Cornwall

 

Finally I drove Beryl home before going back and watching the Glastonbury music festival on TV and eventually getting to bed.

At last, all our family obligations fulfilled it was time to head out again. We returned the rental car, said our goodbyes and hit the road.

We have been wanting to visit the far South West of England for some time. It’s very picturesque with small fishing villages and tight steep hills. It is contained mainly in the counties of Devon and of Cornwall. The Westernmost point in England is called Lands End and is in Cornwall.

Being the “No Plan Kids” we intended to avoid Interstates (Motorways) as much as possible. Our friend Kit from our motorcycle days and with whom we shared a fun Steam Rally last year (add link), had mentioned a Pub Stop he liked not far from where he lives.

If we haven’t already explained Pub Stops it’s a movement where landlords of some pubs around the country allow motorhomes to stop overnight in their car parks on the proviso that the motorhomers buy drinks and dinner in their pub.

We love it and have found some really nice places that way using a UK app called “Searchforsites” which is very easy to use and is free.

Huge field for camping outside the Dockers Club

Nice welcoming bar inside.

The first stop was on the Severn River at a place called the Sharpness Dockers Club. Dockers are the Stevedores of the British waterfront. The trade has mostly gone away now due to containerization but their Social Club lives on! A huge area of land with enough parking for hundreds of motorhomes, they have reasonably priced drinks and a reasonable menu. Kit brought Poppy down in his motorhome and we enjoyed his (and her) company immensely.

Kit's dog Poppy

During one of our conversations Kit mentioned a good stop near Exeter called the Swan’s Nest and we followed his suggestion the next evening,. Thanks again Kit!

All dressed up for the 4th of July

The roads got twistier and narrower the further west we went and by the time we got to Perranporth some of them were single lane. Luckily there are frequent wider passing points because cars, vans, motorhomes and trucks use these roads frequently. If a truck is coming the other way you might have to back up 30 yards or more to a passing point where he can get by! A real test of driving skills.

Cornish seaside

At Perranporth we parked the van for a week and rented a car. Much easier to get down the narrow roads and to park in the tiny villages.

The rental car, dropped off and picked up from the campground.

Which brought up one of the problems down in this part of the UK. There are very few places to park in the picturesque places. You may have to park up to a mile away and hike down and back up some extremely steep hills to get to the places. Those places are also usually packed with tourists.

Many TV series have been filmed in Cornwall. Doc Martin is filmed in a real village and Poldark is filmed around this county and the county east of here, Devon.

We didn’t get to many of the famous places due to the crowding and lack of places to park but we did get to some nice places.

Special sign at Lands End for July 4th

Lands End had to be on the list just for it’s location. Travel west from this point and look for North America to be the next land mass you come to! Very tourist and expensive. We got it out of our system and moved on

Most of Cornwall has steep cliffs looking out over the sea.

Perranporth is a little beach vacation spot with a big bay. We enjoyed a few of the local bars and restaurants there.

Perranporth Harbor with the tide out

Down the road a short way is a place called “The Eden Project” that was built in a disused open cast mine. It consists of a couple of large “Biodomes”, plastic bubbles, and contains different artificial habitats such as a rain forest and a Mediterranean area. Lots of colorful plants and some small creatures too, well worth a day out. Similar in most respects to the “Biosphere” near Tucson Arizona.

The Eden Project domes

Another unique place is the “Minac Theater” which is an outdoor amphitheater carved out of a cliff starting in the 1930’s and all done by hand for a private owner. They stage performances regularly and each day an actor portrays one of the actual workers who built it.

Minac Theater clings to the cliff.

St Mawes has a castle and a nice little harbour. It has protected Falmouth and Truro from invasion for centuries, it was a fun drive there and we got to ride a chain ferry across the Truro River to get there.

St Mawes Fort

Fascinating Harbour of St Mawes

Our favorite place was probably Mevagissey, another quaint little harbor where we happily spent a day wandering to narrow streets and admiring the brilliant colours of the boats and houses.

When the tide goes out it really goes out!

Fun sailing boat

Gorgeous colors

The most awe inspiring was probably Tintagel. This is thought by some to be the birthplace of the legendary King Arthur, him of the Knights of the Round Table and the sword Excalibur. The castle is on the crest of a very steep hill on almost an island and must have been unassailable in its day. Luckily they built a pedestrian bridge across the chasm to make it easier to access, and there is a Land Rover shuttle service from the town to the bridge and even further down to the beach at the very bottom.

What a bridge!

Very pretty ruins

outstanding sea views.

And a Land Rover ride up the steep road!

An eerie statue looks from the very top of the fortress across to the mainland.

Such a great statue

the face of King Arthur??

With other days out to Truro and Padstowe the week went by really quickly and we had to decide where to go next.

Barbara has an urge to visit the Isle of Wight further east along the south coast of England so we picked a few likely spots to stop and looked for places to stay.

Our first stop was in a fortress! A place called Whitsand Bay Fort Holiday Park. It is in an actual fortress with the gun emplacements still intact and little tunnels for protection and ammunition storage dug into the cliffs.

Gun positions at the ready

Spooky tunnels.

These and a seemingly endless amount of other fortifications protect the harbour of Plymouth. Famous as the place Sir Francis Drake supposedly played bowls whilst the Spanish Armada bore down on England it has been one of the major Naval bases in England seemingly for ever.

Sir Francis Drake

He supposedly played bowls while the Armada approached

Playing the game of Lawn Bowls

The original Edistone Lighthouse

Royal Navy War Memorial

We also visited Devonport at the bottom of the bay. Also a major Naval establishment in days gone by. The Royal William Yard. Once the main supply base, it is now upscale housing, restaurants and bars.

Ferry to Royal William Yard

Impressive buildings at the yard.

Regal entranceway

At last a pub to relax in!

With all the sights seen and pictures taken it was time to head east towards Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

Wales

This time they are going to store it for us for 4 days while we go to Wales for my Aunt and Uncle’s Celebration of Life.

Instead of camping we stored the MH at Arrowe Brook and rented a car so that we could take my sisters Beryl and Jaqueline to Wales, where our cousins John, Elizabeth and Helen had rented a huge 8 bedroom house for the event.

The house before the big crowd got there!

Elizabeth (Liz) has a boat for the British canal systems. Growing up her family were keen boaters as their Dad (my Dad’s brother Bill) was a journeyman Shipwright who built wooden boats professionally and later as a hobby. I was a Shipwright too but a modern one who dealt more with steel structures than wooden ones. I was in awe of his woodworking skills.

Canal Boats on the Llangollen Canal.

John, Liz and Helen (Hen) had decided to scatter their Mum and Dad’s ashes along the canal that they loved so much.

The house was full of their kids, grandkids and friends of the family so that even with 8 bedrooms and Liz staying on the boat it was full. Barb and I elected to stay in a pub (Duhh!) in nearby Llangollen called the Bridge End Hotel which by some quirk of fate was at the end of the bridge over the river!

The River Dee at Llangollen

Llangollen is a Welsh town in the hills and is pronounced more like Clan-Goth-Len in Welsh. When we were kids it used to be the destination for coach (bus) trips. We would meet at the tour bus company pick up point, then it would take hours along the narrow Welsh roads to get to the town. There was enough time for lunch and a walk along the river then back on the bus for the return trip. An all day event.

The main shopping street Llangollen

Quaint alley ways

Now it’s just an hour or so by car! Has the distance shrunk?

No, the roads have improved with motorways and four lane highways. It takes no time now, except during vacation periods and on Sunday evenings when everyone is returning to Liverpool, Manchester and the Wirral all at the same time.

It’s still the same place as it was, with nowhere to park and lots of tourist shops selling Welsh souvenirs.

A transportation hub with river, road, rail and canal

Jackie and Beryl were staying at the house and we got there before everyone else so they got their pick of bedroom. Pretty soon the others started to arrive from points around the country and it was a noisy fun place with lots of family to be met.

One of several lounges we found in the house

Dogs, Kids, seemingly endless rooms with people appearing and disappearing thru doors we hadn’t noticed before. It was a warm, cozy, chaotic time that we thoroughly enjoyed.

The Horseshoe Falls.
Man made to provide the water for the canal.

Saturday we all drove to the “Horseshoe Falls” the idea was that those who wished to would walk along the canal about 10 miles to the Aquaduct, and along the way at points that held fond memories they would sprinkle the ashes.

The whole family

Those of us that didn’t feel up to the very steep path down to the falls or the 10 mile hike would drive to an intermediate spot and have lunch with everyone at the “Sun” pub in a village called Trevor.

My sisters in the Sun Pub

Yum

Fancy that, the Downings in a pub! The lunch was good and so was the beer. I had to limit myself as the drink driving laws in UK are very strict.

The Sun pub in Trevor Wales.

After the walk we ferried people back to the falls to collect their cars and returned to the house for a cook out. Barbara and I chose to leave a little early so we could get back to the Bridge End and have time for a drink before retiring for the evening.

Sunday saw us say goodbye to everyone before the drive back to Jackie’s and for the 4 of us to walk to the Indian restaurant near her house for dinner. Very nice it was too.

Finally I drove Beryl home before going back and watching the Glastonbury music festival on TV and eventually getting to bed.

 

A short trip East.

 Boy that’s a lot of history. I think I wore my brain out!

See you next time.

We had a couple of weeks between Aunt Maud’s funeral and Aunt Sheila and Uncle Bills celebration of life so decided to visit some places we hadn’t planned to visit.

Note that with the tide out this fishing boat is sitting on the mud!

We have never been to the area known as East Anglia or the section of the North Sea called “The Wash” so we headed east to the coast and the county of Norfolk.

We stayed in a campground about 10 miles outside of the town of Kings Lynn, using the local buses to go backwards and forwards one day and the MH for the other 2 days. Kindly Kings Lynn city council had provided parking bays for MHs and buses not far from the center.

Spectacular stonework on the Courthouse Building

The town grew around the fishing industry and the harbour with the usual millennia of history. Fortunately most of the old streets and houses had been preserved except in the “New” town center where the shopping center had been built.

Old part of town

If you are Formula 1 car racing fans like we are you will know that one of the top British drivers George Russell is from Kings Lynn. He wasn’t at home when we were there, he was in Canada for the Grand Prix in Montreal.

Colourful beach "Cottages" near Cromer

North of Norfolk is Lincolnshire where out friends Graham and Elaine live and we were invited to stay with them for several days.

Vintage aircraft

Naturally they had a full schedule planned for us, first to the airfield at the bottom of their garden! Wickenby airfield is a small private aircraft facility and they were holding a Vintage Piper Aircraft meeting – just up my street!

A "ghost" Lancaster etched in the glass

The field was originally built in WW2 as a Lancaster bomber base. There is a small museum in the control tower and a restaurant on the ground floor. The ghosts of the Lancaster appear as profiles of the aircraft etched into the plexiglass screens out on the patio.

Graham's Plymouth

Vintage British cars outside the "House"

A dollar for any US reader who knows what this is!

Next day we were off to a car show with their 1948 Plymouth Coupe Hot Rod. Held in the grounds of a large (Really large!) private house it was a super day and I even did a sketch of the Oldsmobile next to us.

Olds 442 sketch

After a coffee morning at the local church and a quiet day fixing little things in the MH while Barb did the laundry, we went out for dinner and stuffed ourselves. So much so that we were still full the next day when we went off to the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Museum to see the aircraft there and particularly the Lancaster bomber which they are in the middle of a 10 year restoration back to flying condition.

No ghost here. The real thing

Midway thru a 10 year rebuild.
When finished it will be one of 3 airworthy Lancasters World Wide.

I’ve been following the rebuild on YouTube so seeing the real thing live was great, especially because it was one of their weekly taxy demonstrations where they fire up all four engines and take it around the airfield. It’s not airworthy so no flying but still impressive, and for only $500 a head you can be in it while it runs around!

By pure coincidence it was also a rare occasion when their twin engined Mosquito did it’s taxy demonstration too so even better!

De Havilland Mosquito

Taxy demonstration.

We found time to visit a few nice local (and some not so local) pubs for dinners out then it was time to reluctantly tear ourselves away form Graham and Ellaine’s super hospitality.

Graham and Elaine wait patiently while we spend hours looking at everything!

Thanks you two, it was a great time.

Time to head back to Wirral and Arrowe Brook Farm. I’m pretty sure we could get our mail sent there seeing how much time we spend camping there! This time they are going to store it for us for 4 days while we go to Wales for my Aunt and Uncle’s Celebration of Life.