The Voice Of Reason

 

Anyway, when we first drove down, we went along the north Devon shore skirting Exmoor which we could see to one side, and coastal views on the other. We stopped in Cleeve Abbey to see the ruins of the abbey there, drove through medieval Dunster but it was too busy to be bothered stopping, and we stopped at Lynmouth and Lynton, twin towns on the seaside. Lynmouth is right on the shore and Lynton is high up on a cliff over it, connected by a Victorian funicular rail car that goes up the side of the cliff in a couple of minutes. Yes, we went up and walked into the hilly town there to find somewhere for lunch. Found a nice pub called Queens Inn. We poked into a few shops but didn't stay too long as we still were only about half way to the hotel. Stopped at a hilltop visitor info centre for a wee break and some photos. 

 

The next day we went to the smal harbour village of Boscastle ijn the morning. Nice views, walked out the end of the harbour. Graham climbed up a path to see the outside of the sheltered harbour and then we walked back to the main reason we were there, the Witchcraft Museum! Awesome! It's small but packed with a lot of things to see. It talks about things like historical images of witches, persecution, curses, charms, symbols, healing women, stereotypes... all kinds of topics. Graham really loved it and bought a tshirt with a pentangle on it! We were surprised to find out that the owners of the museum get a few death threats each year.

|Next stop, sort of, was a quick drive through Tintagel. We didn't plan on seeing the castle but i wanted to see the crooked old building that housed an old post office though that's not what is in there now. There were at least a half dozen busloads of tourists thronging about and the town itself was not that attracted, it's all geared to the tourists and the King Arthur connection. It was a bit offputting, really. 

Down along the country lanes, lined high with hedges so you don't see as much of the scenery as you think unless you're at the top of hills.We stopped at a little cove where there was a smal beach and had lunch at a pub across the way. Graham enjoyed his huge 'Arnie' burger but my bowl of cream of mushroom soup was as thick as paste and my crab sandwich was just that, bread. Crab. nothing else. We walked on the beach a bit and then decided that we weren't going to have time to go all along the north shore of the peninsula in one day as it is now mid afternoon. I wanted to see the open air |Minack theatre so we went over to the motorway and al the way down to the south to see that. A woman created the theatre by having rows of seats carved into the cliff with the stage at the very bottom. It all overlooks the sea and a wide beach to one side. there are lovely gardens outside the theatre and the theatre itself is strewn with little patches of flowers. It would be amazing to see a performance there but it would be open to the elements for sure.

Back up the motorway to St. Ives where we managed to get through the narrow streets to a car park on the pier. St. Ives is a seaside town well known for being a centre for artists and craftspeople.Unfortunately we were there too late for the shops but we walked around the place around streets too narrow to be actual street though barely wide enough  to get a car down them. Just. We finally decided on a pub on the water front to have dinner and tried to get back out of the city but the GPS kept wanting to send us back into the warren of lanes. We finally found the way out! We drove into the Land's End parking lot which normally costs you 3 pounds before you can go hike down to the actual land's end or go through a big tacky complex of arcades, exhibitions and probably an overpriced cafe and pub. I only stopped there to take a photo off the coast from the parking lot to say i'd been there. It was after almost all the tourists had left for the day so we didn't have to pay to stop and turn around. we followed the coast for a bit then took the motorway back up to the hotel and didn't get there until nearly 9:30. Too long a day to do something like that again. Will have to rethink our idea of how much we can fit in for a day!

Day two, we went to the Lanhydrock house and estate near Bodmin. It dates back to the 1600s though they had a fire in the 1800s so most of it has been rebuilt and redecorated. Luckily they saved quite a lot of what was in the house so there are some nearly 400 year old furniture and antiques in it. It was owned and lived in by the same family for most of that time until 1969 and still has that lived in feel to it. We both really loved it. the Great Hall is still the original 1600s room with a full plaster carved ceiling of the stories of Genesis. It's quite something to see!

Went to the town of Lostwithiel after that, a pretty little place with an old church. Went in there to find it fill of floral arrangements for a foral festival raising money for a hospice and the church. Many businesses and organizations sponsored an arrangement which were all gorgeous and had little adornments that reflected the business. for instance, one for the fire safety and rescue people had a yellow hard hat. The drugstore/chemist had a microscope and little glass antique medicine bottles. The bridal shop had a wedding dress along side the arrangement. Outside there was a table with tea and cake set out so we sat down and had a cuppa and a piece of cake for a nominal price. 

Close to there is a ruin of a round castle called Restormel. We had a look around there under grey skies and then went to the seaside town of Fowey (pronounced Foy). It's another hilly town with narrow lanes. We found a parking lot on the edge of it near a ferry that goes across the river to another little town. We'd probably have gone over if we'd been there earlier but again, nearly the end of the afternoon by the time we got there. Lots of whitewashed or painted cottages with cute names like 'Baggywrinkle' and 'Buttonhole' (though that one  might have been in St. Ives). Unfortunately trying to find somewhere for lunch was more difficult than we thought it would be. It's about 3 o'clock and it turns out most of the pubs stop serving food at 2:30 though later in summer they will serve all day. We finally found a restaurant that was open and had a pretty good meal there. 

We looked in a few of the shops and took a mini bus they have that goes from the centre square to the parking lots. We got back to the hotel about 4:30. Our lunch was so late that i knew i wouldn't be very hungry and i took the second of two large scones we'd had with our meal home wtih me. Graham bought a sausage roll for later as he has to have meals because of his meds. We had a little nap and relaxed and after having our bits of food, went to the bar in the hotel, it's an honesty bar where you write down what you take and it's added to your bill. They also have a cellar with a games room with a pool table so we took our drinks down there and played a few games. Which i lost, nothing unusual there ;) 

We had been having mostly decent weather, mostly sun with some cloud and a bit of overcast on the last day. It rained in Manchester all week and it's still like that! 

On the way back we stopped over in Bath and met up with girfan and highres for lunch. He had to go back to work after but P. went to the Baths with us. I liked them but G.thought they were a bit overpriced for what you get for 12£ We walked around a bit to see more of the architecture. We were getting footsore and tired and decided to see if the hotel did food. It's a Holiday Inn express, and no they don't. wha? Rather than go looking for a pub or place, we thought just get sandwiches and take them back to the hotel room. But by this time the sandwich shops were closing! Aggh! We ended up with premade ones from the grocery story, Sainsbury's, along with some chips (crisps) and pop and took a quick taxi ride back. It's an early night for us after some tv, both worn out!

We stopped off at a friends' place in Little Malvern for a visit on the way back to Manchester on Saturday and got home finally about 4 i think. Met up with local friends at a pub in Cheshire on Sunday. Service was shockingly slow but the company was top notch! We did a bit of shopping yesterday in town and got some groceries for the rest of the week. Thinking of going over to Yorkshire to see Harrogate. Weather still looks a bit grim but we're going to give it a shot.

Phew. and that's been our first week of holidays!