- Open 24 hours
- Seafront and quay pickups
- Golf club and holiday parks
- Airport transfers
Westward Ho!, Appledore and Northam share the headland where the Taw and Torridge meet the sea, about eleven miles from Barnstaple. The route is the A39 to Bideford and then out past Northam, around twenty-five minutes in normal traffic.
We pick up along the Westward Ho! seafront and the holiday parks, from the quay and the narrow streets of Appledore, and anywhere in Northam on the hill between the two. Evening buses out here are thin, so late pickups and runs home from Bideford and Barnstaple are a large part of what we do.
Distance from Barnstaple
About 11 miles
Typical journey time
Around 25 minutes via the A39
Westward Ho! and Northam Burrows
Westward Ho! is the only place name in England with an exclamation mark, taken from Charles Kingsley's novel. It is also a busy resort in summer, with holiday parks above the town, a seafront that gets crowded and parking that runs out early.
Behind the Pebble Ridge, Northam Burrows Country Park and the Royal North Devon Golf Club, one of the oldest golf links in England, bring visitors who would rather not drive. Tell us which car park, clubhouse or park entrance you will be at and the driver will come straight to it.
Appledore: the quay and the narrow streets
Appledore's old streets were built long before cars, and several are too tight for anything bigger than a small car to stop in. If you are in one of them, tell us the nearest point on the quay or the main road and we will meet you there, rather than blocking the street and making you walk with luggage.
The seasonal passenger ferry across the Torridge to Instow runs on the tide, so it is no use for a train or a late return. When it is not running, the road round via Bideford is the only way across, and that is a run we do every day.
Getting to Barnstaple, the hospital and the station
There is no railway west of Barnstaple, so a train journey from here starts with a car to Barnstaple station. Give us the departure time and we work the pickup back from it, allowing for the A39 at Bideford, which is the slowest part of the run at peak times.
The same applies to appointments at North Devon District Hospital. Give us the appointment time rather than a pickup time and we will allow for the drive, parking and the walk in.
