Devon

Saturday 4^th Jan

Getting a bit fed up with David and Ali talking about and watching English football all the time!!!! “Arsenal this Westham that”!!!! We helped Ali for a few hours in the morning with the hotel duties then she dropped us off at Castle Drogo http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo/ which is the last castle to be built in England in 1937 and is now being renovated. We headed down on a walk to Fingle Bridge - it was a fantastic 2 and a half hour walk but was very wet and muddy (at one stage I am sure it snowed!) We came across the Exeter Trail motor race which is held yearly and includes motor cars, bikes and side cars and has been held for over 100 years! We got chatting to the Marshall and he explained that they had been going all through the night over the hills and down the dales! We then walked on down to The Sandy Park Inn for a beer or 2! And got chatting to a man who has a motorhome so he gave us many tips and lots of advice and then took us outside to look at his (his motorhome I mean)! Got back to the hotel and David went off with Ali to get another room ready (the suite) as a couple had just telephoned and booked it. All got showered and went over to the hotel restaurant as Susan & Peter (Ali’s sister and owners of the hotel) had invited us to join them for a meal. We met them in the lounge with their 2 gorgeous dogs Bertie (cocker spaniel) and Elsa (French bulldog). The 3 course meal was divine and I had the partridge and David had the sea bass. A lovely evening was had by all. Thankyou Susan & Peter.

Partridge (not in a pear tree!)

Sea Bass

Elsa

Bertie

Mill End Hotel

Thursday 2^nd Jan

We helped Ali at the hotel again for a few hours - changing beds/vacuuming/cleaning bathrooms & toilets etc. It really is hard work and Ali has the added duties of washing all the towels, replenishing all the bottles of filtered water and topping up all the hand wash/creams/shampoos etc etc so many trips are made back and forth  from the house to the hotel (we are both knackered!). David & I then drove to Moretonhampstead to to a bit of shopping and to have a walk around. We saw some ALMS houses (housing for the poor back in the 1600’s) David remembered these from a childhood holiday. In the evening we took Ali out for a great meal in a restaurant at The Three Crowns in Chagford. It was a lovely evening.

Friday 3^rd Jan

Woke up to thunder and large hailstones!! I helped Ali while David caught up with paperwork (emails, motorhome finance and insurance etc.) It was still terrible weather when we finished so we headed into the hotel lounge and instead of cleaning it we had a Devonshire Cream Tea (in Devon! Ha Ha) and played scrabble - Ali won of course. Lazy evening and had a staff dinner.

 

New Year's Day

Wednesday 1st Jan 2014- New Year’s Day

Happy New Year to all our friends and family and anyone else who maybe reading this Blog. Well what a turnaround in the weather from yesterday, today is heavy rain and winds. We started the day with a lovely breakfast and a look through old photos, and picked Ian and Linda’s brains on places in Europe to visit. Then Linda knocked up some scones, so of course we had to have some of those with cream and jam!!!! No wonder we’re getting fatter and fatter!!! Set off back to Chagford to help out Alison at the hotel for a few more days. The rain was awful and we had to be aware of the water on the roads. Stopped at Lydford Castle as this is mentioned in the book The Sun and The Serpent (all about the St Michael Ley Line), when the authors dowsed the castle (as it is on the’ line’) they had a terrible feeling for the place and felt sick!!! They believe a black line crosses it, during Henry VIII’s reign the castle was described as “one of the most heinous, contagious and detestable places in the realm”. It’s really interesting and worth a google on the subject (or is it just me?!!!!!!!!!!!!) Got back to Alison’s for a quiet night in with meat pies and a movie The Life of Pi. 

I stood in the pouring rain for this shot

A walk in Cornwall

Tuesday - New Year’s Eve

The weather was kind to us so Linda Ian David & I set off towards Mt Edgecumbe. We went over into Cornwall via the Torpoint Ferry and passed Antony House where they made Alice in Wonderland (Johnny Depp) and filmed Sense & Sensibility. We started our walk from Maker Church and went all the way to Cawsands & Kingsands. We stopped in The Mt Edgecumbe Arms for a coffee!!!!! Yes not a beer! And then stopped again for some lunch in The Cross Keys Pub. What an awesome walk (one of the best ones we have done so far). We walked for approx. 5 hours and covered about 12km. Back to Linda & Ian’s for a lovely home cooked prawn linguini and as the weather had turned bad we decided to not go out. We had a lovely evening watching the fireworks over Plymouth from the back of the house and watched New Year celebrations around the world on the TV.

Martello Tower-dates back to Spanish Armada 

A Folly

Not surprised