Way out West – part 2 of 2

More of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and back to Hampshire

Devon contd.

Finally there was a hot and sunny morning so we drove to Haytor on Dartmoor for a walk. A long but gentle grassy incline to an impressive rock formation and staggering views. Before we got to the top I felt so weary I had to lay down and have a short nap! There were a bunch of kids having abseiling lessons from three very brave men.It was terrifying to watch them having no fear! A helicopter flew over and swung round to do three circuits around them which must have been exciting for those kids.

Back to the caravan after that to work on laptops on the day job while the rain set in again for the afternoon.

As we were in the area on a Tuesday, we made our way down to Topsham Folk Club. We visited there a few years ago and got drenched. This time the rain had stopped so we sat on the quayside eating a salad picnic before making our way to the pub. We were welcomed with open arms by Min, the compere, who was hilarious, full of witty interjections and fun, playing a mean soprano sax. It was a popular club with lots of people getting up to perform, mainly songs, some instrumental, even some dancing. We were asked to close the evening with an extra song so got them all joining in with Romance At The Panto, of course.

The rain stopped for a whole day (almost) so we decided to walk from the Dartmoor campsite about 3.5 miles along teeny lanes and cross country to Castle Drogo. We knew nothing about it and were really surprised – it’s not a thing of beauty from the outside but the inside is fascinating. It was built in the1920’s by Lutyens as a home for a wealthy retail empire owner and is surprisingly cosy for a castle! Above the stairwells and corridor junctions there are inverted domes of stone painted white which give the impression of opening up to the sky. The kitchen is HUGE with 2 massive ranges and loads of Lutyens designed oak cupboards. Upstairs there is a dolls house made by a builder from Stonegate and the electric table cloth (yes!) came from the owner’s previous home in Wadhurst, both close to where Jim grew up. The walk back was long but delightful. We spent the time identifying the plants on the hedgerows – dozens of them! – including orchids and a teeny wild strawberry plant.

Having visited my niece in Exeter, we popped into the city to the Open Mic night at Coolings cocktail bar. As 8pm approached and nobody seemed to be there to run the open mic we were about to leave when two people arrived, one with a guitar. Aha! We were in the right place. It turned out the regular person who runs the open mic was away so these two (really sorry, I don’t recall the names) were running it for the night using the house PA. It was just them and us to start then another guy turned up with a saxophone and later one more guy arrived. It was relaxed and everyone had plenty of time to play songs, we were even joined by the sax for our song Blaze Of Glory, both singing into one mic. We exchanged details with one of the guys who is about to start running a Folk Night round the corner and hopes to have us come along there to play in the future, especially as we’ll be visiting here more often once Mum moves down this way.

Lydford Gorge holds a special place in our hearts – we visited when we were courting and came back here for our first ‘family’ holiday with our first child, over 30 years ago. The rain held off for our walk down into the gorge to the Devil’s Cauldron which was truly spectacular, especially after the heavy rain of the previous day. It is a temperate rainforest with black and dark red walls of rock covered in moss, dripping water. One of the most beautiful places I have ever been, I think. We sat at the far end of the walk (a landslide has closed part of the gorge) and just soaked up the atmosphere. And the moisture. Back to the caravan which we had been allowed to park in the coach bay by prior arrangement, to have a spot of lunch before taking the longer diverted walk to the waterfall. It started chucking it down and our waterproof coats aren’t. So we decided we’ll come back to the waterfall another time and headed to Cornwall.

Cornwall

We left Devon and drove to Veryan in Cornwall via some pretty narrow roads with a caravan! Dave who booked us had arranged for us to park up in the venue’s car park overnight – we arrived in time to cook up some tea, get set up and go back to our own personal green room (caravan) to get changed. Turnout for the folk club (Philleigh) was anticipated to be low so Dave had warned us that we’d be in the bar rather than the usual hall. But his banging the drum had worked wonders and there was a big turnout But we were still in the bar and it was a Friday night so the folks at the bar were there to have a drink and a chat, fair enough, but it was distracting for the audience members who’d paid for tickets. In the end, we had those at the bar joining in with the singalongs, especially Romance At The Panto. It was all in all a good evening, it would have been better in the main hall but without advance bookings it’s so difficult for organisers to make that decision. We had some good chats afterwards, sold several CDs, exchanged CDs with Sid who was doing the lighting for the evening and was the support act.

After a good night’s kip in the car park we drove down to Pendower Beach and Jim had a quick dip (only up to the nipples as it was too cold to submerge!). Why is it that the beach is totally empty until you take your pants off to get changed for swimming? I sat and painted a scene of the view over the bay in my sketchbook. It’s a stunning place and we did a couple of livestreams while there – one from the beach just to show how lovely it was then one back in the beach car park away from the crashing waves.

Somerset

On Saturday we made our way to Somerset to visit our friends Drew and Maggie who have space for our caravan on their driveway for the night. They live near Milverton in a gorgeous place – we had the tour – which is filled with musical instruments! Of course Jim got talking guitars. We enjoyed tea and homemade lemon cake made with lemons from their neighbour’s tree. Cooked tea in the caravan then headed over to Fivehead for the Folk Night. It was a quiet night for them but it was a really lovely evening – lots of floor spots, they all enjoyed our music and there was lots of chat. During the tea and coffee break (it’s in a church so no booze) I stepped outside and there was the brightest rainbow I’ve ever seen. After a good night’s sleep we woke with the alarm to make sure we left before 8 as the road was due to be closed for resurfacing, We made it out just in time.

Hampshire again then home

After breakfast in a layby, as it was on the nice route home (rather than taking the motorway) we headed to the New Forest to visit family and have a walk surrounded by deer and wild ponies. The sun was beating down, the hottest day of the whole tour so we made the most of a barbeque and relaxed get together before heading leisurely home. Meg the dog was delighted to see us, jumping up and down on the spot and spinning in circles. We took her for a long walk before settling down to dinner then sleep in our own bed. Bliss.