I have been neglecting the blog over summer but lots has been happening at Ducks Paddle. Cottage bookings have been very slow to get going this year, with May and June being very quiet. Happily though since July we have been busy with lovely guests and their even lovelier pets. Andy's printing has also been very quiet and we can only really put this down to the state of the British economy. People are being much more cautious with spending and Novembers budget could bring more uncertainty. Never one to sit and moan I went out and got myself a job! Since the start of June I have been driving for one of the big supermarkets, delivering groceries 3 late shifts every week. It has meant that my time in the garden and house has been curtailed and jobs here have had to drop down the to do list. The extra guaranteed cash is keeping us solvent and I have to say I really love the work. Not part of our master plan but it is working out very nicely.

The website has been very successful with lots of new contacts on the Ducks Paddle history. We met with some of the Welsh family, who lived here in to 1970's. They gave us some amazing information and it was lovely to meet them. I have also made contact with descendants of the Mayne family who are over in Illinois and I am waiting to hear back on anything they can find out. They are the great grandchildren of two of the Mayne sons born here. Lastly we also were contacted by the son of one of the Rattenbury children who lived here in the 1920's and met him and his wife last week. I have lots of updates to now add on our history pages which will keep me busy in the winter evenings.

Early September we took part again the the North Devon Bat Survey and Andy will be putting the results online soon. The weather was very much against us this year as we had a stormy and wet survey slot. Therefore it was much reduced data but still lots of different species. It appears that the bats prefer to stay warm and dry and who can blame them? 

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Recently we actually made it to RHS Rosemoor for their Plot to Plate event with our main mission to see Jim Arbury from RHS Wisley. He was there doing apple identification and amazed us with his knowledge. We now know that the 3 old trees on our guests lawn area are Howgate Wonder. It is likely they were planted here in the early 1930's so our 100 year old guesstimate was bang on! More info on this will be added on our garden page when I get time.

Sharon x



P.S. Granny Tubbs is still going strong and brought us a baby rabbit this morning. She was very proud of herself!

May started very busy as I was working the local elections. This is something I do every time elections roll around, the work is fun and interesting and the money is always helpful. I do love a bit of politics. On the day I was Presiding Officer at the Polling Station in Rackenford. This village is around 7 miles from Ducks Paddle and has a community run village shop www.rackenford-devon.co.uk/shop which was my office for the very long polling day. The shop is brilliant and I recommend a Thursday morning visit so that you can catch the lovely Abu on his shift. He moved to this picture perfect North Devon village after a starring role on Escape to the Country and actually bought the mystery house! Also worth checking out are the restored village well and the beautiful church which has parts dating back to the 13th century.
The following day I was working in Tiverton at the election count. This is always fun and I met some great people. If you fancy getting involved then just contact the election services dept of your local council and get your name on the staffing list. It is so interesting seeing how our voting system works. 

We are continuing to tidy up the camping field and are now on signage. The water is all fixed now so we have a wash up station, stand pipe tap and for the very adventurous a cold outside shower.

April arrives and we welcome our Easter holiday guests. Our hens are laying well so we can avoid chocolate eggs and savour the real thing.

The gardens are full of primroses and daffodils and we saw the first swallows passing through on April the 2nd. The wildlife pond is teeming with tadpoles. I can already see it is going to be another bumper year for foxgloves. I managed to spruce up the potting shed with left over emulsion from the previous owners and it is looking much prettier now. 

​Work is forging ahead on the "nearly wild campsite" with the new campfire pit set up and the washing up station set up. I have been running wild with ideas for signage and can't wait to get started on them in my workshop. Camping will be very basic, tents only with just a toilet, cold water taps and of course the all important campfire. Pitch up, tune out and relax!

​Sharon x

We have been working on our website over winter 24/25 and at last we have enough content ready to launch it on the world wide web. There are still lots of things we want to add but if we wait for perfection then it will never happen. Andy had been working on the site overall and I am tasked with the history section and this blog. I find local history fascinating and digging into the past of our home has been great fun. Lots of late nights I have spent disappearing into strange internet rabbit holes of research to find out who lived here over the past 300 years and how they lived. I really hope that people who are researching their own family trees will use and add to the information collected here. 

We managed to get a fibre broadband connection here last summer and that has made a huge difference. Bringing Ducks Paddle into the 21st century whilst still keeping its history and charm alive will always be a fine balancing act but both of us feel it is an important aim during our custodianship of this very special little part of north Devon.

We very much would love to hear from anyone, anywhere so if you are interested in what we are up to, have any useful information or just want to say hello please do drop a comment below.

​Sharon x