Autumn in the South West

Halloween

For a half-term break with the children, Torbay offers a wealth of activity, proving it is not just a seaside resort. If you are tired of the Halloween 'trick or treat', you can enjoy far more exciting activities in South Devon.

Join monsters, vampires, ghouls and ghosts as they terrorise the miniature inhabitants of Babbacombe Model Village in Torquay. Creep round with spooky-luminations from dusk, past the grounds of the haunted Lord Elpus Hall. Halloween Horrors runs from October 14th to November 4th, from 11am to 8pm. For more information phone 01803 315315, or log onto www.babbacombemodelvillage.co.uk

Have your kids carving pumpkins this year at Spooky Cockington, on Friday October 26th from 10am to 1pm. They can also make Halloween masks and hear some local ghostly tales which are suitable for seven-year-olds and above, although all ages are welcome. Meet in front of Cockington Court in Cockington Country Park or in the Gamekeepers Cottage if wet. Charges: Children £2 plus £3 for pumpkins, adults free. The event is repeated at Occombe Farm, just off Preston Down Road, on Sunday October 28th from 6pm to 8.30pm, when you can buy hot soup, mulled cider, apple juice and cake. Children and adults are free but £3 for pumpkins. Booking is essential for both events. Phone 01803 606035.

If you’re in the area a couple of weeks before this, don’t miss the Cockington Apple Day on Sunday October 14th in Cockington Country Park. See apples being pressed in the ancient cider press, watch fire juggling and enjoy fresh food from the stalls. Time: 10am to 4pm, adults £3, children free.

Roll up for the Halloween Ghost Show at Kents Cavern, Torquay, from Wednesday October 24th to Saturday October 27th. Early evening shows, from 5.30pm-6.30pm for under-eights, with super scaries from 7pm-9pm. You might want to indulge in the all-you-can-eat buffet on Friday October 26th and Saturday October 27th, or a spooky tea on Wednesday October 24th, Thursday October 25th and Halloween night itself, Wednesday October 31st. Blue Chip clients are offered a 10% discount on daytime heritage tours which doesn’t include special events. Just product your Blue Chip booking confirmation at reception. Find out more by phoning 01803 215136 or log onto www.kents-cavern.co.uk

For a spooky ride through some of South Devon’s most picturesque scenery, jump aboard the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway Ghost Train on October 27th or 28th, at 2.15pm and 4.15pm. Children ride free if dressed in Halloween togs and there is a prize for the best dressed adult. Listen to a ghost story as you chug along the coast and prepare to be scared in the long tunnel. For more information phone 01803 555872 or log onto www.paignton-steamrailway.co.uk

Watch the Paignton Zoo badgers from a special hide as they feed and socialise at night after the zoo closes. Badger Watch runs until Friday October 26th. Phone 01803 697500 for dates and to book. Cost: £8.50 per person. A special reptile trail will run around the Zoo from October 20th - 28th. Children can make a reptile badge, meet a snake and feed a giant tortoise. The Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition is being shown from Saturday November 24th 2007 to Sunday January 13th 2008. Do make a date to see this because the quality of photographs is superb – and from photographers as young as 10. Entry is free.

Woodlands Leisure Park near Dartmouth has three days of Halloween Trick or Treat hunts, workshops, new ghost train, free pumpkins and a pumpkin carving competition, from October 26th - 28th. The big Halloween party is on Saturday October 27th, with entertainment by Spangles the Clown. For more information and times phone 01803 712598.

Why not visit Newquay Zoo for the Halloween Fest from October 27th to 31st? There are spooky stories and tales every day at noon plus a pumpkin carving prize draw, and if you really want to enjoy the witching hour, come along to the Zoo Boo on October 31st from 6:30pm to 10pm, where you will be sent on a ghostly trail around the zoo with undertakers and mummies for company. Tickets are £12.95 adults and £8.95 children and includes a barbecue. Booking is essential, phone 01637 873342 or log onto www.newquayzoo.org.uk for more information. As a bonus to Blue Chip clients, the zoo is offering £1 discount on normal entry price per person for up to six people up until December 31st on production of the Blue Chip booking confirmation. Special events are not discounted and the offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer including the family ticket.

Trerice, an Elizabethan mansion just off the A3058 near Newquay, has a week of family activities for those on late half-term from Monday October 29th to Sunday November 4th including the chance to play Cornish Kayling (skittles) and Slapcock (Tudor badminton) free of charge and brass rubbing for £1.

Lanhydrock, near Bodmin, has a pumpkin lantern walk on Saturday October 27th, pumpkin carving on Saturday and Sunday October 27th and 28th, with a Halloween trail from Tuesday October 23rd to Sunday November 4th. For both these events log onto www.nationaltrust.org.uk and click on the link 'Events at this property'.

Cornwall’s Crealy Adventure Park in Newquay has its Pumpkin Fest on Sunday November 4th with a free pumpkin for every child to take home, carving contests, magic lanterns to make, the Crealy Witch in her Creepy Grott, and the Haunted Train with a Spooky Supper at the end of the day. All children in fancy dress get a free gift. After this day the park will be shut until March 15th. For more information log onto www.crealy.co.uk

Cardinam Woods near Bodmin has a Halloween trail open from Saturday October 27th to Sunday November 4th during café opening hours. Track down clues hidden among the trees and unravel the mystery for a scary treat. Cost: £1.50 per child, adults free. On October 31st in the woods you can listen to local storyteller Jo Tagney relate spooky Cornish and Celtic tales around a roaring campfire and warm up afterwards with hot chocolate and a cookie from the Woodland Café. Cost: £6 per person to include parking. Booking essential with the Forestry Commission on 01392 832262.

The ice rink at the Eden Project near St Austell will be open from October 20th. Throughout half term (which will run for two weeks to November 4th to accommodate different schools) the rink will display a Halloween atmosphere, and there are workshops and storytelling with a spooky theme.

Guy Fawkes

November 5th wouldn't be the same without fireworks, and in the South West there are some spectacular displays. The Paignton Green fireworks this year are on Saturday November 3rd from 8pm and can be seen from all over the Bay, so if you don’t want to jostle with the crowds, you can catch a bird’s eye view from Corbyn Head in Torquay.

For a double dose of pyrotechnics, the Plymouth fireworks are in a class of their own and will be whooshing into the air from The Hoe on November 5th from 6.30pm in front of a huge bonfire.

Woodlands Leisure Park’s fireworks are always spectacular, and you can enjoy some of the adventure park beforehand. This year’s fireworks festival is on Saturday November 3rd with a Duel of the Fire Gods themed bonfire and a monstrous firework display plus BBQ, bar, sideshows, Benco the Master Juggler and Spangles the Clown. Tel for information and times on 01803 712598.

In Cornwall, Whizz Bang Boogie on Saturday November 3rd at Carnglaze Caverns, St. Neot, near Liskeard, is a Guy Fawkes triathalon. First comes the concert at 6.45pm given by The King Earl Boogie Band, whose members were the backing band of the 70s group Mungo Jerry, and are joined by John Coghlan, former drummer with Status Quo. Fireworks start at 7.30pm with sausages and burgers cooked by St Neot Scout group; then it is back into the Rum Store to boogie the night away. All ages are welcome. Adults £10, concessions £5. Booking advisable on 01579 320251. Carnglaze Caverns is signposted from the A38, just east of Trago Mills. Log onto www.carnglaze.com for details.

Jazz it up

Outside London, the South West is the second home of jazz in the UK. The Teignmouth Jazz Festival is the largest of its kind in the country and is a three-day jazz extravaganza, this year from Friday November 23rd to Sunday November 25th. International artists, such as the famed Greg Abate, the American saxophonist/flautist and composer/arranger, will be playing, and if you haven't seen him live, rush along to Teignmouth because he is magic. British jazz masters such as Tony Woods, local favourites the Dart Valley Stompers and vocalist Louise Parker, who is backed by the excellent Craig Milverton Trio, will also be performing.

There are three major venues including one in Shaldon this year, with a free bus service running between Shaldon and Teignmouth. Stroller tickets, which admit you for daytime, evenings or both, are excellent value and are priced from £10, giving you the option of viewing eight bands in one session. Contact Teignmouth Tourist Information Centre on 01626 215666 for tickets or log onto www.teignmouthjazz.org for the full programme and details of bands. Tickets are also available at the Carlton Theatre on Teignmouth sea front for a couple of hours after the TIC has closed.

If you have time for only a short break and want to concentrate solely on the festival, many of the properties on the Blue Chip website can be booked for a minimum of just three nights, outside July and August, subject to availability, which means you can travel down after work on Friday and enjoy two full days of jazz.

These are just some of the many events taking place over the South West this Autumn. Blue Chip has properties in Torbay, Teignmouth, Shaldon, Newquay, St Austell, Looe, Bude and Truro, so you won’t have far to drive to any of the events. Grab an autumn break and enjoy this, the best of this mellow season in the South West.