For 47 years of my working life as a teacher I had to take my holidays with the majority of the population in July and August. So now, in my retirement, we rarely go away at this time of the year. However, it’s such an exceptionally wonderful summer that we could’t resist another trip when we saw a cottage advertised on a private estate in north Devon. It’s a beautiful part of the country and only just over a 100 miles from home. The fact that there is a major RHS garden just down the road was an added attraction. So far we haven’t visited RHS Garden Rosemoor as we are so enjoying the peace and quiet of the gardens, the heaths and the woodland of the estate and visiting a couple of local nature reserves.
Stafford Barton in north DevonStafford Barton’s peacockOur accommodation – the Old StablesA very warm Devon welcome with cream sponge and a selection of local cidersVery comfortable and cosy inside
The estate took on a different tone on our second full day here when the owners opened the gardens to the local villages and we were treated to live music, local ales and ciders and cream teas on the lawns. What is there not to like about all this?
Getting ready for the garden partyThe gardens were looking spectacular for the garden partyThe mad hatter’s tea party before the garden party startedEnglish country life at its very best
This is such a special place that I wanted to keep a memory of the estate and so have prepared a separate page which you can share by following this link to Stafford Barton Estate August 2025
Stafford Barton between Dolton and Iddesleigh (where we had lunch in the Duke of York pub on our first day and where I last stayed 55 years ago- now immortalised in Michael Morpurgo’s “War Horse”)
As for the nature opportunities: so far I have been able to practice my camera skills on the house martins and swallows but have had some difficulty capturing the large flocks (a charm indeed!) of goldfinches which swoop down to gorge on the seed heads in the lovely meadows which are left for the wildlife. There has been plenty of wildlife to photograph and keep me busy on our walks too.
House martinHouse martinSwallowSwallowHouse martinHouse martinSwallowGoldfinch gorging on seed headsGoldfinch beating a hasty retreatA very small section of a charm of goldfinchesBuzzard on our walk through the estateBuzzard calling loudly Holly blue butterfly on our visit to Halsdon Nature ReservePainted lady butterfly at Stafford BartonCommon darter dragonfly at Stafford BartonSpeckled wood butterfly at Stafford BartonGate keeper butterfly at Stafford BartonNo deer to be seen yet but plenty of signs of wildlife on our walk at Stafford BartonA bucolic scene at Stafford BartonClear paths through the woodlands … and across the heathUnderwing of painted lady butterfly at Stafford BartonScarlet pimpernel at Stafford BartonSo many insects attracted by the wild flowers on the Stafford Barton estateThe view from our porchOur walk on the third dayA section of the quarry at Meeth Quarry nature reserveSmall white Butterly at Meeth Quarry nature reserveCommon blue damselfly at Meeth Quarry nature reserveSpeckled wood butterfly at Meeth Quarry nature reserveBeautiful heather in full colour everywhere at Meeth Quarry nature reserveLittle grebe at Meeth Quarry nature reserveGreat crested grebe with chicks on its back at Meeth Quarry nature reserveTime for a swimCanada geese at Meeth Quarry nature reserveCormorants at Meeth Quarry nature reserveCentaury at Meeth Quarry nature reserveDevil’s bit scabious at Meeth Quarry nature reserveBeautiful demoiselle at Meeth Quarry nature reserve
That’s three day’s done with three more to go. I thought I wouldn’t get a chance to do a blog during the holiday as the only fault I could find with our accommodation was that the broad band was slow and yet three days in and the owner has got BT Open Reach to upgrade it! What service!
Thanks for your comments Robbie. I used a “page” in WordPress rather than a post to make it more discrete as it wasn’t exactly birds/nature (except for all those beautiful trees!)
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 
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