Southampton, the Isle of Wight, Stonehenge

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

The race helmet of my motorcycle hero Mike Hailwood

Mike's Honda race bike.

It’s not far in terms of miles from Cornwall to Southampton and we took our time. We stopped in Beaulieu at the National Motor Museum. There were lots of very old cars there and many motorcycles. The cars that were built for the TV show Top Gear were on display in their own area, They even had the Reliant Robin that was supposed to have been launched into space and the caravan that James May converted to a balloon for one show.

The Reliant Robin "Space Shuttle" from Top Gear

We had several nice pub stops along the way with excellent food and good beer. We probably had the nicest 3 pub stops in a row between here and the Isle of Wight.

Drop dead gorgeous thatched pub we stayed at.

Barbara’s list of must do’s for this part of the trip have been Cornwall and the Isle of Wight.

Isle of Wight ferry from Southampton

The Island itself lies almost in the center of the south coast of England and is reached by short ferry rides from several ports. As a result of our trip to Llangollen we were on a Facebook conversation among the family and Corrine kindly let us use one of her vouchers for the ferry which knocked $60 off the fare.

The ferry went from Southampton and dropped us in Cowes, which is the main town on the island and seemingly the center for all the world’s sail boats! Major ocean races start in Cowes and “Cowes Week” is a huge festival of sailing with people coming from around the world to attend.

The Classic British Sailboat race off Cowes,

Just outside of the town is a place called “Osbourne House” which is far from a house, as it was Queen Victoria’s favorite retreat for over 40 years.

Queen Victoria liked her comforts

Its now a National Trust property. National Trust manage Manor Houses, Castles and Stately Home all around the country. They were usually obtained when the original owners died and the punishing death duties in UK left the family with no choice but to donate the property to the government to settle the taxes.

The Indian themed dining room.

After Prince Albert died Victoria stopped going there and eventually it was taken over by the National Trust who maintain both the building and the contents and keep it open to the public for a fee.

We decided to drive around the island in a clockwise direction and stopped at a Camping and Caravanning Club site to fill and empty our tanks, shower etc. The site description was “Gently sloping with views of the sea”.

Whoever wrote that must have been a real estate sales person! The slight slope was a steep slope and in two directions. As we drove in there were motor homes and caravans at all kinds of wired angles trying to find a way of getting level. Even with out leveling blocks we were still too steep to use the fridge! As for the view of the sea you would need to be about 400 feet in the air to see it!

Antique rail carriages

And an antique engine to pull them

A side trip had us riding a steam train at Haven Street, a treat we have been promising ourselves for some time now, it was very pleasant and they had a good museum and workshop tour too.

Some deep restoration going on

We moved on after 2 nights and enjoyed the coast road along the south side of the island on the way to Yarmouth on the South West corner.

On the extreme west corner is a famous rock formation and lighthouse called “The Needles”. It was a tourist trap but we found a bus to save us the long walk out to the edge of the cliffs, which we appreciated!

One side of the headland and the Needles

For such a beautiful place it was amazingly enough the site of rocket testing in the 1960’s and Britain’s Black Knight guided missile engines were tested while tethered to big concrete test stands. Who ever came up with placing them in such an idyllic place??

Chalk ridges form the Needles with the famous lighthouse at the end.

This area of cliffs is famous for its multi coloured sands.
The little white dot at the top on the right is our motorhome

In Yarmouth we found a parking area on the coast where we could overnight for just $2!! The views were spectacular and we could walk into the old town harbor area in just 5 minutes. One of our favourites now!

Just a public parking lot but what a view

The old part of Yarmouth

Narrow streets

We had our last nights in Cowes at a great pub stop with friendly pub owners and great food. We got chatting to one of the locals and the time flew by.

Another pub stop

They had a folk music event in the beer garden.
That's our motorhome at the back on the left.

A bus took us right into the center of Cowes and we walked thru the shopping areas to the Esplanade on the harbor. The amount of yachts was amazing and some were HUGE. There were boats from Norway, Holland, Germany and the crowds were out in force.

Sailboats everywhere

Someone explained that the “Classic British” sailboat race was happening that day and the Fasnet Ocean race which goes from Cowes to the Fasnet Rock off South West tip of Ireland and back was starting at the weekend.

Ferry back to Portsmouth

Then were back on the ferry and off to see my cousins Liz and Helen in Portsmouth. We stayed at my late Aunt Sheila’s house for a couple of nights and took the cousins out for dinner.

I have wanted to see the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport so we took a cab down to the Portsmouth waterfront and took the chance to go up their local landmark, a sail like tower called the Spinnaker. Great views over the city and the harbour spoiled only by a drizzling rain which soaked us as we walked about a mile to the Submarine Museum.

I have worked on 3 different submarines in my career and so the interest is there. The Museum was well laid out and although it seemed small from the outside it took a long time to see everything. First we toured a WW2 submarine which is now hauled out of the water, the cramped spaces where up to 80 people lived and worked took some negotiating, and there was no crew on board!

HMS Alliance WW2 submarine

Very compact diving station.

They also had the Royal Navy’s first submarine there the “Holland” and a type X midget submarine of the type that attacked the Tirpitz in a Norwegian fiord in WW2.

UK's first submarine HMS Holland

Barbara’s next must see was Stonehenge which is only about 50 miles from Portsmouth so we had a side trip to the D Day museum on our way out of town.

View from the top of the Spinnaker Tower

Looking straight down thru the glass floor

Portsmouth and the surrounding area was the center of all the naval activity for D Day and the months after. All the landing craft loaded here and the escort forces gathered to shepherd them across the Normandy.

The museum was really good with lots of displays of artifacts and memorabilia. It kind of haunted me that my Dad had been here loading his tank on an LCT (Landing Craft Tank). In his photographs was a shot from a landing craft with white cliffs in the background. As far as I knew there were no such chalk cliffs in Normandy so it puzzled me. When we were on the Isle of Wight there were the chalk cliffs! A puzzled solved.

Stonehenge

The standing stones

At Stonehenge we spent the morning wandering around the site. You can no longer walk into the ring of stones but it’s still an impressive place.

Usual view at Stonehenge!

We now realized that all the “Must Do’s” for our trip had been done! I think we both felt kind of deflated, for 2 summers we have had things to do and places to visit. Now the “No Plan Kids” had no plan!!

Is this the end of the Dynamic Duo?

Will the World spin off its axis?

Tune in next time to find out!!

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.