BARNSTAPLE , at the head of the Taw estuary, makes an excellent springboard, being well connected to the resorts of Bideford Bay, Ilfracombe and Woolacombe, as well as to the western fringes of Exmoor. The town's centuries-old role as a marketplace is perpetuated in the daily bustle around the huge timber-framed Pannier Market off the High Street, alongside which runs Butchers Row , most of whose 33 archways are still occupied by butchers. Also of... [More]