Ilfracombe

Many visitors meet Ilfracombe through Verity, Damien Hirst’s twenty-metre bronze, who stands at the harbour mouth with her sword raised and half her body flayed open to the sea breeze. She still starts arguments in the chip shop queue, and after a stroll along the quay and a boat trip out, plenty of day-trippers drive home with her as the whole story.

But she is only the latest to keep watch over the Bristol Channel. Celts built a hillfort on Hillsborough long before the Victorians arrived by train for the sea air, and on Lantern Hill the little chapel of St Nicholas has kept a light burning for sailors since the Middle Ages, because not every ship made it home.

VoiceMap’s self-guided audio tours follow that long vigil from the top of the High Street down to the water with Mark Langworthy, a local guide who knows which hotels never quite emptied. Hear why the wreck of The London still haunts Rapparee Cove, and finish at the George & Dragon, pouring pints since the 1300s. If a gull takes a shine to your chips, just hit pause – the ghosts will get to you dreckly.