West Country Foodie Favourites

Everyone has their beloved beach cafes in the West Country, and we have more than most! Here are three excellent eateries for you to try out the next time you have sand between your toes.

Sam's on the Beach

You can't idle in the sun for too long without getting peckish. Polkerris provides the beach and Sam's on the Beach (pictured above), once an old boathouse and slipway, provides the food. There is a wood-burning pizza oven producing heavenly stone-baked pizzas, as well as seafood platters, sardines, scallops, and clams - plus meatier options such as steaks, meatballs and chicken basque. All produce is sourced locally and has a strong Cornish stamp.

The open kitchen means that you can observe the catering action, and floor-to-ceiling windows allow a constant view of the Polkerris harbour and St Austell Bay when elements are raging, with the windows removed during the summer for a more al fresco feel. This is beach style at its best.

Barricane Beach Cafe

This secluded west facing cove between Woolacombe and Mortehoe, also called Shell Beach, has a shallow sandy beach with rock pools and gullies overflowing with marine life and seashells. The small beach cafe is so melded with the elements that it doesn't have its own website, but the delicious Sri Lankan curries are legendary, served with vegetable fried rice. Just take a bottle of wine and a rug, nip in for a swim and enjoy the curry. The cafe opens in May or June and food is offered most nights (not Mondays) until the end of the summer, unless the weather misbehaves. During the day there are sandwiches, cakes and cold drinks. Booking? Don't be silly, just check it's open on Facebook and then turn up.

The Crab Shack

At The Crab Shack on the back beach in Teignmouth, you'll satisfy your hunger for fresh crab, as their cracking team catch their own crabs and lobsters of the tidal waters in the English Channel. The centre of the fishing boats are full of water, ensuring the meal's freshness when it arrives on your plate, prepared by chef Josh Martin. The shack with its wooden boards and beams, whitewashed walls and driftwood styling looks like a glossy magazine interior, but this is the real deal, freshly caught shellfish with delicious views of the River Teign and Haytor Rocks. Open seven days a week, the catch of the day menu changes daily and for non-seafood lovers there are vegetarian or meat options.

We hope you have a great foodie experience in the West Country - let us know your favourite beach-side snack-spots too! Don't forget to check your HH voucher booklet "What Shall We Do Today?" for lots of savings.

Whitehorse Hill: A Prehistoric Dartmoor Discovery

We recently provided sponsorship for Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery’s forthcoming autumn exhibition, ‘Whitehorse Hill: A Prehistoric Dartmoor Discovery’.

The exhibition will feature some amazing archaeological finds dating back to the Bronze Age, a brilliant glimpse into the personal and prized possessions of someone who lived on the moor nearly 4,000 years ago.

The finds were discovered within a stone chest burial (a ‘cist’) at Whitehorse Hill, a remote moorland ridge on northern Dartmoor, over 600 metres above sea level. The cist contained the cremated remains of what is believed to be a female aged 15-25 years old.

One of the most amazing and exciting finds was a bag containing two pairs of wooden studs or ‘labrets’. These may have been used as body or clothing adornments and are the earliest evidence for wood turning in the UK.

The bag also held a group of over 200 beads (pictured above). This is by far the largest number excavated from a single early Bronze Age site in South West England. They could have once formed a spectacular necklace.

Many of the beads are made from clay not local to Dartmoor. Others are made of shale from Dorset. A cylindrical tin bead and traces of a second tin bead are the earliest examples of tin ever to be found on Dartmoor. Seven amber beads suggest this was a high status burial as amber is an exotic resin from the Baltic, often associated with supernatural powers.

There will be a series of events too, including lectures, gallery talks and family-friendly workshops. The exhibition will be open at the Museum and Art Gallery from 10am to 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays, free of charge.

More information about the exhibition is available from www.plymouth.gov.uk/museumwhitehorsehill.

Thrilling sights in air and on sea

You can see magnificent men in their flying and sailing machines this summer, with two fantastic events to take in:

On Thursday 31st July, the 2014 Culdrose Air Day offers the exciting opportunity to meet the Fleet Air Arm, the Royal Navy’s flying force, the only day of the year when the public can step into the world of Culdrose and experience the sights and sounds of a working military Naval Air Station.

Prepare to be blown away by awesome flying displays, as Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose is home to a variety of military aircraft including Merlin and Sea King helicopters, Hawk Jets, and the King Air 350 Avengers.

And don’t forget the 3,000 people based at Culdrose – those who fly and many more who help them to get airborne. Visitors will be able to meet the heroic aircrew who fly helicopters around the world, get up close to state-of-the art aircraft and learn all about life in the Royal Navy.

Ticket prices: Adult (16+): £17, Child (5-15yrs): £6, Family £40

If rolling seas are more your thing, head along to Falmouth from 28th to 31st August when 47 Sail Training vessels from around the world, including 12 of the magnificent square sail Tall Ships, will arrive for one of the biggest international sailing events in solely English waters.

There’s a packed programme of shore side entertainment from 11.00am to 11.00pm daily, most of which is free, including free access to board the largest ships in The Docks (dependant on tides). This is a rare opportunity to explore on deck and learn about life on board these giants of the sea.

The ships will leave Falmouth in a spectacular Parade of Sail to the start line off Falmouth Bay on Sunday 31st August, from 11.00am to 2.00pm.

Vote for Helpful Holidays...

... in the British Travel Awards. For the fourth year running, we've been nominated for the 'Best UK Holiday Cottage/Self Catering Booking Company' category but we need your help to win!

Last year we were delighted to scoop top spot and win gold in our category and we'd love to match that great result this year. We're one of several companies nominated for this category, so we need your votes to have a chance of winning again.

The British Travel Awards are widely considered the 'Oscars' of the travel industry, so we'd love to do well. Please ask your friends and family to vote too - their votes could make all the difference. The closing date for voting is 30th September.

Having trouble registering your vote?

Navigating websites isn't always as straightforward as their designers would like us to believe, so this step-by-step guide may help:

Click here to open the voting area of the BTA website.

• Enter your details on the voting registration form and click 'Submit'.
• You'll arrive at the voting form headed 'How to complete the form'.
• Scroll down and click the heading, ''Who are the best UK holiday companies and visitor attractions?'
• Select and click the 'Best UK Holiday Cottage/Self Catering Booking Company' category from the drop-down menu.
• Select and click 'Helpful Holidays' from the list of nominations.
• Scroll down the page to click on the 'Submit' button to complete your vote.

Please note, there's no obligation to vote in every category, just those in which you're interested.

Thank you for taking the time to vote for Helpful Holidays in these prestigious awards.

West Country summer festivals

It’s amazing how many events and festivals pop up across the West Country each summer – no matter which week or month you choose to take your holiday, you’ll find yourself choosing from a fantastic selection of things to do. Here are a few to illustrate our point!

‘Lafrowda’ means 'Church of the Good Cross' in Cornish, and the Lafrowda Festival in St Just, from 4th to 19th July is a great community occasion with giant willow floats, stalls, music and merrymaking around the town square. And to top it all, there's Lafrowda pudding served with lashings of clotted cream.

If you’re a seafood lover, try the Rock Oyster Festival at (where else?) Rock on 12th July, where you’ll find a big farmer's market and delicious Porthilly oysters. Or try Dorset Seafood Festival, which takes place around Weymouth's historic harbour on 12th and 13th July. There's Pommery champagne with fresh oysters, live cooking demonstrations, music from the Fishwives Choir, the Exmouth Shanty Men and the great British Whelk Revival.

For something slightly different and absolutely stunning, head along to Somerset Steam Spectacular and Country Fair at Low Ham, near Langport, on 18th July. Here you’ll see no less than 40 steam traction engines plus vintage and classic cars and motorcycles, vintage tractors and displays of steam ploughing. All this, plus a market and craft area, licenced bar and refreshments, fun fair and children's rides.

After all that steam and engine revving you’ll perhaps appreciate kicking back and listening to some music. The Chagstock Festival returns with a Wild West theme for its 5th year on the northern slopes of Dartmoor on 18th and 19th July. This year's line-up includes The Waterboys, The Lightning Seeds and Steve Knightly from Show of Hands. Watch out for the Hatherleigh Ukele Bashers, with vocals, in the Live Lounge.

And finally, for some prehistoric fun, why not become a dinosaur hunter at Eden Project this summer? Thanks to the launch of Dinosaurs Unleashed, the Eden Project will be transformed into a prehistoric world inhabited by the terrifying scaly monsters that ruled the earth some 67 million years ago. Explorer Field Stations are to be set up throughout the venue, where visitors will be able to learn all about some of the famous explorers who have helped us piece together our knowledge of these ancient creatures. Dinosaurs Unleashed is set to open on July 21st and will run until September 2nd, giving you the entirety of the summer holidays to check it out.

To find holiday cottages near each of these locations, go to the Helpful Holidays website or call 01647 433593.

The 2014 Helpful Holidays vs Gidleigh Park Cricket Match

As many of you will know, some of us at Helpful Holidays are keen cricketers and we have an annual charity match with the fine folk at Gidleigh Park. We all aim to entertain the crowds and raise as much money as we can for our charity of the year, the Marine Conservation Society.

It all takes place on Sunday 22nd June at Chagford Cricket Club, one of the most beautiful settings in Devon for a game of cricket. The teams are made up from staff, their families and friends of HH and Gidleigh Park, with some pretty good cricket played on the day - if we do say so ourselves! This is the 3rd year of this fun but very worthwhile event, now tied at one game each, HH having come out on top last year.

Last year we raised over £4,300 for the Devon Air Ambulance but we’d love to improve on that this year. There are some fantastic prizes in this year’s raffle, drawn immediately after the match, including:

• Seashore safari for 2 with Monty Halls' marine biologists, courtesy of Monty Hall' Great Escapes
• Short break at a 5* cottage, Parford, Chagford, courtesy of Helpful Holidays
• Lunch for 2 at Gidleigh Park
• Sunday lunch for 4 at Bovey Castle with a bottle of house wine
• Boxed Glenmorangie whisky, courtesy of the MCS
• Fantastic wildlife trip with AK Wildlife Cruises for 2
• Day on the river with King Harry Ferry with tickets to the National Maritime Museum
• Quba Original X-10 jacket, RRP from £374
• Weekend break for 2 at Hallsands, south Devon

... plus many more, all of which are listed on our website.


As well as the raffle there's lots more on offer, including tasty treats from Sara Mears Catering, a Pimms tent and scrumptious Gidleigh Park cream teas. There’ll also be a jazz band to get toes tapping. Do come and support the teams on the day, you’ll be made very welcome.

Please support our fundraising effort and buy raffle tickets (£2 each or £10 for a book) to have a chance of winning the fabulous prizes mentioned above. If you can’t join us on the day, you don’t have to miss out - just call us on 01647 433593 to purchase raffle tickets over the phone by Friday 20th June 2014.