Blogs from Devon, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 7

There are many great Dartmoor pubs. The Tavistock at Poundsgate is one of my favourites. It is in "the middle of nowhere" with hardly a house in sight, but has great atmosphere and the parking lot across the road is often full with people coming from near and far. It has its roots from the 14th century and you feel little has changed over the years. The thick stone walls and the low, beamed roof certainly would have some stories to tell if they could speak. Today Dartmoor feels remote and sparsely populated, but a few hundred years ago there was a large tin-mining industry on the moor and the tin was transported on horseback down the steep hills towards the coast. The Tavistock probably has its name from being half way between Tavistock and ... read more

4 weeks to take off and I'm not the tiniest bit anxious. Why would I be? I'm 66, in the prime of old age and I have very little idea how this trip is going to pan out. The spare room bed bedecked with 'stuff'. The bike chain oiled. The saddle polished. American visa with my pasty image staring back at me firmly stuck into my passport. What can possibly go wrong? We'll all have a better idea of exactly what can go wrong when I pitch up in Deadhorse in June 25th. Fondest regards and much love, Cyclopath aka Dr Slow.... read more

Left Brighton this morning for our long drive (by English standards anyway) to Beesands in Devon. Stopped for lunch in Weymouth, another seaside town (city really). Beach had a little more sand then Brighton, but still plenty of rocks! Then onto Devon, started on motorways, then country roads, lanes, tracks? Where is this place? We are now driving on narrow lanes (sealed but very muddy) with hedges taller than the car on either side that seem to randomly criss cross the countryside. The signs saying the roads are for single vehicles only, with passing places mean that when we meet another car, somebody has to reverse to a place where two cars can pass (usually us). Then we come across water, and a car. They reversed (and kept reversing), we drove through the water. Eventually found ... read more

Today we have moved on to Ilfracombe- an English seaside resort town. The B&B where we are staying contacted us earlier in the week and asked if we could check in early as they had appointments during the afternoon. As we only had a short drive, we were happy to agree. The morning was quite wet, so we didn’t stop on our way. The forecast suggested that it would clear about 10am, but by the time we arrived in Ilfracombe (round 12) the sun was yet to make an appearance, although the rain was almost stopped. We found Marine Court, our home for the next two nights, and met Karen and Russ our hosts. They suggested a walk down to the harbour and around the lower town. We wanted to check our where our restaurant for ... read more

Today we visited two different National Trust properties as we drove on to Devon. We started at St Michael’s Mount near Marazion first thing this morning- after a fantastic breakfast at the Boskerris Hotel. We knew the causeway out to the Mount was only open until 1.45pm, so it would be better to visit in the morning. It was not far from St Ives to Marazion, and we were soon parking the car and walking out over the beach and the causeway to the island. Having visited Mont St Michel in France, and knowing the two islands were related in many ways, we wanted to see this Cornish Mount. The Mount is now managed by the National Trust, but it had a different history to that of the French one. It was originally an Abbey, but ... read more