Great Western Coffee Shop

My Secret Westcountry: Caroline Quentin

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Caroline Quentin shares her favourite places near her Devon home with West magazine

Caroline Quentin tells Sarah Pitt about her favourite places in the Westcountry

Actress Caroline Quentin, 54, lives near Tiverton with her husband Sam Farmer, 12 years her junior, and their children Will, 15, and Emily, 11. Perhaps best-known for her roles in the BBC TV series Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek, she has appeared in countless roles on stage and screen, and from February 5 she will be starring in the title role in The Life and Times of Fanny Hill at The Old Vic in Bristol (www.bristololdvic.org.uk)

Favourite town: I would like to give a shout for Tiverton because it is really underrated. People see it as second-rate compared to Exeter and Taunton but I think it is a beautiful town architecturally. There isn^t a lot of money here, but if you take a stroll around it there are so much to look at. I do all my shopping there, and of course we have got the canal which is flat, unlike the Devon hills! I ride my bike along it and we go for walks along the canal too.

Favourite pub: We like the Staplecross Inn at Staple Cross, which we are very handy for. It is just a really nice place to go and have a bite to eat and a drink, very easy-going and not at all poncey, a proper little pub.

Favourite food shop: I love the Halberton Court Farm Shop, which is just up the road from Tiverton Parkway train station. Janet, who runs it, is wonderful, and they have got a great butcher and a beautiful tearoom. They produce everything on site and all the vegetables are grown there. Then for those who prefer to shop in town, there is Landrake Farm Greengrocers in Tiverton.

Favourite place for coffee: I love the Independent Coffee Trader in Tiverton. He makes the best coffee in Devon. It is a tiny place, and it is always full of people. It is really popular.

Favourite boutique: I^m a regular at Snob, in Tiverton and Wellington, where you can find nice things at very reasonable prices to jazz up an outfit. I^d also like to give a push to the charity shops in Tiverton, which include Devon Air Ambulance, Hospiscare and the YMCA, which have loads of bargains, ideal if you are short of money at this time of year.

Favourite mode of transport: I use the trains a lot to get up to London, from Tiverton Parkway Station, and I love First Great Western, they are bloody marvellous. Over the past year I^ve been on stage in Oh What A Lovely War and Noel Coward^s Relative Values, which ran for eight months in the West End, so I rely pretty heavily on them. I^m in rehearsals now for The Life and Times of Fanny Hill, at the Bristol Old Vic, and it is really nice because I^m able to get home each night and sleep in my own bed. That^s quite unusual when I^m working.

Favourite good cause: I^m a patron for the Exeter-based adoption charity Families for Children, together with (chef) Michael Caines, and we have had a very exciting time because the charity has just opened a new offices in Cornwall and North Devon. We are also looking for a new sponsor, because our previous sponsorship deal has just come to an end. So if anyone is looking for any input from Michael and I in return for helping the charity financially, please do get in touch.

Favourite drink: I do have a soft spot for homemade sloe gin. I go around the blackthorn picking them and make my own every year. I also like to collect rosehips from the hedgerows and make them into a syrup, which is delicious with white wine.

Places to explore: We are close to the River Exe, and in the summer we go to a spot near Cove where the kids go paddling and swimming. It is absolutely gorgeous in summer. We really love living here in Devon, surrounded by all this lovely countryside.

Visit www.familiesforchildren.org.uk for more information.

My Secret Westcountry is a regular feature in West magazine, part of the Western Morning News on Sunday

That'd be Heathcoat Fabrics.