The Trip Continues to South Wales and Beyond

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Part II

We drove down onto the sand at Polzeath, which was the car park! Then sat in the car for a while watching the children playing in the tidal pools whilst the parents, who were rugged up against the cold, watched on. There were a few surfers out and we saw a couple walking along the beach with T-shirts under their wetsuits and wearing bootees and gloves - these people must be keen.

Our navigator took us down more C roads to the tiny settlement of Port Quinn. It looked like a smugglers’ haven to us. The coast road brought us pout at the top of Port Isaac where we had to go down a 30% decline into the village centre - again a narrow road, but we had seen nothing yet…………..

The roads in the fishing village were that narrow and there were no passing places so oncoming vehicles had to back up/down the streets. Howard thought that this was just the best thing he had seen. We found a pub and Howard was quite amazed to see the barman pulling a pint - not seen that before. We got into a discussion with one of the locals about beer glasses. He said that he kept the same glass all night and never had it washed. We in the northeast do not do this - Linda’s dad would have been appalled - new glass for every drink up there. Just shows how things differ from place to place.

We found Kittiwake Cottage and the keys to the cottage and our room were in an envelope taped to the front door!!!!!!!! Linda let herself in and found Room 2. Howard was in the car parked in front of the lifeboat house, just around the corner. Linda returned for the luggage and then, after unloading we had to park the car at the top of the village in a special Car Park, about a one-mile (1.6km) walk along the cliff top.

By the time we had walked back down the owners (originally from Sheffield) had returned and we discussed breakfast…08:30 they said and we asked for a little earlier as we had a way to go the next day…..no way, 08:30 or nothing - not too impressed!

The bedroom was tiny, about 8' x 10' (2.5m x 3m) and no ensuite - that was fine as we were the only guests. The base of the bed was higher than our heads and the passage to the bathroom had a camber to it and was twisted. The bathroom door fitted at the hinged side but the other side had about a 3'' (75mm) gap from the floor. Wonderful stuff!

We had dinner upstairs in a lovely old pub (the one used in “Doc Martin”). There were quite a few other diners including a very elegant French couple both dressed in black. It was here that we tasted scrumpy - farmhouse cider.

We are having a gastronomic tour as well as visiting relatives and are trying to eat and drink the local delicacies as we pass through towns and counties on our trip. So far we are doing very well and enjoying it all although Howard says the Australian pasties are better than traditional Cornish ones!

As it was still light we had a look around the village and found some of the buildings used in the Doc Martin series - the school is actually a hotel and restaurant and the surgery, which is a private house. We found the pub and also the harbour beach, which acts as the lower car par when the tide is out There is a noticing advising as to when cars should be removed before the tide comes in and it costs £2.00 ($4.90) to park there.

Today we were on the edge of Dartmoor, went across Bodmin Moor and through Bodmin, crossed the River Tamar into Cornwall, through Launceston (been to Launceston Cornwall and Launceston, Tasmania). Crossed the Camel River several times around Padstow and saw Padstow Bay, St Quinn Bay and Port Isaac Bay.

Total travelled today 100 miles (160 kms)

24th May - Wednesday

We went for breakfast early and actually got it just after 08:00. We then walked up the hill to collect the car, which we then parked at the harbour car park and went to collect our luggage and were away by 09:00. We went via Port Gaverne to give Howard his daily dose of C roads and headed for the A39 and so to the M5 at Taunton where Howard could enjoy speed once more!!!

It was lovely to have visited the area where Olive White’s mother’s family came from all those years ago - Nanna.

Onward to the Second Severn Road Bridge and into Wales where the toll for the bridge was £4.90 ($12.25). Immediately the road signs were in Welsh and English and we headed for Caerdydd (Cardiff), still on the motorway, much to Howard’s joy. Cardiff Castle was being renovated so we could see very little of it but we did see the new rugby stadium, which has replaced Cardiff Arms Park.

Aunty June’s in Barry was our stop for the night Aunty June is a school friend of Linda’s mum, who used to live next door but one on Barry Island. We found Barry and had to ask the way to her road, which as it turned out, was 100m up the road. We were treated to Welsh Cakes and a cup of tea when we arrived at 15:30. Had a nice chat and then it was time to get changed to go out to dinner at Gilby’s award winning restaurant just out of Barry where we met up with Aunty June’s daughter Judith, husband Chris and son Jonathan. We had a wonderful meal, which was Aunty June’s treat - thank you Aunty June, it was fabulous.

Today we visited Cornwall, Exmoor National Park and Exmoor forest, over the Brendon Hills towards Taunton (cider town) in Somerset and crossed the Mendip Hills, bypassing Bristol over the River Severn to Casnewydd (Newport) and so to Bro Morgannwg (the Vale of Glamorgan).

Total travelled 226 miles (361.6 kms)

25th May - Thursday

We were up by 07:30 and sat in the conservatory having coffee in lovely sunshine. After breakfast we took Aunty June to Barry Island where she showed us around. We saw Tyneholme and Seabreezes, the childhood homes of Linda’s mum and Aunty June, the yacht club where they were members, the new housing estate on what was once open ground the funfair, Jackson’s Bay and other places of interest. It was now time for coffee with Aunty June’s brother and wife, Orlidge and Pat at their lovely home, a converted farmhouse in Porthkerry on the outskirts of Barry.

It was then on to the A449 towards our next stop at Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds. This is a particularly pretty part of England and we saw lots of thatched cottages and picture postcard villages. We found 12 Imperial Square in Cheltenham, a lovely Regency spa town. This is where John white (b 1813) had a lodging house - he was the brother of Linda’s great great grandfather Peter Valentine White. Just outside of Cheltenham we stopped at Cleeve Hill where there was a lovely view across the Vale of Evesham to Tewkesbury.

Winchcombe was the first small Cotswolds town we came to - a Saxon settlement and a good place to stay for waling as it is at the intersection of a least five different walks over the Cotswolds.

Broadway was next, a touristy village with a lot of tour buses. We walked down the main street amongst the many tourists and went into the Lygon Arms once a local manor house which has the distinction of having hosted - at different times - both Charles I and Oliver Cromwell we had a beer at the Broadway Hotel which has a lot of hose racing memorabilia. Every pub we went to we had to check out the beer for Howard. Eventually settled on carling or Stella Artois for preference. There were an awful lot of places selling Fosters and they were drinking it in pints!!!!

We thought we had better get to Chipping Campden and find Brian and Sue, which we did thanks to brilliant navigational skills. Brian is Linda’s first cousin whom she has never met and it was such a thrill for her when he came out of the front door - this had never been opened in ten years, so that was an honour in itself Brian looks so lie his grandfather, Tom George White. Anyway, in we went and were given a tour of the house, which is a lovely home with magnificent garden and we were made to feel so welcome, it was great.

After we had settled we went for a walk around the town - supposedly 2 miles but we aren’t too sure - perhaps it was a country two miles!! Howard experienced his first Public Footpath - for those not in the know, these are footpaths or bridle paths (for horse or bicycle riding) to which the public have right of access along a linear route. These ancient rights of access must be clear of obstruction and the landowner must maintain bridges, stiles etc. there are many hundreds of miles of the paths across Britain.

Chipping Campden is such a pretty place with lots of thatched cottages. It is quintessentially English country town unspoilt with, perhaps the most perfect High Street in England filled with 14th - 17th century honey-coloured stone buildings. The Cotswold Way (walk) starts at Chipping Campden and finishes 100 mile (160kms) away in Bath.

We finished our walk at one of the eight pubs, the Volunteer arms run by an Australian. Named so as this was where volunteers were collected for the Gloucestershire regiments. We had a pub tea there, which was delicious - there were even faggots on the menu.

Total travelled 122 miles (195.2 kms)

We left Wales just outside Cas Gwent (Chepstow), the end of Offa’s dyke on the banks of the River Wye in Monmouthshire.

We travelled along the Severn River through Gloucestershire, bypassing Gloucester and into Worcestershire at Broadway and then back into Gloucestershire

Offa’s Dyke

Forming the traditional boundary between England and Wales, this impressive earthworks runs, although not continuously, from the Dee estuary in the north to the Wye in the south. Constructed by King Offa of Mecia (757-96), late in the eighth century, it is a tribute to the authority he commanded from the Humber to the Channel. Offa was the most powerful and successful of the Mercian kings. He dominated England, and the great Charlemagne himself acknowledged his power on the continent. Offa had led many expeditions into Wales, but in his later years he decided upon a policy of stabilizing or at least permanently marking the frontier. Offa’s dyke is one of the most remarkable structures in Britain. Offa’s intention was to provide Mecia with a well-defined boundary from Prestatyn to Chepstow, a distance of 240 kms. Natural barriers were utilized where that was practicable: where it was not, an earth embankment was built which in places still stands to a height of two and a half meters and which is, with its ditch, up to twenty meters wide. A total of 130 kms of dyke was constructed.

The labour of thousands of men was needed to build the dyke, proof that the kingdom of Mercia possessed a high degree of cohesion; in places it is absolutely straight for miles, proof of the technical skills of the designers. It is twelve kms longer than Hadrian’s Wall.

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Photos

Tight Squeeze
One of many 'C' roads