Barnstaple and north devon - good coffee?

[tuinutkin18]

Hello, we are looking to move to north devon but wondering if we need to be nearer to exeter or bristol for jobs, schools and opportnities? We are both quite into outdoor life and have 2 kids who are 1 and 4. Could anyone tell me places where a good coffee can be found?

What do you do for jobs? Depends entirely on that. But yes unless you work in NHS/social services/teaching I would be looking carefully at what your options might be.

I’m not a big coffee snob so can’t answer that one!

We both work from home, me in charity sector and partner is a graphic designer. We also like between Exeter and Totnes but the beaches are amazing up in north Devon.

My MIL lives is Barnstaple. I am always pleasantly surprised when we visit. It has a lovely high street, decent amount of independent shops, good food scene, I don't think you would struggle to get a decent coffee. There is a shop that specialises in local produce that had the best ice cream I have ever had.

There are rougher parts and it doesn't feature at all as a place to holiday in (v few holiday lets there) so it is definitely more geared up for locals than holiday makers.

Right on the tarka trail which is fab for walking and cycling, easy access to some fab beaches (I love Croyde), pretty close to dartmoor and exmoor. It is getting anywhere else that is a ballache.

Wow thank you for your replies, really helpful. We are also looking around Exeter but just drawn up north because of beaches and it being less busy. It sounds like Barnstaple has a lot to offer. It’s tricky visiting at the moment with all the tiers so useful to have opinions from others.

I find it hard to answer tbh - there are definitely more job opportunities around Exeter/Bristol than in north Devon. But if you work from home that is less of an issue, isn't it? And you can commute from north Devon to Exeter - lots of people do, although I think it would be hard to make it work if both parents were doing that commute. Lifestyle is very outdoorsy, lots of people who have moved because that & the beaches appeals to them. It isn't at all diverse in any way, and it has little cultural life compared to cities (theatre, music, arts etc) so if those aspects are important to you then you would be better off based near Bristol - not sure how diverse Exeter is really, although it has got a little more of an arts scene. This is just my perception and I've only lived in north Devon for 18 months so by no means an expert.