more tricky to cycle along. And also there’s an incline up uphill incline. And that was a section that used to be used for the goods trucks, goods trains coming from Clay Works, I think it was, because passengers only went as far as Torington until Mr. Being axed it. It was open, I think, into the 80s for goods and the odd special excursion, passenger excursion. [Laughter] It’s very warm. I wish I’d worn my shorts. I’ll wear them tomorrow. tomorrow. Planning to do a ride from Bernapool station on the other side of the river, other side of the tall estry, still on the old railway line to Brontton. And just outside Brontton, it stops. the the old ta trail track and you have to go on road if you’re going to go any further apart from when you meet the the old railway going into at or near Morau and then you can cycle on the old railway again. Not sure if I’ll be doing that or if I’ll be doing coastal rides. [Laughter] I think that used to have the steepest incline of all mainline branch lines. Correct me if I’m wrong. From station up to [Laughter] Mort. This is a beautiful time of year to cycle, isn’t it? All this [Laughter] woodland. We’re alongside the river going into Bifford. Today the pollen count is skyhigh and of course I’ve not brought my antihistamin tablets have I have terrible terrible struggles on the bike with regards to hay fever and it seems to last all year round but not off the bike. It’s weird. I looked it up last night and apparently it’s something that happens to quite a few cyclists. Exercise induced rhinitis, which is a kind of allergy very similar to hay fever. Let me know if you suffer from it and what you do to fix it or to make it easier to manage. All [Laughter] right. [Laughter] Over there we’ve got pretty we girds which I haven’t cycled through yet on this holiday but I usually do on on my bike rides around here. It’s really nice. [Laughter] Okay. Little waterfall or runoff from A pipe. All right. [Laughter] As I said on my bike ride yesterday, this this week I’m not pushing it too much. as I’ve done in previous years. Tell you more about that in a minute. In previous years when I brought my bike back down here, I’ve done like five five or six days slo really hilly rides quite long and they either doing that either ends up with in the middle of the week I’m too tired to get out of bed. I have no energy whatsoever. I’m flagging on the ride before that as I remember last time and stroke or like I did one October when I did six days in a row including Dartmore at the end. I ended up in bed for a whole week afterwards. I couldn’t get out of bed. I was so exhausted and that is not healthy. not physically or mentally. But what’s good this year is my drive to do that has gone. And that is such a good thing cuz I don’t think it was a healthy drive. So that’s why I’m doing one day on, one day off. And I had a word with my bike coach yesterday by email and he said, I said to him, I’m not feeling as fit as I usually do. And he said, well, that’s not the bad thing. That really isn’t. You’ve had a lot on your plate this year with with your mom with dementia having to deal with all that. Um trying to sell her flat and then my best friend, my dearest friend dying in January. And he said, “Just enjoy. Just enjoy. Training can come later or not, as you choose.” Which I think was very sensible advice. He’s always good for advice like that. We’ve never actually met we by email and phone and he monitors all my bike rides and everything. [Laughter] It’s coming up behind you. It’s okay. Thanks. and he’s been coaching me for since just before co 5 years or 6 years 5 years 4 years something like that. There’s the tunnel. See, I’m not sure how this would work if they extended the railway to here. Where would we go? We’d have to go over the top on the [Music] road. Unless there’s room for cyclist and [Laughter] trains. Heat. Heat. [Laughter] Oops. Heat. Heat. I could do it here because it’s a wider tongue, wider bridge, isn’t it? When I get time, I’ll probably split this video into two videos there and back as well as the full length one. It’s all down to time. And here we’re coming into the tidle section just before Bifford. Lots of interesting history about [Laughter] baby and this book that I’ve been reading coming past you. Thanks. [Laughter] [Music] I don’t yet know what that is. Looks like the tide’s on its way out. Later in the day, it’ll be coming in the opposite direction. You can see it going that way. We’ll look at that again on the way back. I think that must be a folly. But when I Googled bifur folly, nothing came up. [Laughter] Bedif is famous for its old bridge with many arches which part of it collapsed in the 1960s which cut off the town from one one side east to the water this side and Bifford that side apart from an improvised foot bridge and a ferry which obviously couldn’t operate when the tide was out. And also in the first world war um they put a track down on that bridge with a little locomotive presumably to take stuff into the town. I don’t know. I didn’t get that far to find out in the book. I know that the town’s folk weren’t too happy when this railway was constructed along the Estri. Presumably, they thought it would be an eyesaw. And so what the sneaky railway people did was they brought the construction men along on a Sunday when everyone would be at church and not not expecting people to be working. That didn’t go down very well. But I imagine generations later they benefited from the railway. as we do now with this. [Laughter] [Laughter] Oh no. No. [Laughter] What happened? [Laughter] You can maybe see the bridge there. [Laughter] All right. [Laughter] [Laughter] Hello. Hello. Thank you. [Laughter] [Music] We’ll [Music] Okay. Verifestation coming up. where it was double line and they pass on the single line token from the signal box. line was split up into sections all along with signal boxes where they did [Music] that. Thank you. Half minutes. I pointed this out last time. Hotel with its very own platform. I was trying to work out why the guests couldn’t walk from the station, which is just there to here. But maybe it was because there was a that bridge was too narrow. Um or maybe they just didn’t like walking. This is still a hotel and it was really sumptuous in its time. Had a palm court and spa and all sorts. really really sumptuous Victorian hotel and I found some photographs of it in the book about Biddy at Biddifford and they could probably market it as a hotel with its own railway station where you could just a light and you were porters maybe waiting here to take your luggage in. Imagine that. gets a bit bumpy now. The surface [Laughter] It’s just so pretty. Apple blossom. Oh, you can smell it. You can smell it. [Laughter] You wonder if these have a problem with flooding, don’t you? Heat. Heat. [Laughter] [Laughter] bumping hair. It’s the newish high road bridge which we go under which will of course taking a lot of the traffic out of Bifford which is a good thing I imagine. Oh, you can smell the sea. Hell of that smell. All those home fragrances that are supposed to smell of the sea. I don’t smell like that. You wouldn’t want that really, would you? In your house. The sort of fishy smell. Don’t quite know where they got that scent from. The one in the home fragrance one probably made up a bit like fresh the fresh cotton one which really smells like something that’s been laundered rather than actual cotton imaging. I don’t know. You tell me. So we’re swinging towards instone now after going underneath bridge. Heat. Heat. [Laughter] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Laughter] You son of a Heat. Heat. [Laughter] these boats. That one looks like a house boat. Like someone lives that look a bit wrecked. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Laughter] Nice. We got Appal Door over the river in Stow there. I think I must be heading over towards Bronson. The Bronson is not on the river. Oops. Thanks. Heat. Heat. [Laughter] blew up the surface. Heat. Heat. [Laughter] [Laughter] This needs a serious resurface. Heat. Heat. [Laughter] [Laughter] Stupid. [Laughter] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] Come on. So nice when you get on a resurfaced section like this. [Music] [Music] We have a drink. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Laughter] Histo refurbishing the station sign. It’s not there at the moment. And the signal box is a listed building and has all its stuff still inside. All the levers and everything. there. Of course, you can’t come through and without going to the beach. So, we shall do that now again. Heat. Heat. [Laughter] [Laughter] Heat. Heat. Oh [Music] Don’t go. [Music] [Music] No. A lot of driftwood here. can make all sorts of things out of it. My husband would be collecting it, making plans as to what he’d make for some craft fair that we haven’t had and keep saying we’re going to. I think it’s okay. [Music] [Music] You wouldn’t ever say [Music] There you go. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Next stop is Fington Key. A little tunnel coming up. [Music] Heat. Heat. I’m going to pay [Music] [Music] [Music] Guardian is telling me we’re below sea level here. – one [Music] [Music] m. We’re back to sea level again. to me not later. All right, gone down again. All right. Heat. Heat. Okay. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. the last [Music] All right. All right. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Turn off. [Music] [Music] [Music] Yeah. [Music] Okay. All right. Focus. Perfect. Heat. Heat. We’re coming up to Fington Key. It’s another place where they would have exchanged tokens up for the single [Music] line. Single line from Baraple onwards this way. Thanks I think this is the river yo. Is it pronounced yo y e o [Music] yo. So [Music] I’ve just been talking to a nice lady from Strands, the cycle network, um, who funds all these wonderful cycle routes around the country. National Cycle Network and I’ll do a separate video like I asked her if I could video her explaining what they do. So, I said I’d do a shout out for SR on my video channel. So, if you want to know all about what they do, please check it out. And they’re looking for subscribers, obviously. I said I’d have to think about that because I’m on a state pension limited. So, how much I can spend She said to me, “Have you got any kids?” I said, “No.” “Oh, yes. I forgot I’ve got I’ve got one, but he’s not a kid. He’s in his [Music] 30s and thus far he has no kids of his own. I’m not a grandma yet. Most my friends are though, especially in a jealous sort of way. Envious, should I say. Yes. So do check out the video if if I do make a video of the chat with the sus trans lady if it comes out okay. [Music] [Music] [Music] can see The tour bridge at Barnstep [Music] there. Before that was built. I imagine Bible was a bit of a bottleneck. It still is a bit of a bottleneck even with that bridge. Well, it is when you’re driving up out of Bible towards Brunson. [Music] You have to go over that if you’re going to go from Barapool along the ta trail on that side of the river. It’s a Bronson. [Music] If you’re interested in mileage so far from Torington station, we’ve done nearly 13 miles. So if you’re going there and back, obviously that’s 26 miles. [Music] freaking bad. Heat. Heat. [Music] Bible station is still British rail station, functioning station. So you can get the train from exit with your bike and cycle along here. used to be called Bstable Junction when the line would cross the river to go along there to Ilfrakum via Bronson and Mortto. Mortto for Willikum. Bit of a climb up the hill from Wakum to Moto as I can testify on my bike. [Music] This is the river tour. T A W. Okay. [Music] Wrecked boat down there. get a lot of them. It’s funny. They’re quite picturesque, but if it was a a dumped car in a similar condition, you people wouldn’t find it so picturesque, would they? like the fly tipping that I see when I cycle along some places. [Music] Mhm. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] What the [Music] [Music] [Music] There we All [Laughter] right. Okay. Obviously, it deviates from the railway footed here. As we come into [Music] Bible, there are series of underpasses. If you’re confused which to follow, follow the signs for the cafe. If you want to get to the station, if you want to get to Ilfreen Brontton, you turn left. There is a large car park, massive car park at Bville Station. It used to be really cheap after 10:00 a.m., but since it’s been privatized, it’s not. At the moment, I think it’s about Is it £550 a [Music] day train? Oh, they got Could get lost if they didn’t have that sign. And that’s a new sign, which is good. That’s one of the things Strands are doing, improving the signage so you don’t get confused or [Music] lost. This is the large car park at the station. [Music] Is that cool? [Music] There’s a cafe here at the old station cafe is now independently run. Sweet little cafe. The station master’s cafe. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat up [Music] here. Heat. Heat. [Music]