Synopsis: Helen and Laura spent most of the first week with Ricki and John. The second week was time spent with me, Mum, and others, in and around Devon
Saturday 8th August: I drive to Heathrow to meet Helen and Laura on their arrival from Germany. Their flight was punctual and we’re soon reunited after what seems like an age. It’s great to see them once again.
I mention some traffic I saw on the opposite carriageway on my approach to Heathrow, and sure enough we’re soon in an enormous tailback and crawl along getting nowhere fast for nearly an hour. Finally we clear the traffic and are moving well for a time, but then we spot a notice that there are more delays further along the motorway. I decide to pull in and consider our options. Our plan is to go to Tyntesfield, the National Trust house not far from Bristol. We elect to come off the motorway and use the major road just south of the M4, the road that passes through Marlborough. This proves to be an excellent option, as this is a pleasant road to drive and we make excellent progress, apart from a small amount of traffic in Bristol. We’re at Tyntesfield for lunch, as was our plan.
Lunch at Tyntesfield was fairly basic, which I was surprised about. We had a mixture of pasties and sausage rolls. Apparently the National Trust plans to build a new catering facility but this won’t become available till next year.
As we approach the house we discover that it is shrouded in scaffolding which is quite a disappointment, and this made it impossible to appreciate the facade of the building. The interior was open, but here too much was covered or had been removed for restoration. We did however enjoy our visit and there still remained a lot to see.
That evening we picked up pizzas, along with some steam puddings and custard, in Tesco’s and took these around to Mum’s place to eat. We connected Mum’s laptop to the TV and looked at various photos after supper.
Helen and Laura at Turf LodgeSunday 9th August: Helen, Laura and I decide upon a cycle ride to Dawlish. The weather was lovely, so this seemed an excellent idea. We followed the canal towpath most of the way.
We arrive in Dawlish around lunchtime and search out an Indian takeaway that also does fish and chips. Helen and Laura settled on fish and chips whilst I decide to have a curry. I had to make a dash back to the curry house, as eating a curry with just my fingers wasn’t something that I was keen to attempt.
It was good to be in Dawlish again and reminisce on times past when we would visit simply to feed the ducks and maybe have an ice cream.
I wasn’t sure if we’d be fit enough to cycle back, but we were all feeling fine, and so we cycled all the way home, a round journey of about 26 miles. Not bad going that. We have a cold supper of Pizza from the previous night with some cheese and crackers and salad.
Monday 10th August to Friday 14th August: Helen and Laura visit Ricki and John for the week. I pick Helen and Laura up on Friday evening. We have a quiet night in and watch a DVD.
The Ashbrittle YewSaturday 15th August: We plan to meet up with Claire for a day out together. We arrange to meet at the village of Ashbrittle Somerset, home to one of the oldest trees in Britain. The Ashbrittle Yew is estimated to be over 3,000 years old. We take some photos around the tree and explore the church before setting our sights on our next destination, which was to be Wimbleball Reservoir.
Wimbleball Reservoir, Somerset
On arrival at Wimbleball, after having driven up a path, we park and have a picnic lunch. After lunch we set off on a walk along the lakeside, in the direction of the dam. It’s a pleasant warm day, and the walking is quite easy.
The Ancient Mariner, Watchet, Somerset
We finish the walk early and are soon back at our cars. We decide that we will drive on to Watchet where we briefly stroll around the village, pay homage to the Ancient Mariner and his albatross, and watch the steam trains puff their way along the harbour side.
By this time our minds were turning to thoughts of food. Claire said she knew of a nice little Chinese restaurant in Wellington, and we decide upon this. Claire knew the way, so she leads the way, down lovely roads through beautiful countryside. We have a very nice meal at the Wellington curry house. This is Mum’s first outing to a curry house, where we help her select a mild curry. We all enjoy the food, Mum too.
Finally we say our goodbyes to Claire after having had a lovely day together. Claire heads north for Taunton and we head south for Exeter.
Sunday 16th August: We went canoeing on the River Exe and the Exe Canal.
Helen, Laura and me, DartmouthMonday 17th August: Trip to Paignton where we caught the bus to Kingswear, from where we travelled on the passenger ferry across the River Dart to Dartmouth. We have a lovely fish and chips lunch on the water front at Dartmouth.
Brixham Lido
From having returned to Kingswear, we catch a bus to Brixham. Here we walked out around the harbour in the direction of Berry Head, as far as the outdoor lido which has recently been renovated and brought back into use. There were lots of children swimming in the lido, and along the rocks of the seashore, where the water looked crystal clear. Back in Brixham we have an ice cream before catching the bus back to Paignton.
Tuesday 18th August: We have some banking jobs to do, so in the afternoon we pop into Exeter to complete our business. On the walk back to the car we visit St Michael’s Church because of it’s association with the Gibb’s family connected with Tyntsfield house that we’d visited earlier in the holiday. Unfortunately the doors were locked and we were unable to gain access.
We decide to watch an episode of Sense and Sensibility from a TV adaptation of this story. This proves to be an excellent adaptation, one that we enjoy very much. I think Helen and Laura would have watch the whole series, but Mum and I were tired and flagging a bit, so we agree to postpone watching the final part to the following evening.
Beer Head, looking west towards BranscombeWednesday 19th August: We drove down to Beer and walked along part of the coast path. Although Mum came with us she said she’d wait for us on a nearby bench whilst we went for our little walk. We walked out to Beer Head from where there is a lovely view of the rugged white coast line that has been exposed by erosion.
After meeting up with Mum again we walked on into Beer where we had an ice cream. We then set off back to Exeter as we planned to supper with Mike, Sue and Becky. We had a very nice meal at the Barn Owl that evening. We were able to walk there as it is so close to where we live.
Thursday 20th August:
Helen, Laura and I decide upon a cycle ride over Haldon that I had sketched out in my mind over the winter period. The ride offers a good mix of on and off rode riding, but involves bit of a stiff climb up to Haldon. It was a lovely day and we get a good view out over Exe Estuary from the Haldon Monument. There is quite a crowd here, more than would be expected. When we phone Mum to organize our pick-up we find out why; Mum explains that the Red Arrows were due to put on a display over Dawlish, and everyone was here to watch them. Well, we didn’t have time for that, so we got on our bikes and set off once again.
As we were cycling into Dawlish and then onto Dawlish Warren we were treated to a splendid display of the Red Arrows, which proved a very pleasant bonus to our cycle ride. Mum met up with us at Dawlish Warren where we strolled out to the sea front, getting an ice cream on our way. Part of the aerial display included a ‘vintage’ Vulcan bomber which seemed to glide majestically through the air on its delta wing.
Trenchford Reservoir (Mum's photo)Friday 21st August: We had lunch at Tesco’s before driving up to Bovey Tracey and then on to Trenchford Reservoir. We walked around Trenchford and part of Tottiford Reservoir. The water level at both was quite low, but I suspect recent weather has made amends.
Homemade chicken & mushroom pie (Mum’s photo)
In the evening we baked a homemade chicken and mushroom pie for our supper. It turned out rather well. We did use Tesco’s pastry, but even so, we were chuffed with ourselves. And yes, it really did taste as good as it looks.
Later that evening we packed our bags for our trip to Italy.
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