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!).