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In bygone days all the goods that needed carrying up the steep main street and alleys were carried by donkeys. Everything from parcels, ash from home fires, rubbish bags, food, equipment and fish from the harbour were carried up and down by these faithful servants of Clovelly. In fact as recently as the 1990s, the donkeys were carrying up luggage from the hotels, empty beer bottles and barrels, laundry, cardboard, using their special pack saddles.
 Charlie, pictured left, is ever willing to carry luggage up from The New Inn to the Visitor Centre car park. There is a small charge for the service and lots of photo opportunities! Mostly, the donkeys are left free simply to provide pleasure and enjoyment for the many visitors.
During the summer, the donkeys carry children around their meadow at the top of the village, or can be found in the woods during the winter. At other times, they can be seen posing for photos in the street, whenever they get the opportunity! 18th August Much to the surprise and delight of everyone at Clovelly, a baby donkey was discovered on 18th August, 2008 in the stables.
4 year old mother, Sinéad, had tried hard to communicate her predicament the day before. She was not very happy posing for the visitor snapshots in the street at Victoria Fountain, finding it difficult to stand still. She even bolted when it was time to return her to the stables.
 Sue and Bart Kelly, who own the donkeys and run the Clovelly Stables, thought that it might help to calm Sinéad down by letting her loose in a field, but she escaped from there too. Once captured, they settled her into the stables for the night. Then, on Sue and Bart's return to the donkey stables on Monday morning, they were staggered and overjoyed to discover a baby foal in Sinéad's stall. The foal is to be called Kiwi and although it's sex has yet to be determined, they are pretty sure it's a mare.
Sue and Bart already had plans to start a breeding programme to rejuvenate the Clovelly donkey stock so Kiwi's surprise arrival heralds the start of a new generation of donkeys at Clovelly.
Visit the Clovelly Donkeys at www.clovellydonkeys.co.uk for photos, facts, games and more! |
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