From handmade knitwear and ceramics to new exhibitions and restaurant openings, we’ve chosen our ten autumn musts in the South West
1. Stay snug in a wardrobe staple
How much do we love a woollen vest? Let us count the ways. One of fashion’s favourite capsule items, it’s the perfect way to weather autumn’s changeable temperatures. Woolgatherers makes this beautiful version, The Ferryman’s Vest, using locally sourced yarn from Dartmoor. Just the thing to wear while hugging granite boulders.
2. Love your dimples
Up your coffee game with these dinky dimple cups from EOT Ceramics (pictured top) which are handcrafted in Cornwall. The dimples make the cup lovely to hold, and the range includes Glas (river blue), Porth (sea green) and Dor (stone and mauve).
3. Eat at Elly’s
When the news broke that one of our fave chefs, Elly Wentworth, was leaving The Angel in Dartmouth we were heartbroken – until we found out she was taking up the post of exec chef at the Refectory at Fowlescombe Farm. Book your table at Devon’s most exciting new rural retreat and see what she’s creating with own-grown ingredients.
4. Scoff steak at Restaurant Kensington
Our secret spot for steak is Restaurant Kensington in Lynton, north Devon. Exmoor-reared beef is showcased in a top-drawer menu featuring unusual sharing cuts such as chateaubriand, tomahawk and porterhouse, as well as the more commonly found fillet, rump and sirloin. The beef is treated with reverence by the chefs and paired with a plethora of sauces and sides like buttery smoked mash, beef-fat carrots and bacon-jam mac and cheese.
5. Join the commune
Bruton-based Commune creates plant-based bodycare that’s rooted in sustainability. Its signature fragrance, Seymour, references ripe fruits and warming autumnal woody tones and is used across the whole range – from hair care to perfume – so you can layer it up.
6. Feast at Redruth’s cool community hangout
Housed in a funkily revived historic building in the heart of Redruth, the Buttermarket is part streetfood hangout, part cultural hub and part community living room. Six indie food traders serve up delicious eats while the central courtyard acts as the town’s unofficial meet‑up spot. It’s also a home for live music and local markets.
7. Do breakfast, Indian style
Move over, avo toast. There’s a new kind of breakfast luring us from our beds on Saturday mornings, and it hails from India – by way of Bath.
Bandook is not only rustling up delicious breakfast fare, but it’s also helping kids at a Bath primary school. For every uttapam, kolkata roll or Bombay breakfast ordered at Bandook in Bath, a nourishing breakfast is supplied to the school’s breakfast club. The restaurant also raises money for children thousands of miles away, as part of a collab with the Dream Centre Project charity in Mumbai.
8. Spend the day at Bristol Harbour
For culture, coffee, feasting and strolling, is there a better day out than a mooch around Bristol Harbour?
We like to start with a flat white at Little Victories on Wapping Wharf, followed by a wander through Arnolfini. Notable shows this autumn include exhibitions by Sahara Longe (pictured, inset), Dana Awartani and Emma Talbot. Then we head to Harbour House for a long lunch by the water.
The restaurant, in a 19th‑century transit shed, champions quality produce in dishes like half a Cornish lobster with all the sides, and grilled octopus with romesco sauce, charred fennel and roast potatoes. Meat lovers will rate the steaks and Gloucester Old Spot pork chop. An excellent wine and cocktail list segues lunch into evening drinks in style.
If you liked our round-up of autumn musts, delve into more curated round-ups.
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