Coasting around Cornwall

We left Plymouth on a lovely sunny morning and not too far down the road we saw a sign to Restormel Castle.  "Hmmm" said Matt.  "That's interesting, Restormel is one of the original shell keeps.  I'd like to see that".  Well lucky Matt, it was an English Heritage property so didn't cost us anything additional once we produced those magic OS Visitor Passes.   Unfortunately no photos as my camera and SurfacePro seem to have stopped talking to each other...Microsoft swears it's nothing to do with the software upgrade but I'm not convinced!

Leaving Restormel we drove on towards pirate and pendragon country.  Our first stop was planned to be a trip to St Michaels Mont.  It was not to be as the parking outside the village was already full to overflowing - so we drove through Marazion and back to Penzance where somehow, despite all the "summer" visitors we'd managed to score a sea-view room at the Union Hotel.

View of St Michaels Mont from our room in the Union Hotel

Tropical flowers in Morab Gardens, Penzance

The Union Hotel was once where Society went to be seen and it was during a ball here that the English victory at the battle of Trafalgar (1805) was announced.  You can also still see scorch marks on the wall from when the Spanish invaded in 1595!  We were sorry to only have one night here as we would have liked some time to sit and enjoy the view.

We enjoyed strolling around the town and admired the Morab Gardens for their collection of tropical plants (how did they not die of cold?) and managed to tee up somewhere to stay the next night (phew!  I was getting worried).

The following day we spent traveling to several sites of interest to us and every other tourist.  Our first stop was in the lovely little town of Mousehole.  Charles de Lint set his wonderful book "The Little Country" in and around this area so I enjoyed prowling the streets which he wrote of so evocatively.  This not being able to download photos is getting frustrating!  Luckily I took a few on my phone of some (by no means all) of the spots we visited.

Next up was the clifftop theatre of Minack.  We didn't get blown off the edge and did get to hear an actor declaiming the story of Rowena Cade and how she built her theatre.  A true English eccentric!

The weather was fairly ordinary but we couldn't miss a stop at Lands End.  I finally had a cream tea and discovered with disgust there were THINGS in the scones.  Squashed flies maybe?

You can see exactly what I think of sultanas in scones!

Unfortunately I was feeling a bit under the weather so we returned to the Yacht Hotel, our evening's home from home and I took to my bed.

The Yacht.

Saturday saw us braving the weather yet again and heading for Tintagel, a spot I've wanted to visit since I was a small child and first becoming fascinated with the legends of King Arthur.

I've stolen this picture because all mine are on the camera that won't be connected!  Grrr.  You'll have to imagine it in the pouring rain and the surfaces as slippery as soap (just ask Matt...).  It was very atmospheric in the stormy weather but I would have been just as impressed in the sun!

We stayed the night at the delightful - and truly elegant - Bossiney House Hotel where we again had a room with a wonderful view of the water - while the sun came out briefly we weren't convinced it would stay!

Ducking around Dorset and Devon.

Back in England it was time to see some really ancient monuments and we left Royal Wooton Bassett slightly surprised that despite the chilling wind it actually wasn't bucketing down.  Along our way we passed through the fascinating Avebury Henge.  The stone circle there is so big there is a village on the inside! 

Our next stop was the better known circle, Stonehenge.  Despite the huge numbers of visitors you can still see the awe inspiring site without loads of people in your sight-lines and you really don't feel overwhelmed by the number of others there (that said we were SO glad we had our "English Heritage Members Overseas Visitors " card and got to skip the long long lines!).

Glastonbury Tor.  The hill doesn't look so steep from here but is very.

The next monument I really wanted to see was Glastonbury Tor, which is supposed to be the site of the Isle of Avalon from the Arthur myths.  Parking on the mound was impossible so we parked near the Abbey and caught a bus most of the way leaving just the summit to achieve.

View through the tower

Needed: one old box for sliding.

(darn it, this concert is coming up and we'll miss it)

There are many Grail Legends surrounding the Abbey and the Holy Well. 
I could entertain myself for hours retelling them

We took a brief look at Glastonbury Abbey and town before continuing on to the coast for the night.  There were some cool shops in Glastonbury too - like Milton but even more so.  If I could have fitted this doll house in my bag I would have - but it was nearly as tall as me.

We stayed in a lovely B&B in Uplyme.  Unfortunately it was quite late in the evening when my friend Tig and I realised we were visiting within a mile of each other, however, she did give Matt a tip for a spot to visit while I did the obligatory book site spotting on The Cob, the breakwater at Lyme Regis made famous in The French Lieutenant's Woman and Persuasion.  

The Cobb

Tig's suggestion - the Lyme Regis Brewery

We had an important lunch date the next day with Matt's favourite TV chef, Hugh Fearlessly Eats-it-all.  I think we've seen every episode he's ever made (even the dreadfully boring Christmas Specials) [Oh No We Haven't - ed] so lunch at the River Cottage Canteen was a definite date!

 Local Charcuterie from River Cottage.  Mostly very nice.  Dripping Vile

You guessed it, local beer too!

Crab Salad was Di's favourite.

Our final stop for the day was one we couldn't miss.  A beach called Beer.  Not one we were in a hurry to swim at even though it was very pretty - it was cold, and the beach was rocks.

Pretty clinker built boats with inboard motors for hire.

 We ended the day in Exeter in The White Hart, a coaching inn that parts of dated back to the turn of the century - the 14th century!!  We asked to see a room before checking in and although we enjoyed being shown over the original part of the building complete with odd staircases, sloping floors, wonky doors, and wavery window glass we wimped out and stayed in the new bit (with a lift).

After a morning of boring but necessary jobs we headed off to Plymouth via Dartmouth.  We knew there was a car ferry if we went that way.  We also found another contender for England's Oldest Public House.   Dartmouth was small enough that we could walk around in an hour or so and admire the shops.  We then continued on to the castle at the mouth of the river.

I've been trying to teach people right across the country
how to make a lemon lime and bitters.  Still unsuccessful,
who knew that perfect combo was so hard!

Sound and vision as they added a light show and battle noises to the static displays

The main defence was a chain across the river which was raised
to prevent unwanted ships from entering.

We were nearly stopped from getting to our next port of call by out of date maps on the tomtom and an MTV party!  It was a bit of a shocker to have directions for going around a roundabout while you're driving over a flyover.  [However, after a series of errors from obviously out of date maps we complained to Europcar when we returned the car and they cheerfully refunded its cost.  Excellent customer service there!]  Meanwhile, MTV had taken over all the interesting places we wanted to visit so we only stayed long enough to see Plymouth Rock where the puritan pilgrims set off for America and departed the next morning to try and meet up with a Pirate King! 

Royal Wootten Basset

We arrived at the Angel in Royal Wootten Basset in time for tea.  There isn't much open on Sundays but we did enjoy a traditional English meal.  Venison Curry and Duck Tikka.  We also used the long evening to walk around and look at some of the funky old buildings.

The museum is closed on Sunday and Monday. 
Guess when we visited...

A very narrow house!

Our stop in Royal Wootton Basset really was just an excuse for a look at where Dad's ancestors came from as well as a handy stopping spot for the night.  I did tell the young man on reception that I really owned the pub (see http://robandgail.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/royal-wootton-basset.html) but we still didn't get free drinks.

A rare bit of Wales

We arrived in Bristol on a rainy, wet, and cold evening.  Actually it was nearly midnight and when the couple three in front of us were refused entry to the UK we despaired.  Mainly because no one was sent to replace the only officer processing people in the 'non EU' queue.  Despite the evidence to the contrary (ie rainy, wet, and cold) we learned it was also the beginning of the summer holidays.  Regardless, the next day we hired a car and took off on an adventure!

The first adventure was me learning to program the TomTom we hired with the car.  They are NOT as easy as you think and really I was not at all sure that we were going to end up at our desired destination.  Suffice to say I think we both learned some new words! We crossed the lengthy Severn Bridge and into Wales - and then out of Wales again as we arrived at Goodrich Castle.  We bought the English Heritage Overseas visitors pass as we hoped we'd visit a few more English sites over the next two weeks.

In one single stop we experienced everything we needed to about a typical English summer.  Walking around an ancient monument while it's chucking down rain and you wished your other half would hurry up so you could go to a nice dry tea room/second hand bookshop with free wi-fi.

Yes, I'm quite damp despite the raincoat and my umbrella is inside out.

It didn't stop me climbing to the top!

It was really raining.

We stayed at a nearby pub, the Cross Keys Inn, where we had a lovely night.  The breakfast the next morning was stunning too.  The eggs and bacon and all the trimmings certainly set us up for a day of touring!

How cute is this little room under the eaves!
I picked it because it looked like a room in a book.

Our first stop in Wales was a "while we were passing" as we noticed the remains of Skenfrith Castle and stopped for a little look.  When the original castle was flooded they just built a new one on top!  The remains were only found in the 1950s.

Skenfrith

White castle was a favourite of both of us.  It is well preserved and seems to be on a more human scale than some of the grander buildings.  Like English Heritage the Welsh also had an offer where you could see how many monuments you could get into over several days.  We certainly got our money's worth from both passes!

Matt explains the fortifications to me while I wish he'd
just get back in the car where it's warm and dry. 
Note I am standing in the gatehouse, out of the rain.

Raglan was next, it was the childhood "home" of Henry Tudor.  I'm not sure how home-like the castle would feel when you were essentially a hostage.  It is Wales youngest castle and like White, is surrounded by a moat.

The last Welsh castle on our list was Caerphilly.  It was huge!  In the middle of the town and we didn't see any crumbly cheese in evidence, just crumbly stones.

Leaning tower of Caerphilly.  Blame the Roundheads who took the castle in 1646.  Or subsidence.

Our final day in Wales meant a quick trip to Cardiff to the Dr Who Experience. It's important to experience the pop culture along with all the history.  And after all, Dr Who is an adventure in space and time! 

"Bessie", The Doctor's car from his UNIT days.

Stunning costume worn by Jenna Coleman as Clara in "Mummy on the Orient Express"

Did somebody say "Don't Blink"?

Is there a Doctor in the house?

As we headed back to England we made a slight detour to one or two last Welsh castles, Kastel Coch (pronounced something like Cork) and Chepstow.  Coch was interesting because it had been extensively renovated to be made habitable in the 19th century.

Paneling in the dining room

More gaudy paneling.  Amazing details!

Wash basin in the bedroom

Adding Chepstow to our castle collection meant we had seen youngest and oldest of the Welsh Castles as Chepstow was one of the first Norman castles built.

The rain stopped briefly.  Don't worry, it would return.

With the southern  Welsh castles conquered we adopted a new companion to guide our little car (the Fiat 500 is the smallest rental on the market and perfect for the crazy tiny narrow roads here) as we headed towards Royal Wooton Bassett for the night.