Lyme Regis

After leaving Abinger Common we drove to Lyme Regis.  It was a 3.5-hour drive.  We spent Wednesday and Thursday night in the quirky B&B above the Sanctuary Bookshop.  It was great fun.  You must visit their website. 

http://www.lyme-regis.demon.co.uk

Sanctuary Bookshop (our room  is the top floor  middle window)

We stayed in the front sea view room, a tad noisy with the traffic on the high street but it was worth it for the views.  Looking through the bookshelves in each room and the stairwell was entertaining.  You can imagine what picture books were placed strategically in the bedroom. 

Check out the this book - what a laugh!!

 I chose Lymes Regis because of the story of Mary Anning, a fossil hunter in the 18^th century.  Her story had intrigued me since I read two books on her when I worked at the library. 

Due to the ‘low’ high tides at present we missed out on a fossil walk.  The cliffs are too dangerous to walk under and with the high low tide – what a mouthful, fossil hunting was out so unfortunately we didn’t get to see any fossils except the ones in the shops. 

I started writing this blog yesterday while sitting in a traffic jam in the narrow country lanes on our way to Bigbury-on-Sea.  We were keen to visit ‘The Pilchard Inn’ on Burgh Island and ride the sea tractor across to it.  Unfortunately once again due to the high low tide we missed out on our tractor ride and walked across the sand.  It was a sunny day so we enjoyed a baguette and beer/cider overlooking the sea. 

While we were camping at Mevagissey Dave had a book of curious pubs and while flicking through it I saw ‘The Pilgrim Inn’ and discovered it was on Burgh Island where the Hercule Poirot episode ‘Evil under the sun’ was filmed.  We saw the episode last year so along with seeing the pub in the book and it gave us the idea of visiting, even better that it was only an hour away from Karen and Dave’s where we stayed last night.  When we arrived in Saltash Karen was busy finishing her three tiered (elaborate) cake for her Gran’s 100^th birthday celebration today.  The cake was to be admired. 

It was a 1.5-hour drive here to St Ives today.  It is very busy with tourists (us being two of them). It is a picturesque beach town.  Karen, Dave and the kids will join us tomorrow for a few days.  Fingers crossed the sun will keep shining as it is the first day of autumn tomorrow.  It has been enjoyable these past few days.  

The Cobb of Lymes Regis before the daily crowds arrive

Then there are the crowds (& seagulls & European swasps - not sure what is worse)

Looking at Burgh Island - The Pilchard Inn in the forefront on the right 

Leith Hill Place & a sad goodbye to Poppy & Daisy

While visiting Leith Hill Tower during the week and seeing Leith Hill Place in the distance we decided to visit the old house before we left Abinger Common.

The car park was a ten-minute drive from Parkhurst Cottage and the brochure said the walk to the house was 300 mtrs from the car park and it would have been had we seen the signs to the house.  At a guess we walked 5kms till we met a lady who came to our rescue and turned us around and pointed us in the right direction.  How embarrassing!!  You can just imagine how many expletives Jim used in that time.  We could have been lost forever wandering aimlessly in the Rhododendron Woods. 

Once on the right track we approached the house from the back door.  It appeared in front of us like a grey gloomy scene out of a horror movie.  The house was built in 16^th century.  I found the house intriguing considering the artistic and creative minds that lived there over the centuries e.g. Ralph Vaughan Williams (English composer) lived there as did his grandparents Josiah & Caroline Wedgwood (Wedgwood pottery).  Josiah’s great uncle was Charles Darwin.  He visited often and started his study of earthworms there that went on for 30 years.  Imagine 30 years of looking at worms.

Leith Hill Place from Leith Hill Tower

Our approach to Leith Hill Place

Leaving from the front door to the car park (in full view in front of us)

Leith Hill Place from the direction we should have arrived

It was sad to say good-bye to Daisy and Poppy on Wednesday morning but even sadder today  (Saturday 31 August) when Karen emailed to let us know that Daisy suffered heart failure this morning and sadly died.  We were lucky to spend the past few weeks with her.  She was 11 years.  

Lovely Daisy

Our itinerary for the foreseeable future

This is how the next couple of months are looking:

Wednesday 28 August

Lymes Regis for two nights to check out the Jurassic Coast and the life of Mary Anning

Friday 30 August

Saltash – spend the night with Karen & Dave 

Saturday 31 August to Saturday 7 September

St Ives, Cornwall – sightseeing around southern Cornwall.  Karen, Dave and the kids will join us for the first part of the week.  The summer school holidays end mid week so the kids have to go back to school. 

Saturday 7 September to Saturday 14 September

Maidenhead (near London) – sightseeing around London & The Thames area.  Laurel arriving on Tuesday 10 September

Saturday 14 September to Friday 4 October (our trip to Europe with Laurel):

London to Paris Saturday 14 September to 18 September 4 nights

Paris to Avignon 18 September to 22 September 4 nights 

Avignon to Florence 22 September to 25 September 3 nights

Florence to Rome 25 September to 27 September 2 nights

Rome to Malta 27 September to 4 October 7 nights

Sunday roast again

Here it is Sunday again.  

My last blog was last Sunday after being to The Abinger Hatch for lunch.  

Today’s Sunday lunch (roast again) was at The Stephan Langton Inn.  Once again the surroundings were lovely and the food yummy.   It was a fifteen-minute walk to the inn via the public footpath.  The footpath wound its way through the labyrinth of trees.  It was truly magical especially after such a wet day yesterday. 

This a way

The Stephan Langton

Walking along the public footpath 

England and Wales is a network of public footpaths and bridle paths.  Footpath means walkers only and bridle path means horses and cyclists.  Many of the pathways are hundreds of years old.  Walking is big business throughout the UK.  You see people of all ages decked out in their walking gear everywhere.

During the week we had two local outings.  The first was to Leith Hill Tower.  

Leith Hill Tower

A five-minute drive up the road followed by a ten-minute walk from the car park to the tower.  The views were amazing over Surrey hills.  You could see London in the distance.  After walking up the tower I enjoyed an elderberry bubbles – a soft drink made of elderberry from the ‘servery’ at the bottom of the tower. 

The tower was originally built in the 18^th century by a local well off landowner because he liked the view from the hill and wanted to share it with the local community but due to disgraceful behaviour at a summer picnic in the 19^th century it was closed to the public till many years after.  Hard to imagine ‘disgraceful behaviour’ in those times – too much ale had by all followed by bawdy talk.  Who knows!!

On Thursday the rain started.  In between showers we drove to Box Hill, a fifteen-minute drive from here, the other side of Dorking.  The plan was to walk up Box Hill down to the river Mole and back through the meadows to the car park.  The walk up Box Hill was quite steep.  We weren’t reading the map from the start only following signs so consequently we walked an extra 50kms out of way (if you listen to Jim) missing the path down to the river.  We eventually found our way down to the river and the stepping-stones to cross the river.  Another enjoyable look see around the place.

Coming over the top of the first steep part of Box Hill

The veggie garden is still supplying us with fruit and veg.  The beans, courgettes (zucchinis to us Australians), tomatoes, spinach and rocket are plentiful.  The lettuces are coming to an end.  I picked the first of the blueberries during the week.  Yum yum!

The puppies are well but have been a bit restless the past couple of mornings.  They bark to be let out early (before 6am) so we are taking turns in getting up to them.  Once you are up they like you to stay up with them, to keep them company.  It is a bit tiring when we are not use to getting up till 7 or 8.  Come 9 they fall asleep again.  Just like having babies. 

Typical English Sunday lunch

Today we walked to The Abinger Hatch for lunch – the Sunday roast.  The Hatch is the pub where Simon works (our friend introduced in previous blog), it is a more up market pub for the more affluent Surrey residents – that’s right, us!

Lunch was fresh and tasty with the biggest Yorkshire pudding I’ve ever seen.  For dessert I had the ‘deconstructed apple crumble’.  I was intrigued by the name.  I was keen to see how it would be presented.  The apple was in a little glass served with custard, on the plate next to the glass was a line of crumble (novel idea) and beside this a mound of raisin and apple compote.  I piled the crumble and compote on top of the custard in the glass – reconstructed.  I ate too much so needed the walk home. 

We walked home through the graveyard and then back onto the roads.  As I have mentioned before the roads around here are narrow and tree lined, add cyclists and they can be nerve racking.  Walking along the road you hear the whirring and whooshing coming up behind you, hopefully by this time you haven’t waivered out further into the path of the bikes in fright.

The weekend before we arrived here there was a bike race with 20,000 cyclists – what a nightmare.  Karen and Rob (home owners) said it was a spectacular sight watching the cyclists buzzing past the front gate.  They have a tandem bike so you can’t blame them for their enthusiasm.  All I can say is I’m glad we weren’t here. 

We found another pub yesterday – The Stephan Langton.  Rob told us about it so we went for a look.  It is only a ten-minute drive from here.  Great looking pub hidden away in middle earth.  It looks just like middle earth in Lord of the Rings as much of this area does.  We thought we might go for lunch during the week, the menu sounded inviting.  I don’t thing I would want to drive down there in the night.  I bought beetroot from a farmhouse near the pub – 4 for 50 p (75 cents) what a bargain.  I roasted them for dinner last night, fresh and yummy. 

Puppies are good – Jim has given them nicknames.  Daisy is Daisy Duke (from Dukes of Hazzard) and Poppy is Floppy as she does lean to the right.  This afternoon when we were feeding the chickens Daisy and Poppy came along for a walk.  They don’t always bother.  They had a burst of energy.  Poppy was off out the front gates and Daisy was wandering off to next door.  It was quite a job rounding them up from different directions.  They are so obedient not like Natty who use to do what she wanted.  

Yesterdays harvest

Neighbours on the way to The Abinger Hatch

Crossroads

Simon, inside the pub

The Abinger Hatch

Graveyard across from The Abinger Hatch

Abinger Common 'Parkhurst Cottage' housesit (end of week one)

It is hard to believe we arrived this time last week.  

The house is comfortable and the property is just what you’d expect from an English garden – it is just beautiful.  There is a ‘public footpath’ outside the side gate where Poppy and Daisy like to go for a slow meander.  The girls are very slow and happy to lie around most of the day in their various favourite spots.  They are both very affectionate and love any attention you give them. 

Jim has his daily jobs: feeding the tropical fish in the mornings, tending to the chickens & ducks (collecting their eggs) & tending to the rabbit and feeding the girls at night and throwing a handful of food to the outside fish. 

I feed the fish at night and look after the veggie patch, flowerpots and beds.  My job list seems light to compare to Jim’s but I feed and tend to us -that all takes time.

25 years ago when I worked in the pub ‘The Volunteer’ next door in Abinger Hammer I met Simon (Johnston).  Simon stayed with us in Tawonga in 2001 (we think, none of us are sure of the exact date) but we lost contact not long after.  When we decided to come to England I tried to find him via the social network and Internet but with no luck.  Karen, our friend in Cornwall tried to locate him when we arrived at her house also with no luck.  Last week when we arrived in the area, we stopped at the local corner shop/post office and asked if they knew of him – they did, not only did they know of him they gave us directions to the pub he works in - The Abinger Hatch.  You are not going to believe this but The Hatch is minutes down the road from us here in 'Parkhurst Cottage'.  We decided to surprise Simon and drop into the pub unannounced.  He was very surprised.  It took him a few minutes to put things in perspective. We had dinner together here on Saturday night.  It was great to catch up.  

We walked to the Hatch yesterday afternoon for preps (is that still a saying!).  It is great having a local so close with a friend to chat to as well.  Shame the roads are so narrow, tree lined and windy, it is a bit nerve racking walking around the place. 

Over the weekend we’ll take some photos of The Hatch and post them on Flickr.

Poor Jim is in mourning, his Croc thongs (flip flops to the English) broke when we were in Cornwall last week and his Teva sandals of 20+years broke a final time on the weekend.  We looked around for replacements in Dorking and Guildford, two towns close by but with no luck.  Unfortunately Teva no longer make that model – that is no surprise considering they are so old.  I finally persuaded him to buy a pair of thongs just for the interim as it may be another 20 years before he finds something he likes. 

We are leading such a relaxed life here in Parkhurst Cottage getting up between 7 & 8.30am, taking the dogs for a little wander, visiting the local shops and tending to our duties – it is going to be difficult to return to Australia to a structured lifestyle.  Lucky for us we still have 7 months of this hedonistic lifestyle to go.

Don’t forget to look at our Flickr photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimhappy/

Front door of Parkhurst Cottage

Front gate

Vegetable patch

Daisy, me & Poppy

On the road again

The badger, our mascot & the SatNav, our guide and saviour

Tomorrow (Wednesday 7 August) we leave Porlock for Abinger Common in Surrey for our house sit to keep Daisy and Poppy company for the next three weeks.  It should be a 4-hour journey.  We'll see as our road trips always seem to take longer than we think.

After visiting Lynmouth this morning we returned back here to Porlock and had lunch at a local tea shop.  I had a tasty Ploughmans (the first whilst being in the UK), which is a very English platter of either meats/cheese with pickle, pickle onion, bread and salad.  Jim had a ham and cheese sandwich.  I had a small pot of green and cherry tea, it was so light and refreshing, I must remember the mix.  After lunch we retired back to our room (retired - makes us sound like a pair of elderly people).  I spent the afternoon catching up on blogging and Jim has done what he does best - investigating things (his words).

Porlock, Somerset

The drive from Karen & Dave’s to Porlock took 4 hours.  

Heading across the Dartmouth Moors was wet wet wet.  It was lovely though, made us feel like we were driving across the high plains (of Victoria).  We saw Exmoor ponies.  The ponies are native to this part of England and roam the open moors.  It was hard to stop and take a photo because there was nowhere we could pull over and the rain didn’t help, it was heavy at times.  

Just before Porlock we stopped in a village called Dunster and had a yummy lunch at one of the village’s inviting pubs.  I know you find that hard to believe my saying a pub is inviting, it is more the buildings that are inviting.  They are typical old English buildings.  They have so much character.  Jim had the hog bap (pork on a bun – straight off the rotisserie) and I had smoked haddock soup with fresh herbs.  I did have to pick out the fish skin I found that hard to look at. 

Our accommodation here in Porlock at the Millers Bar & Bistro was a Groupon deal and what great value it is.  Karen introduced me to Groupon.  They advertise specials every day for holidays, homewares etc.

Yesterday we took a stream train ride on the West Somerset Railway.  It was a 3-hour return trip from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard.  It was a good day to sit on a train as it rained and rained.  The surrounding coastline on one side and countryside on the other was made even prettier with the rain.  

Prior to driving to Mindhead we drove to Porlock Weir, only a 10-minute drive away.  It has been a fishing village for hundred of years.  The beach was amazing, covered in rocks of various sizes but all an iron ore colour. 

Today we visited Lynmouth, a 15-minute drive away.  Porlock is in Somerset and Lynmouth is in Devon.  All the sights of the area are close by which is nice.  We took the cliff railway up to Lynton.  The railway is water operated - worth a Google to read about its mechanics and the history of the Lynmouth & Lynton.  

Driving to Lynmouth we saw more Exmoor ponies.  This time it was easier to pull over.  We walked up to them, close enough for a photo.  The countryside we have seen the past few days is spectacular and very picturesque, it has it all - rural and coastal.  

I braved the rain to try to show how much it was raining!!!

Porlock Weir

The Somerset Railway

Exmoor ponies

Me looking around the moors - in awe

Looking down to Lynmouth

From Lynmouth looking back the other direction

Lynmouth Cliff railway

Boswinger camping trip

Friday 26 July to Sunday 4 August

It is hard to write an entertaining blog after the event, that is my excuse for last weeks’ blog.  Our week with Karen, Dave, Jack and Lola (and don’t forget Noodle) at Seaview International campground in Boswinger, Cornwall panned out like this:

Friday – drove the hour from Saltash to Boswinger in our little red car packed to full capacity.  Friends of Karen and Dave’s ‘Lily, Clayton and their kids Blue, Arthur and William’ were also camping so after we set up camp we spent the late afternoon lying in the sun chatting with them, drinking vino and eating crips (aka potato chips).

Relaxing after setting up camp

Saturday  – the whole gang walked to the local pub at Gorram down the narrow roadways – as cars approached we yelled ‘car car’ then went in single file.  We had to suck in our tummies so as not to be hit by the car’s side mirrors when they passed.  On our walk home we stopped at the donkey rescue for a pat, which the kids loved.  By the way who gave the kids the sweetie (lolly to you Aussies) whistles, Karen ?????  You know the ones that are really shrill when whistled.  We were encouraging the kids to bite them in half just to make the whistling stop.  Made another stop at one of the local farms to buy fresh fruit and vegetables for dinner.

Sign post at cross roads

Sunday - the weather has turned and it was a grey wet windy day.  Lily, Clayton and the kids left this morning.  The weekend has been a laugh with everyone.  Regardless of the weather we decided to visit a local beach at Gorram Haven, a 15-minute drive.  We sat on the beach in our wet weather gear under the sun (come rain) shelter watching Jack and Lola frolic in the water.  Had afternoon tea between showers at a café high on the hill overlooking the beach.  Karen and Dave had mackerel pate, a Cornish favourite.  Jim and I couldn’t come at even trying it. 

Monday  - before we went to Spain we went to Jack and Lola’s school for a fundraising auction.  I won the bid for tickets to ‘The Lost Gardens of Heligan’ so today was the day we used the tickets, they are a ten-minute drive from our campsite.  The gardens were fantastic.  They belonged to the Tremayne family but went into ruins after WW1 when most of the family & gardeners was lost in the war.  The gardens were discovered in 1990 by a distant relative of the original Tremayne family and the restoration began.  The gardens are worth a Google search as the story is interesting and delightful.  The gardens overlooked the fishing village of Mevagissey, which we visited on Wednesday.

The mud maid at Heligan Gardens

Tuesday – the weather prediction for today was wet wet wet so we decided to spend the day in Truro, an hour’s drive away.  Truro has an amazing cathedral.  Jim had a quick look inside, long enough to take photos.  Karen, the kids and myself spent a quite a while looking around.  The kids were asking many questions about God and death etc – I let Karen deal with that.  After a yummy lunch at an art and craft shop come restaurant we looked around the shops.  It was the same chain of shops in all the towns and villages we have come across our travels. 

Jim has had a fixation about badgers since we arrived in the UK.  I guess it is similar to people coming to Australia and wanting to see kangaroos and wombats in the wild.  We have seen a few dead ones on the side of the road.  Lola saw a miniature badger at the craft shop and wanted to buy it for Jim.  It now sits on the dashboard of the car.

Wednesday – the weather remains wet and windy so we gear up again in our wet weather walking gear and walk the half hour down to the local beach ‘Hemmick’.  The coastline is wild and rural like southern Victoria.  We can’t believe our eyes when we reach the beach a Dad and his daughter are swimming in the ocean whilst Mum and the other daughter are hiding in the sun (come rain) shelter.  We search for sea glass and walk along the beach before walking back up the hill to the campground.  It was now lunchtime, the rain has stopped but the sky is still overcast and grey so we decide to drive  to Mevagissey (the fishing village we saw from Heligan).  Jim and I have come to enjoy boat, train and bus tours so lucky for us fishing boats are doing harbour trips for a half hour for 4GBP ($6) each, what a bargain.  Finished off the day trip with the obligatory ice-cream cone – all part of what the English fishing villages have on offer.

Karen & Jim walking down to Hemmick Beach

Hemmick Beach

Mevagissey Harbour - the boat we went on harbour tour

Thursday – our last day at Boswinger.  The day starts out wet again but by mid morning it has stopped drizzling so we pack up the kids and head to another local beach ‘Caerhays’.  Karen and the kids go in for a swim dressed in their wet suits while I walk Noodle along the beach dressed in my rain jacket but at least I have replaced my jeans with ¾ length pants.  The beach is packed with families, and their sun (come rain) shelters and wind fences.  I don’t think I have mentioned the wind fences before.  Most people set them up around their spots on the beach and campgrounds to help protect them against the elements.  It is a great idea just looks odd to us when we are not use to it.

Friday – packed up and drove back to Karen and Dave’s, spent the afternoon unpacking and washing.  Went to Mel’s birthday party, a friend of K&D – we met her at the Lansallos camp trip.  She lives on the banks of the River Tamar.  It was a stormy night, spectacular night sky over the water.  The theme of the party ‘Ship wrecked’ how appropriate considering the weather.

Saturday – restful morning at K&D’s.  The weather remains wet and gloomy but the kids need to exercise so once again we put on our wet weather gear and take the kids to a river closely for a walk with Noodle.  Dave and Jim elect to stay at home, I know you find that hard to believe.

 

Sunday – we say goodbye to K&D and the kids and head across the Dartmouth Moors to make our way to Porlock, Somerset where we will spend the next four days having a look around the coast and Exmoor National Park.

PS.  San Sebastian photos are now loaded on Flickr.  We’ll load the camping photos by the end of the week.  It will be easier to load when we are at our house sit in Abinger Common.  We will arrive there on Wednesday evening.