Devon Life attended a lunch at the glamorous Burgh Island Hotel, nr Bigbury-on-Sea, Devon. The event was generously hosted by owners Deborah and Tony Orchard-Clark in support of Exeter Cathedral's Third Millennium Campaign.
Burgh Island is located off the coast of South Devon.
To visit Burgh Island Hotel website click here
Devon Life attended a lunch at the glamorous Burgh Island Hotel, nr Bigbury-on-Sea, Devon. The event was generously hosted by owners Deborah and Tony Orchard-Clark in support of Exeter Cathedral's Third Millennium Campaign. Photos by Anita Newcombe.
Anita Newcombe, Managing Editor, Devon Life, joined Deborah and Tony Orchard-Clark at the legendary Burgh Island Hotel, setting for the Agatha Christie tale, ' And Then There Were None'.
A beautiful sunny day, I was met by a uniformed chauffeur on arrival at Bigbury, driven across the sand by Land Rover and deposited at this wonderful Art Deco hotel. The island is cut off by the tide every 6 hours and I beat the tide today by about 30 minutes.
The Burgh Island is a true Devon icon, a romantic, art deco, luxury hideaway, the only hotel I know where black tie dinners are held every night and ladies can immerse themselves in the luxury and decadence of yesteryear. They say you can never be too dressed up at the Burgh Island Hotel and guests are probably the most elegantly-dressed in the county.
I sat with Deborah and Tony as well as Jonathan Meyrick, the Dean of Exeter, noted for bursting into song at a moment's notice and he didn't disappoint - my favourite song he often performs is the Flanders and Swann 'hippopotamus song'. Didn't get that one today but the Burgh Island is a wonderful haven of eccentricity and satisfyingly decadent hedonism. Sorry for all the adjectives but Burgh Island really is very special indeed. The last time I was at Burgh Island must have been 5 years ago but the barman remembered me (did I behave that badly?)
On the way back I was driven the very short distance to the beach by the same chauffeur who then took the controls of the amazingly quaint but surprisingly efficient sea tractor. Seeing that I was taking photos, he obligingly stopped the sea tractor to let me get the perfect shot. More about Burgh Island in Devon Life soon.
Burgh Island is located nr Bigbury-on-Sea in Devon and is cut off by the tide every 6 hours. However, access can be achieved by the iconic sea tractor.
