Hele Bay is a tiny little cove near to Ilfracombe; in fact it looks like a suburb of Ilfracombe, separated from it by a hill called Hillsborough. However it turns out it has a long history of its own that has been written up in great detail here. People were first living in caves here almost 40 thousand years ago. In more recent times the area was involved in the traditional North Devon trades of smuggling, lime burning and, in modern times, tourism.
The bay is rocky and pretty, one of those places that you feel only you have discovered (even though you’ve parked in a big car park and are surrounded by holiday homes).
