Thursday 4 June 2026

Rest day number 6 Chillington

Chillington House has 9 rooms and there were 11 people at breakfast this morning. The breakfast was excellent. A great selection of fresh fruit: kiwis, plums, blue berries, white and pink grapefruit, melon, pineapple, apple, mixed berries, to go with a choice of muesli and plain Greek yoghurt. They had 2 or 3 egg omelettes on the menu so as a change from poached eggs Barbara had a ham and cheese omelette and I had a ham and tomato one. They have freshly baked bread and home-made jams and compote. I just about finished the whole jar of plum, rhubarb and ginger jam myself. Chillington House dates back to 1723 and was one of the main Georgian Farm Houses in the village. However it has had so many additions, alterations and refurbishments over three centuries you would not recognise it as being that old.

Chillington is what I imagine is the quintessential quiet little Devon country village. A population of about 1,000, it has a relaxed rustic charm and seems to have a strong community spirit with market days, fairs, fetes and festivals all advertised. There is an amazingly well stocked little village shop which also houses a real, live Post Office. You don’t see many of those these days. It is not a tourist destination in itself but is close to the coast at Torcross and bigger attractions at Salcombe, Dartmouth, Dartmoor and Kingsbridge. It is a ‘ribbon’ developed village along a narrow but busy road which is also a bus route. It is about a 300 metre walk from one end of the village to the other.After breakfast we did walk from one end of the village to the other and bought some supplies for the next two days from the village shop.

At lunch time we walked to the village pub, The Bear and Blacksmith. It was raining, windy and cold when we arrived so it was lovely to walk into a warm, cosy world away from the elements. This is a little pub with a limited menu but serving food all day from 12 midday until 10pm. For the record Barbara had Slow Roasted Pork Belly with smoked mash, mixed greens and jus. I had The Chillington Burger, beef, bacon, jam, smoked Applewood cheese, seeded brioche bun, gherkin, burger sauce and fries. While it is not bad etiquette to order food in a pub without buying a drink, it does seem a bit awkward sometimes when asked “Can I get you a drink?” to say “No thank you, can I just have some water with my meal”. We have only had alcohol once on this walking trip so far (and then because it was complementary with the room) and feel so much better for it.

Chillington was the ideal sort of place for us to have a rest day. After cleaning shoes, a little washing and mending, there is not a lot to do. Just relax and recharge for the next seven days of walking to Beer, our next rest day.