Desert Porkid

If you’re in Devon this August and you only do one thing, then make sure it’s pig racing. It’s the North Devon Show and the venue is Umberleigh Barton Farm at Umberleigh and the date for your diaries is Wednesday 4th August.

Known fondly as the Ham National, it is hilarious. The pigs seems to have as much fun as race goers, squealing with delight all the way around the course. I’ve never seen Flo laugh so much.

There’s lots to do at the Show with umpteen trade and horticultural stands, livestock classes and then all manner of foods to sample and to buy if you can be bothered to cart it home with you. We ate al fresco, making the most of a lovely hog roast and we drank Bramley apple juice which I expected to be tart but which was in fact quite sweet; we both commented as much.

Deadly Knightshayes

The April picture in my calendar is of Knightshayes Court, the Victorian gothic revival house near Tiverton owned by the National Trust.

Knightshayes is a rare example of the work of the so-called ‘eccentric architect’  William Burges. Whether they knew he was eccentric before they appointed him is a moot point. I hope so otherwise, imagine their disappointment. A few years ago I was thinking about an extension of my own, a small utility room to house a dishwasher I was flirting with the idea of buying. In hindsight it was a flight of fancy but, had I got as far as looking for an architect, dollars to doughnuts I would not have appointed someone who marketed themselves as eccentric.

Anyway, back to Knightshayes. Flo and I visited Knightshayes Court once, ooooh it must have been six or seven years ago. Frankly it was too big for my liking, the internal layout was confusing and there were far too many steps. The gardens are lovely and they put a lot of store by their rare trees and shrubs but, to be honest, if no one pointed them out to you, you would never know.

So, Knightshayes Court would not be in my 10 Things To Do Before I Die list or even in my 10 Things To Do In Devon Before I Die list but, if you find yourself near Tiverton with time to kill, it is still worth a visit.