Is Combe Martin worth a visit?
Small seaside village on Devon's rugged north coast. Hiking types will head up Great Hangman, the highest sea cliff in England, while surfers have access to the foam from a sheltered bay.
What to see and do in Combe Martin?
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Britain's 'Longest' High Street
The longest of any village in Britain, that is, although the claim can't be confirmed. Highlights include a poker-themed public house and a football shrine most rivals would consider geographically apt.
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The Hangmans
England's highest sea cliffs, if we haven't mentioned already. Handy for hiking types while those with a board can settle for base camp at the bay.
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Harbour Cafe
The harbour may be gone, but take your pick from a number of perky providers in this seaside resort in miniature. You don't really need another slice of cake, but man, will the rain never ease?
With nothing much else to do in the rain, if we haven't mentioned already, we've started to collect combes with Ilfra- and Woola- on the list. -Martin here we come - off we go...
Oh no! Here's somewhere else in North Devon at the end of a terrifying and interminable descent in the rain of a combe and we're looking at you Ilfra- and Woola-.
Yes, there's a wooded valley to worry about and this is right on the river, the River Umber, of course, although most of it is umberground.
The collywobbles are the case if you take the rollercoaster ride in from the west along the top, even if several caravan parks hardly confirm the inaccessibility being suggested. The majority will make the sensible choice of the A399 in from the south but more on that in a minute, right Sat Nav-ers?
Whatever your way, the natural bay serves up a serviceable beach from where wetsuit-ted types can backside a backwash, whatever that means, or launch a hired kayak available from a handful of handy providers.
They might think they're braving being swept away by a North Atlantic nor'easter but this is officially the Bristol Channel, basically.
It's a clifftop-heavy situation on either side, and those to the east are home to the Hangmans, the tallest sea cliffs in England, no less.
Great Hangman's face clocks in at 800-foot, not shown, which is bigger than Beachy Head, and the path rises to another 200-foot above.
Little Hangman is a measly 700-foot, not shown, which is still bigger than Beachy Head, but there's as much chance of seeing either up-close or even from a binoc than there is of today's rain easing off, honestly.
If you're walking England's longest National Trail anticlockwise from Minehead, you're only 21 miles in, so just the 598-or-so to go to Dorset. If you're coming from Dorset, it's still about 21 miles to Minehead, and you've been going the wrong way anyways.
This stretch takes in both of the Hangmans, and is, not unsurprisingly, the highest point of the entire trail. Cornwall will provide its own challenges, but this is routinely described as 'strenuous', and since it's only day three, many might be minded to head back to Minehead, maybe?
A mini-seaside-resort vibe is amplified by, on first impressions, more ice cream parlours than thought to be strictly necessary.
They're clearly waiting for next summer but a handful of fish, chip and pasty-providing fleshpots provide amusement indoors with a thankful lack of that sort of thing present.
The museum looks to do some good work workshop-wise with local schools so it's not all inevitable, tragic tales of fisherfolk but there's competition on the unusual artefact front at Old Trafford.
Old Trafford?
Remember the A399? Well, it's said to be the longest high street of any village in the country, and it's along there you'll find a nod to the famous stadium.
A former cobbler, it's thought, was a well-known character in the village and football nut to boot, hence the Sir Matt Busby Way road sign in the window.
Not that it can be confirmed, Google™ will simply deliver driving instructions from North Devon to South Manchester, and it's not the only point of interest along the longest high street of any village in the country.
The Pack o' Cards Inn was originally built by some old gadabout who seems to have known when to hold 'em and known when to fold 'em. The joker's winnings are said to have funded a new family home with, get this, four flours, 13 doors on each floor and 52 stairs.
Given this happened around 1700, that makes the efforts of the geezer who designed the Grand Hotel in Scarborough not quite so original as had always been thought.
It's not really the longest high street of any village in the country, it's just the main road in and most of its two miles are residential so it's not really a high street, really.
Sorry if that sours the tone, and makes SlyBob sound like a couple of Combe Martin killjoys, but the mood has been dampened by the incoming football scores...
14:28 FT Newcastle 1 Nottm Forest 3
That means, back at Old Trafford, more cups remain in the old cobbler's kitchen than they will for a while in this fairweather NUFC fan's trophy cabinet, eh?