Blogs from Devon, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 14

There was the usual dilemma in the morning of what initial direction to head when first starting off in order to get the best way out of the town - anyway that solved I was on my way again. Deciding at the last minute to head along the coast as long as possible I cut to the right on a sunny, bright morning heading for a town called Fowey (later I found out pronounced Foi as in Oi !!!). There is a river crossing here with no road as such so I asked in a woodcutting yard if there was a ferry or something and the answer was yes. Asking the way to the ferry, some are glum some are merry Some are just kind and I want to pat him on the back and say ... read more

Landed in Bristol under cloudy skies. Dan was there to meet us which was a bonus. Hired a car (Citreon C4 diesel) and off we set for North Devon, Woolacombe, where Dan and Donna had rented a farm cottage for the weekend. Good to see Dan again. We last met up in NZ when he was out for a week to visit his family but he's pretty permanent in London now so it was good to catch up. Even better, he did all the driving. It took us about three hours to get to Higher Mullacot Farm where the cottage was. To get there we drove through miles and miles of rolling down land with gorse and stone hedges, ending up in high hedged country lanes barely wide enough for a car. There was some delicate ... read more

Good morning from Plymouth; just a little tidbit before we move on from here. There are not a lot of older buildings in Plymouth because of the blitz during the war. This church although it has major bomb damage it's been left as a reminder of the loss suffered at that time. On a lighter note, it's also in the center of a traffic circle. I know there are some of you who wouldn't appreciate the number or the sizes of the traffic circles here. Have a great day, later........ read more

Geo: 50.5767, -3.81177We went for a drive over the moors after lunch.Went done a narrow lane while trying to find some Dartmoor Ponies.While trying to turn the car around, Wendy managed to get us bogged :-(A very kind farmer with a Landrover towed us out :-)... read more

Our original plan was to bike over Dartmoor where we would pass Grimspound, the Neolithic site where Sherlock Holmes camped during the Hound of the Baskervilles. Our original timetable had us there on a full moon. The timetable was shot after several days of bike breakdowns, walking up horrendous hills, and difficulties in finding our route and running into detours. And then we heard numerous warnings of treacherous conditions for riding in Dartmoor, especially in bad weather. So plan 2 had us heading north to Bodmin Moor, another wild and beautiful part of Cornwall. As we climbed up to Bodmin on day 3 we entered a world of mist and open country that seemed like the top of the world. Picture a single track road winding through open pastures with sheep grazing freely. A lamb followed ... read more