Evandale

Evandale is a village of Georgian and early Victorian buildings that survived because the main road bypassed it, leaving a streetscape of brick and sandstone shopfronts, churches and the 1847 water tower. Since 1983 it has held the National Penny Farthing Championships each February, in which riders on high-wheel bicycles race around the village streets in a series of heats and a criterium, drawing competitors from overseas and filling the town for a weekend of racing and a village fair. A Sunday market runs weekly in the old bakery yard. Clarendon House, a grand Georgian mansion of 1838 on the South Esk, is a few kilometres away.

What you actually see

• The penny-farthing races - high-wheel bicycle racing through the village each February.
• The Georgian streetscape - brick and sandstone buildings from the 1830s onward.
• The Sunday market - the weekly market in the village centre.
• Clarendon House - the 1838 mansion nearby on the South Esk.

When to go

February for the penny-farthing championships, which fill the village for a weekend; the Sunday market runs year-round. October to April is mildest. Winter is cold with much of the village quiet.

Honest expectations

Outside the February weekend and Sunday mornings the village is very quiet with limited open businesses. The championships are a single weekend and accommodation in the area books out. Clarendon House has its own opening hours and entry fee.

Nearby

Launceston lies north; Ben Lomond and the midlands are east and south.