On to Axminster (yes, where the carpets come from!)

We had a couple of days left in Salcolme, so first we set off for Bolt Head which is an old RAF radar base on a headland near to our campsite. It was a lovely sunny day when we set off and then we walked through a hailstorm! This soon passed over and the sun returned and we saw some Dartmoor ponies who were very interested in us and a couple had a bit of fuss. Then onto the headland where the view was fantastic.
We then headed to Paignton and onto the red sandy beach with the dogs. The beach was the busiest we have seen so far and there were loads of dogs playing, walked along the beach to the rock pools at the end by the sandy Jurassic cliffs where there was a large pool which we ‘encourgaged’ Prince to jump in (gave him a helpful push!) and he did lots of swimming back and forth, he’s not too keen on swimming in salt water but has a go! Then we walked back to the Pier and had a walk to the end of it, you had to walk through the amusement arcade and it was heaving with people, seemed a very strange place to be on a lovely sunny day!

Then we set off for a look at Torquay, we parked up a hill past the harbour and walked back past a place with huge nets up in the air and when we looked over the wall there were penguins there, it was an attraction called the Living Coast, which looked very impressive from above. We had a mooch around the harbour and looked at all the posh boats , then past the Pavilion which is a lovely ornate building which houses some shops and coffee shops and around the other side of the harbour where we bought an ice cream ( who cares its winter – its sunny!)

Next day we decided to go to Kingsbridge for a little look round. It was a lovely little town with lots of local shops (butchers, bakers, deli) it seems to have been unspoilt so far by any supermarkets, it even has a small cinema on the high street where we spotted a film we liked the look of (Up In The Air – George Clooney) so we bought some tickets for later! We had a little trot around its small harbour before putting the dogs into the car and heading for a little café//restaurant called The Old Bakery which we saw had wifi. When we went in there was no-one around and just as we were wondering about going upstairs a man popped up behind the bar. He turned out to be the owner and asked us what we’d like, we said a pot of tea and some cake and he was very enthusiastic about his home made cake selection (it was justified enthusiasm, yummy). So we had tea, cake and downloaded some tv on his wifi, a highly recommended restaurant! We headed back to the van and stopped on the way at Hope Cove a beautiful little village with a small cove beach, we had a little walk up the coast path to get a better view of the setting sun, and discovered that we could even see the Eddystone lighthouse 18 miles out at sea! Later on we went back to Kingsbridge for the film, we went through to our screen and there was no-one there! So we picked some seats in the middle of the small cinema. Only 2 other couples arrived before the film started, it was a great film and you could even hear the whirr of the reel behind you from the projection box!

The next day we moved on to our next site, Abbey Gate Farm in Axminster. The site itself was great, a hardcore drive and 2 hardstanding pitches which looked relatively new, and a great view from the front of the van! Once pitched we set off for a little saunter into Axminster down the footpaths and lanes, it’s a nice little town with quite a few shops and a large church at its centre.

Next day we went to the Donkey Sanctuary by Sidmouth, the Sanctuary was first opened in 1973 by Dr Elisabeth Svendsen who was left 204 donkeys as part of a legacy, the sanctuary has since nurtured over 12,500 donkeys and currently has over 400 on site. It is a great tourist attraction with a vast area open to walk around in, play area, a café and gift shop. It’s free to get in and they just ask for a donation.

When we arrived we went to see the adopted donkeys before heading out on one of the walks, we stumbled upon a hedgerow maze which we spent a bit of time getting lost in before continuing on our walk around the fields. At this time of the year the donkeys are mainly indoors, but we did see quite a few in their barns, and as we headed back to the centre we were allowed into one of the barns to get a closer look and meet the donkeys face to face. We then headed back to Tonks, on the way back through Sidmouth we stopped for a look around. Nice town with some great local produce (which we sampled) and a pebble beach. We then drove into Beer to have a look around. A lot of the shops seemed to be closed on Mondays, but it has a lovely village centre with a brook running alongside the pavement through the village and down to the sea. The beach is a steep pebble beach and we saw about a dozen fishing boats parked up on the top of the beach, there is also lots of beach huts which we presumed were mainly used by the fishermen. As we walked down the beach to the waters edge the noise was amazing as the sea crashed against the pebbles smashing them up the beach then dragging them down again. On the way back to the car we spotted that The Anchor allowed dogs, so we popped in for a pint, had a very warm welcome from the barman so we sat by the fire and he even brought the dogs some water. We then headed over to Seaton on the way back, where we had a little walk through the town and down to the sea front, over the sea defence onto the pebble beach.

We woke up to heavy rain the next morning and Phil refused to get up! When we finally did we just sat in the van drinking tea for a bit listening to the rain on the roof, Phil decided to stay in the van which was a wise move as he was still happy when Linda got back from Lyme Regis with the dogs, she had given up on trying to get Phil out of the van so went on her own! Lyme Regis was a nice little town with small local shops, the beaches allowed dogs but only on leads so not over good for dogs. Walked to the east beach as the signs said that was ok for dogs but the beach was out of bounds because of a landslide in 2008, so back to the centre and then walked west past the beach huts to The Cobb which is the harbour. Then walked back to Tonks through the Jane Austen gardens.

The next day we decided to move on again, only an hours drive down the road we arrived at a campsite in Wareham forest. We pitched up and then took the dogs for a walk in the forest, Prince got filthy (again!) and the pair of them spotted a deer in the woods and shot off after it. Prince came back pretty quick, but Smudge was on a mission! After a lot of shouting and heart palpitations she finally strolled back, out of breath and looking very pleased with herself. In the forest we also spotted some signs for a car rally which will be passing through on Saturday, so there may be a chance for us to get a free glimpse!

Rainy Devon

Up early today as we’re on the move. Just over a couple of hours drive to next site near Salcombe, Ilton Castle Farm CL where Wendy the owner came out with her sheepdog Kym to greet us, he’s quite old and had a stroke a couple of weeks ago so’s a bit wobbly on his legs, very happy dog though. Wendy told us to pitch anywhere we liked as there’s no one else here, and that the dogs were welcome to run around at the top of the field. It’s a nice big field with a view across the Kingsbridge Estuary to West Charleton

We’ve been for a bimble down the lanes and into Salcolmbe, past some lovely little cottages on the way (one was particularly nice with a thatch roof, wonkey chimney and a thatched owl on the top). We entered Salcolmbe by the estuary had a little look at the shops and had out first ice cream of the year from the shop down the road! Bit more of a wander around and we decided to go to the pub, First one we went in (Kings Head) wasn’t too good, no real ales and there was a chap in there struggling to keep hold of his rotweiller and a staffy-type dog, we smartly left and went into the Inn across the road which also allowed dogs. Much nicer, lots of ales and seats by the fire!

Woke up to rain on the roof the next day. Phil was going riding on Dartmoor, so reluctantly got up at 7am, had breakfast and left. When I got to Burrator Reservoir I followed the MBR route I had programmed into my Garmin, bit of a damp ride, and I saw some miserable back packers who must’ve spent the night up there, a fox wandered past in the track and I saw a lot of army troops on training exercises.
After I got back we had cheese on toast before heading to Dartmouth. We had a stop on the way at Torcross, this amazing little village has the largest freshwater lake in southern England which is only separated from the sea by a long pebble beach and the main road. It had stopped raining now, so we had a walk through the village and along the beach, and saw the Sherman tank which is left on the front there as a monument to those who died there in the war when the allied forces used the area to practice for the Normandy landings. During the practice they were attacked by German U-boats – there was actually more loss of life that day than there was on the day of the real landings.
We continued along the coast road until we arrived in Dartmouth, the view of this large harbour town was spectacular as we descended from the top of the hill into town. We parked on the street and walked down the harbour through the pretty town centre, where we saw the historic lower ferry, when we found out it was only £1 each we had to go on! The car ferry which can take around 6 cars is basically a floating raft which is taken across the river by a tug boat attached by ropes! Once over the other side we walked back up the marina alongside the railway track until we reached the higher ferry. A much larger cable ferry which must be able to take around 24 cars, its design was very similar to the King Harry ferry we went on in Cornwall. 50p each saw us back on the other side and back in Tonks heading home

Next morning our neighbours car got stuck next to their trailer tent and it was Tonks turn to do the rescuing, Tonks pulled the car off backwards with no fuss at all, what a hero!
We then headed out to Plymouth where we then had a walk around the sea front where there was a public beach with an old public bathing area and a Lido, the place was quite derelict but we went down the steps and terraces to the beach where Prince had a bit of a play, and Smudge stood on one of the terraces and watched in disgust. We then headed up to Plymouth Hoe where Smeaton’s Tower is the prominent landmark. This is a lighthouse designed by John Smeaton which stood out on Eddystone rocks (22.5k out to sea south of Plymouth). It stood there for 118 years between 1759 and 1857 and was only dismantled when the rock it was stood on started to show signs of weakness! Phil went up the lighthouse which had 4 little rooms, the store room, then the kitchen/living room then the bedroom and finally the light room, and a very nice view from the top!
We then headed back to the car out of Plymouth, and on to Burgh Island via a quick stop at a large farm shop.

We timed our visit to Burgh island to perfection as the tide was just out enough for us to walk most of the way across and get a good view of the art deco hotel and the Pilchard Inn next door, but because the tide was coming in rapidly we got to see the sea tractor in action, driving across the beach to pick up a guest of the hotel. On the way back to the van we went via the country roads and found a little ‘tidal road’ when the tide is fully in the road becomes impassable! Luckily it wasn’t at that stage and Tonks just had to dip his wheels in!

Next day we went to meet Linda’s friend Marina in Widecombe in the Moor, in Dartmoor. On the way we passed the South Devon chilli farm which makes the delicious chocolate we’ve bought a bit of so we hade to stop and have a look at their shop, bought some chilli and coffee chocolate and jar of chilli relish.
Once we got into the National Park there was snow on the tops of the hills and the roads were a bit slushy but the gritters had been out so no problems. Phil paid £1 for the car park in Widecombe when we actually didn’t have to as its free until April….whoops! We had a little walk round the village which is very pretty and has a National Trust property there which is an old church house which used to be used as a village hall, then back to the car for a quick picnic before Marina arrived.
Met Marina just before 2 and then Phil set off on his bike to do a route and Linda and Marina took the dogs for a walk. It had stopped raining but was very wet everywhere and it was a bit boggy on the moor, we went up to an outcrop of rocks and by the time we got there the cloud had come down and obscured the view, then on the way down there was a bit of snow then the cloud cleared to show Widecombe in the sun! We had a lovely time catching up on all our news and then headed for the pub.
Phil had a similar experience on the bike route, it was very slippy and snowy towards the top so he couldn’t find the right track, so had a play on some of the local downhills before coming to meet us in the pub, which was a large but cosy pub serving real ales, the bar man was having trouble with the real fires and kept filling the place with smoke. Had a couple of drinks then waved Marina off home to Exeter and came back to the van where Phil watched another episode of The Wire (thanks Draper!).

Still in Cornwall!

We decided we would head towards Lands End today, but on the way we stopped off to see Marazion and St Michael’s Mount, we’d both seen it on the TV a few times but as we drove around the corner and saw it for real we both said how big it was! We managed to get a free parking spot on the road alongside the beach, which was lucky given the number of kite surfers there. The tide was in so we couldn’t cross to the mount so we made do with climbing onto the small rock outcrop on this side. We had a little bimble around Marazion before dropping back down to the beach and heading back to Tonks.
We then headed off towards Lands End, hoping we could park a little way off and walk to Lands end on the coastal footpath. This can be done, but not in the time we had as it was about 3 hrs to dusk and there is only 1 road that gets into Lands End, we made do with a drive up to the theme park style entrance and then turned round and headed to the nearby Sennen Cove where we found a great beach from which we could see the lighthouse which sits on the rocks at Lands End. We had a walk along the beach and watched a few surfers, and then up into the dunes where there were still a lot of remnants of war battlements in place (concrete bunkers) in surprisingly good condition.
After a quick stop at the Minack Open Air Theatre we headed home, but on the way we made another stop at St Michaels Mount. We could see in the dusk light that the tide was out further and it looked very pretty against the moonlit sky. We parked up much closer this time and had a trot along the causeway. We weren’t quite brave enough to go all the way as the sea was still washing over part of it, but it was very nice to see it at dusk.

Next day Phil got went biking. A mainly road route of 20k to Truro that followed the national cycle route in and came back on quiet lanes, the ride included a diversion to the pretty Victorian Gardens in Truro. Meanwhile Linda went off on a walk to the pretty Devoran Quay following one of the routes the campsite gave us.
We then headed out to the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek, a lovely little village with a very busy harbour. We were lucky to be visiting off-peak as there were only a few other groups in there and we got to see the feeding of the otters and then the feeding of the seals. It’s a great place to visit as they have a variety of seals of all ages, and the sanctuary is spread over quite a large area so you feel like you are getting real value for money! Linda bought a locally made little pottery seal from the gift shop before we left and headed for Goonhilly Satellite Station (and Goonhilly Downs).

The satellite station turned

out to be closed for winter (who isn’t!) so we went for a short walk on the downs by the parameter fence. Took some photos of the massive satellite dishes before heading onto the moor where the dog got filthy (again). We thought we’d seek out the nearest beach to wash Prince off, which turned out to be Kennack Sands, just down the road from Goonhilly, a very quiet little cove which I imagine is quite the opposite in the summer.

Next day we headed out to Looe, a lovely little town with narrow streets and busy harbour. We had a wander around then headed on to Polperro (as recommended by Tracy), again a lovely little place, narrow streets and a busy little fishing harbour. We had our picnic on the harbour front then walked around the village and found a pub which welcomed dogs, ours met the pub dogs (2 collies, one very friendly and chilled and his sister who was wired and watching a darts player avidly), we had a pint in front of the log fire. On towards Fowey via the ferry which was great, Fowey had tiny streets which we drove Tonks down, but then carried on to St Austell, it wasn’t as nice as the other places we visited, with lots of closed shops and not as much to see. Popped in to the brewery which was unfortunately about to close.

Next day we went for an 8 mile walk from the campsite. We headed towards Trelissick (a National Trust owned property), when we got off the local lanes and onto the National Trust land Princey found a small footbridge to go under as he soaked himself in the stream.. As we carried on and rounded the bend we came across lots of huge ships just sitting in the (relatively) narrow estuary. It was quite a sight and we were confused as to what they were doing there, there were ships from Hamburg, Moldavia and Madeira just moored up on the side of the estuary, we came across a friendly lady who regularly walked in the gardens and she told us that the ships were moored there as a result of the recession and they were just waiting for some sort of recovery in the economy before they moved on, she said they had been there for quite some time. We carried on round the track and came across the floating bridge called the “King Harry Ferry” (named after King Henry VI), we decided to sit on the dock there and have our picnic in the sun while we watched the ferry two-and-fro across the estuary. While we were there a small boat trundled up to us and moored where we were sat, we asked the cap’n what his boat was used for (thinking it was a foot ferry) and he said he was there for the ships crew while they were moored. Turns out the ships had been there for about a year now and were waiting for the recession to end as the business just wasn’t there. There were 2 car transporting ships and 4 container ships moored up in the estuary, and at present he expected them to be there for another year. After this we boarded the ferry as we felt we had to go over for a ride! The ferry is one of only 5 chain ferries in England and has been operating in this spot since 1888. We got a great view of the moored ships on one side and the mussel farm which was on the other. There isn’t a lot to do on foot on the other side, so we hot footed it back on the ferry for the return journey and carried on our walk. We carried on a bit until reaching a little pebble beach where Prince could swim properly. We had a brief look at the house at Trelissick before heading back along the cycle route and lanes to the van.

Next day we went to St Ives, managed to find some on street parking and walked down to the harbour through lovely narrow streets and had our picnic sat on a rock on the beach in the sun. Then had a bimble through the town and back to Tonks happy to have had a quiet, relaxing day!

We have now moved on to a beautiful little site near Salcolme on the Devon coast.

Cornish Beaches

Today we then headed out to Lizard Point, the most southerly point in England. We parked in the centre of Lizard village and headed down the footpath to the most southerly point , we then walked along the coastal footpath past the lighthouse and YHA until we found a lovely little cove beach with steep steps going down to it. We headed down until the steps turned to rocks, out of the blue another lady came down with her dog and showed us the way to the sandy beach. We had a look around the rock pools and coves and Linda took some photos of all the life in them before we headed back up to the path.We carried on along the coast path past the volunteer lookout station (where we gave a donation) and then headed back to Lizard via a farm track. The dogs (particularly Prince) and our trousers got filthy, so much so that when we saw some signs for Church Cove we headed down to see if we could wash Prince off in the sea. We were pleased we did as it was a lovely approach to the cove with thatched cottages down a windy little lane, which became a very steep slipway with little boats rowed up along it before giving way to the sea. Later we drove a little bit up to the coast before parking in the National Trust car park for Kynance Cove. This was a stunning setting, a lovely blue/green sea colour, with big waves beating down on near perfect sand. The beach was a little difficult to get to but well worth it, it had lots of little caves and coves and we only saw 2 other couples the whole time we were there. We reluctantly left as the tide was coming in and headed back to the van.

Next we headed out to Falmouth for the day, which turned out to be a great town. First we went down to the harbour via the town centre (a narrow long strip of shops which was very inviting). The harbour was very nice with some small fishing vessels on the inner harbour and some large ferries and navy ships on the outer. We had a walk further around and saw a massive oil tanker sitting in a dry dock. There were loads of workmen dotted all round the ship busying themselves with welding, cleaning, painting and supervising (or whatever standing around achieves!)
After this we headed up to Pendennis castle, a Henrician fort built between 1540 and 1545, before heading around the headland and down onto the beach. After a while we decided to head back over to the harbour to a pub called The Chain Locker, where we were allowed to take the dogs in while we had a pint. They got a biscuit from the landlady, while the pub’s resident dogs came and gave their own welcome (a crazy Jack Russell and a grumpy Staffy) after this we headed back up through town to Tonks. We drove back around to the headland in front of the castle where we sat on the car park looking out to sea to eat our picnic.

Next day Phil got up at early and went out on his bike to Redruth on the Bissoe trail (30k on tracks and roads) and went up to Sunrise Hill which had a panoramic view over Rudruth.
We then went to St Agnes as recommended by Zoson, as it was lovely and sunny. Walked up to St Agnes Beacon first as we though it was likely to be muddy (it was!) and that we could go to the beach afterwards. Lovely 360 deg view from the top but very windy, then walked along the coastal path to Trevaunance cove. Had picnic on a bench looking out to sea then onto the cove. The surf was amazing and there were 9 surf dudes doing their stuff. Then up into St Agnes which is a lovely little village with some nice individual shops before heading back to Tonksand driving over to Chapel Porth beach which is another surfers beach. The waves were enormous with spray coming off the top of them as they rolled, no surfers here so Linda decided to take her boots off and have a paddle, it was freezing!

As we’re enjoying it so much here in Cornwall we have decided to stay another week, but that meant that today we had to change pitch as someone else is booked onto ours next week.
It’s a lovely sunny morning, so we moved pitch, then went for a lovely 6 mile walk from the van, still in the sunshine. The walk took us down to the quayside villages of Penpol and Point, on the way Prince got filthy down the muddy bridleway (we all did!), we had a chat with a nice lady who popped out of her house and said “Tell me about your dog!” before carrying on down the hill where we found Penpol creek to clean him off in. We then walked around to the next village along, another lovely place called Devoran, all the locals were very friendly and we stopped at the pub and had a pint while sitting on one of the benches outside. This was my “Real Cornwall” – sun setting over the bay with a few boats dotted about and a picturesque little village.

On to Truro (not Lizard!)

Before we left Bodmin we headed out for Tintagel Castle again (armed with our English Heritage membership this time), we went down to the small cove beach first, and into the giant cave which goes under the island that the castle sits on. Then up the steep steps and over the bridge onto the castle island. It’s a fascinating place that makes you wander how on earth they managed to build such a settlement in a place as rugged as this. The castle is mainly ruins, but you can still get quite a feel for the place, we were lucky enough to have sunny weather and the views out to sea were fantastic, with the rolling clouds snowing/raining over the water.

We then headed over to Boscastle where we had a little walk through the village down to the tiny hidden harbour. It is an extremely picturesque village which has been very sympathetically rebuilt following the devastating flood of 2004, even in mid January the place was a hub for tourists and we could see why. We spent a little time in the village and went in the visitor centre before heading back.

Next day we left the Bodmin campsite to head to a tiny site by Lizard point. We arrived at the site just before 11 (having phoned before we left to check all was ok, and the site was dry enough) when we got there a lady who was already staying came out and told us the owners were out, but that we should drive round the field and pitch near the top (oh, and the showers and toilet are broken!). We did so and promptly got stuck! We had to wait for the owners to get back in which time we had our picnic, walked the dogs, met a kitten, wandered around the site, chatted to the previous owner, chatted to the other resident (and her crazy little dog), booked an alternative site, met the relief milker and had some coffee.
When they eventually arrived the farmer came through with his massive tractor and pulled Tonks and the van out like it was a toy car, he was very nice and amenable, but we’d already decided we wanted to move to another site by now, and he was happy with that.

A 25 minute drive and we arrived at Carnon Downs, a huge site with massive pitches, lovely showers and even a bath!

So far we have been into Truro for a look around this small Cornish city. It feels like a smaller place than Shrewsbury, but is classed as a city due to its cathedral which is an impressive building that seems to have been squished into the centre of the city, somehow completely surrounded by roads and shops! There is also a tiny harbour which we didn’t get the full effect of as the tide was completely out at the time we were there. It was a very busy place despite the weather being very wet and windy!