Delightful Devon Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Devon is located in the south west of England, bordering Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset. It is the only county which has separate coastlines on two different bodies of water, the Bristol Channel to the north and the English Channel to the south. The largest city is Plymouth and Exeter, also a city, is the county town.

In the northern region are Barnstaple, Lynton and Westward Ho! Barnstaple is situated slightly inland on an inlet of the River Taw. Historically, it gained wealth from the wool trade, but the harbour silted up. Lynton is often twinned with Lynmouth, a village which lies at the bottom of the gorge with Lynton at the top. Lynton lies within Exmoor and is on the Bristol Channel coast. Westward Ho! is a village on the north coast, near Bideford. Its unusual name comes from the title of a novel by Charles Kingsley, which was set in Bideford. It has the distinction of being the only place name in the UK to include an exclamation mark, with the name being chosen to capitalise on the popularity of the 1855 book.

In the south east of Devon is Axminster, located around forty miles (64 km) from the border with Dorset. It is situated on two of the original Roman roads, the Fosse Way and the road from Dorchester, in Dorset, to Exeter. It is particularly well known for its history of high quality carpet weaving.

Moving westward along the coast, we reach Sidmouth, deriving its name from being at the mouth of the very short River Sid. The town is at one end of the Jurassic Coast, known for its fossils. Also on the coast is Exmouth, again at the sea end of a river, this time the Exe. Exeter itself is about eleven miles (18 km) inland. Still heading west, Dawlish is next on the list, lying about halfway between Exmouth and Torquay. It is notable for its black swans, the largest population in the wild in the UK.

I've mentioned Torquay, which is one of the three towns to make up the area known as the English Riviera. The other two are Paignton and Brixham. Heading inland now, but still in the west of the county, is Ivybridge, which is located quite close to Plymouth and to the east of the city. The town is at the southern tip of Dartmoor.

Crediton is in central Devon, with the road from Exeter to Barnstaple running through it. The final two places are Honiton and Ottery St Mary. Honiton is also on the Fosse Way, the Roman road stretching from Exeter to Lincoln. It is renowned for its lace making, with Queen Victoria's wedding dress being made from Honiton lace, and pottery. Ottery St Mary derives its name from the River Otter and is situated about ten miles (16 km) east of Exeter. Unsurprisingly, the parish church is dedicated to St Mary.

The wrong answer options are all places from the neighbouring county of Cornwall. Bude and Zennor are on the north coast, Camborne and Launceston are inland, Polperro, Helston, Mevagissey and Newlyn are all on the south coast. Due to its shape, nowhere in Cornwall is very far from the sea, though, and the county is a popular tourist destination. In the summer, tourists outnumber residents.