North Devon Maritime Museum

A small maritime museum housed in Odun House, a Georgian merchant's home overlooking the estuary in the village of Appledore. The displays follow the shipbuilding and seafaring story of the area, from model ships and early wooden vessels through to the modern ships built at the local shipyard. Younger visitors can look at half-models, a model of the old quay, navigation instruments and a ship's wheel, and the museum describes its exhibits as hands-on, with films, models and a telescope to try. A section on the wartime experiments carried out along this coast before D-Day gives older children a different angle on local history. The museum is run largely by volunteers and has a gift shop, so it suits a wet afternoon or a stop during a visit to Appledore.