Oldies On Tour

Sunday 9th July 2023

Today we are heading to St Michael’s Mount, the island off Penzance with a castle on top.  At low tide one can walk over the causeway but at others, the only way is by boat but before catching the boat, tickets have to be bought on line.

Today our breakfast venue was Tesco as they opened at 1000hrs, Sainsbury opened at 1100hrs so they will be tomorrow’s venue.  We walked into the store only to be told they don’t have a cafe, What???   So we headed back to  Morrisons arriving a little after 10.00 am when they opened but by to our surprise they were already very busy.   We ordered but due to being so busy it took just over half an hour for it to arrive, so they will lose points for that!!!

We headed off to the small village of Marazion where the boats leave for St Michael’s. We parked easily, then along with many others, searched for the jetty they leave from.   The signage was non-existent and there was no one to ask!!  Eventually we walked down an ally and found the jetty, it turned out there are two but the state of the tide dictates which one gets used; fine but tell people!!!!

The sun is out though rain is again forecast so we were armed with anoraks etc., and the sea across to the island looked calm, good job as they are only small boats, ours took 12 people but there were seven today running continuously, so minimal waiting.

St Michael’s Mount is a National Trust property and as we are now back in England and spending holiday time here it seemed appropriate to re-join the Trust, so did so on line and the result of course, being members there was no entry fee.

The 5-minute boat ride was uneventful and we were deposited at the end of the harbour mole, so the walk began.   Firstly everywhere is cobblestones, but not normal, uniform ones, oh no, these were basically flattened stones of every conceivable size so one had to walk with care.    Next the climb, something I was dreading but it has to be done; can’t give in and with Christine’s encouragement and a number of stops along the way we arrived at the castle entrance, great.  Unfortunately upon entering the castle we were confronted with more steps!!!

St Michael’s Mount: The monastery that became a castle that became a home

This castle is perched on top of a granite rock just off the coast; obviously a good defensive position, and the sort of place that would appeal to holy men back in 495AD when the first church was built up there, followed by a monastery few hundred years later, both dedicated to St Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of fishermen. This is England’s  answer to Mont Saint Michel, just off the Normandy coast of France.  Over the years there has been much “activity” over ownership but in 1659 it was sold to Colonel John St Aubyn, an MP at the time who had served in Cromwell’s Parliamentary army, since then his descendants, the Lords St Levan have remained.   Apart from the castle there are a number of cottages and a community still living there with children having to ferry over to the mainland to attend school. 

In spite of the gloomy weather forecast, the sun was shining and the views from the battlements over Cornwall were lovely.   Wandering around the castle was interesting but as usual whilst visiting these places, there is never enough time to take a good look at everything, especially as we had the daunting prospect of retracing our steps back down the steep stony pathway; also being a Sunday it was rather busy.

Back down in the harbour with the causeway still under water, we had to buy 2-more boat tickets; they don’t sell return tickets🤔🤔

Having enjoyed a late Morrisons breakfast, we headed back “home” and as luck would have it, get back in time for the British Grand Prix, good planning or what!!!

After an exciting GP with two British drivers on the podium and hearing England had clinched a win at Headingly in the ashes, we headed into town for dinner.   Tonight we went to the Admiral Benbow, the oldest pub in Penzance, serving rum ti pirates and smugglers since 1695.  It was a rather dark and pokey place but the food was nice and beer good, what else matters though Christine was pleased it was dark as the place looked as if it could do with a deep clean!!!

We headed back through the town, but everything was shut and the place was dead, then back through Penlee Park and had a listen to the group performing at the outside theatre, but not for long as we weren’t impressed!!!

Our last day today put this short break has wetted our appetites so will defiantly be back to visit Cornwall, but for longer next time.

Saturday 8th July 2023

Today we are heading to Lands End, but first Breakfast.  As we drove into Penzance yesterday we noticed a Morrisons Store, across the roundabout a Sainsbury Store, and a little further down the road, a Tesco Store, all “big” superstores.  As we are in a self catering we have decided to breakfast out, but more, we have three mornings here so will breakfast in all three supermarket cafes and judge each one, see which is the best! Today we will sample Morrisons, so off we headed.

After a really enjoyable, well cooked, hot and well presented breakfast we headed to Lands end, but much to Christine’s disgust I went using the narrow lanes, I was not her favourite person🥶🥶, but my thinking is obvious, we see more of the countryside!!  

My my how things have changed since we last visited (different lives!) Lands End, everything is so commercialised, even the “several” car parks had numerous stewards controlling everyone, naturally we paid for them!!!    We had a good wander around in the sun though it was a little windy, enjoyed a coffee and ice cream before heading back via the souvenir shops.

Before I go any further I must praise Tyla (my Granddaughter),  now a fully qualified physiotherapist, she has given me several exercises and these have improved my mobility no end; thank you Tyla I can now join Christine out and about more.

Discretion being the better part of Valor, we headed back along the main road though I did insist on a detour and visit the small fishing village of “Mousehole” which by definition is down a narrow country lane🤔.   After driving down the hill through the narrow streets we arrived at the harbour only to find the two car parks full; the village was full, so regretfully we headed out, and that was not as easy as it sounds due to the “one-way” system around the narrow streets.    Eventually SatNav sorted us out and took us along the coast road through Newlyn back to Penzance.   

Tonight is the performance we have tickets for so need to eat early, but we got back too early so headed to our “home” for these few days and by coincidence, we were in time to watch the qualifying for the British Grand Prix, win win🤠🤠.

Christine decided tonight we would have fish and chips, not in a restaurant but on a bench on the promenade 😟😟, not my “cup-of-tea”, her only concession to me was to take a knife and fork from our self catering place.    Again we looked up the best fish and chip place to go to In Penzance and when we arrived there was a long queue; either good marketing or really good fish and chips.

As “directed” I secured the bench to sit on the sea front and Christine brought over the freshly cooked meal and in-spite of my dislike of eating out of a paper bag in a cardboard box, I did enjoy them; they were delicious, and trip advisor was right.

We now headed to Penlee Park as we had been advised to get there early to secure a good seat; we were early alright, two hours early!!!   Worse, the cafe opposite was closed so we only had the Test Match to listen to.   We did try the staff entrance and get in early but we got a resounding “no”, but did find out they had a bar inside and also after chatting to the “official”, we managed to get our places reserved, a space for me on the scooter and a chair, the bonus of this meant Christine didn’t have to stand in the queue which started about hall an hour before the gates opened, which was one hour before the performance starts!!

At 1830hrs the gates opened so headed to the bar to stock up with beer and wine before taking up our reserved spaces.  It turned out we were probably in the best place looking straight down the access between all the seating.   Until the performance at 1930hrs we kept looking up to the heavens worried it may rain as it had been forecasted but so far so good.

This unlikely open air theatre that can accommodate an audience up to 300 is situated in Penlee Park, it is surrounded by thick hedges and the “stage” is a raised lawn area with a small garden wall around it, and the performers “appear” from behind the bushes.  The theatre is 75-years old this year and they have a full season of events from music to plays, very versatile.   Being an outdoor theatre naturally we knew we were exposed to the elements but what shook us was there was no roof above the performers, in fact the only covered area is the temporary bar!!!!

The Fisherman’s Friends arrived on stage at the appointed time to a rousing reception and then they started, their first song got the audience in the mood and the first hour of their performance just flew by, they were very entertaining and between songs had a few funny stories to tell.   After the interval they re-appeared and were full on with the audience, with some members jumping up and down with the music amongst the chairs. .   The good news though, several of the group are the originals, and even played their parts in the Fisherman’s Friends films.

A little after 2200hrs we headed back having been thoroughly entertained and we would urge everyone to go and see them perform.

Friday 7th July 2023

Mia was allowed to sleep-in after her very late night but in the end she wasn’t too late for school!!

Returning from the school run, Christine joined Jane and Oreo with Tom-Tom, Rosie and headed off to Brean Beach, a short drive away for a good long walk whilst I was left to pack the car and poo-pick👹👹

Today is very sunny and warm as we hit the road heading to Cornwall for our weekend break, the highlight being our seats for the “Fisherman’s Friends” concert, my birthday treat from Christine; I’m really looking forward to seeing them.   Our itinerary starts with a visit to the famous “Jamaica Inn” on Bodmin Moor for lunch.   Christine hadn’t been there before and it was about 50-years since I last visited the place.

The run down to Bodmin was quick, duel carriageway most of the way and arrived at 1300hrs, “Peckish”, after all Christine had done a long walk!!!

My how things have changed, firstly the pub and surrounding are have been bypassed, Jamaica inn is no longer on the main road and their car park is enormous catering for the many holiday makers passing by.

This famous pub was built in 1750 as a coaching inn but infamous as a staging post for contraband smuggled ashore along the Cornish coast; a sort of modern day distribution point, albeit illegal!!.   It has been estimated that half the Brandy and a quarter of all tea smuggled into the U.K. during the 19th century was landed on the Cornish and Devon coasts and Jamaica Inn being so isolated, made it an ideal place to distribute it from.   There is also a smuggler’s museum but unfortunately we didn’t get in as time was against us; another time.      Jamaica Inn is also well known for Daphne du Maurier’s novel of the same name published in 1936, a story of intrigue and smuggling etc.  Daphne spent a lot of time later in her life intrigued by the place, there is even a mock-up of her working environment.   There is also a plaque on the floor depicting where a “Joss Merlyn”, the leader of a gang of smugglers working the Cornish coast was murdered, and it is “said” his ghost haunts the Inn and comes back to finish his ale!!!   We enjoyed our lunch but was shocked at the service behind the bar.  There were lots of folk arriving for lunch but getting served at the bar was laborious, only two serving so there was a constant queue,very poor.

The rest of the journey wasn’t so good, heavy traffic with miles of roadworks as they are upgrading the A30; typical, always in the summer!!!, still we arrived at the appropriate time to get into our room, not a hotel but a self-catering place at the appointed hour and immediately put the kettle on.  

Tonight we fancied a good fresh fish dinner so searched the internet and “plumped” for a place called “The Boatshed”, but being so late, couldn’t book so had to take pot luck. This was the highest rated fish restaurant in Penzance and it was good, simple, but fresh and tasty and accompanied by suitable alcoholic beverages, it was good choice.

The weather today has been superb, sunny and hot, let’s hope it continues tomorrow and more importantly, no rain tomorrow evening for the concert🤞🤞🤞🤞

Thursday 6th July 2023

Tomorrow we head to Penzance for a long weekend but first we headed to Jane’s as we are leaving the dogs and I needed to fit some plastic garden trellis stuff onto their garden gate to secure these two “hooligans” and keep them safe in one of their garden areas; mission accomplished. 

After a very early dinner or late lunch, not sure which we decided it was, however it was 1600hrs as tonight it is Mia’s show and as Jane and Mia headed to the theatre, we went and Visited Dave in Weston S Mare Hospital; much easier than trekking to Bristol!!!l

We arrived at the McMillan Theatre Bridgwater in time for a drink before heading to our seats for the evening performance.   The production Mia is in is a modified version of “Les Miserables” for children.   Tonight Mia is part of the crowd, but we would have preferred to be here tomorrow when she does her “solo” song playing Cosette as a child, but alas there was a “cock-up” with dates, so will miss her big moment🥵🥵.

I went so see this production several years ago in the “west-end” and I have to say it was not my cup-of-tea, and nearly gave up in the interview.   The prospect of seeing it again didn’t impress me, still duty called and being a modified version, probably shorter; wrong on that score, two and a half hours but at least we had excellent seats at the back of the auditorium set aside for “less mobile people”, my gammy knee comes in useful sometimes!!!

Whatever my thoughts about the story, the production was excellent, this amateur production looked very professional and the cast were spot on, obviously there was a lot of hard work in rehearsals to get to this high standard, well done to one and all.

Back at Hope farm we waited for a triumphant Mia to return, and when she arrived she was buzzing and on such a high, bed was the last thing on her mind, but school tomorrow🤔🤔.

Wednesday 28th June 2023

Again we awoke to a wet, dull miserable morning but “hey” it doesn’t matter, we are enjoying ourselves.   We were originally due to leave today but having booked a table in the local pub, we’ve had to extend our stay ‘till tomorrow so we are going to head out to Ilfracombe.   The dogs disturbed us in the night, probably hyperactive after there moment of madness on the beach yesterday!!

The drive to ilfracombe started as usual through the local narrow lanes but as we got near we dropped down through a pretty tree lined valley into the town and made straight for the harbour, always a good starting point!!

Ilfracombe also turned out to be a gem of a place with history etc.  It was originally inhabited during the Iron Age, naturally it was recorded in the Doomsday book in 1086.  Throughout its history there were 2-distinct parts of the town, one part is all about agriculture and the other is about the sea.  Though the little, well protected harbour is full of private pleasure craft now, in earlier ages it was a thriving fishing and commercial port.   It was also one of the main ports where commercial ships ploughing the Bristol Channel could take refuge during storms.

As the commerce dwindled during the latter stages of the Regency period, the town gradually became a retirement destination particularly for a number of distinguished naval officers.  It also became a tourist destination though access in those early years was mainly by boat but with the coming of the railways during the early Victorian period it started to bloom though it really came into its own as a holiday destination once the railway arrived in Ilfracombe.   One of the more unusual aspects of Ilfracombe which also contributed to the increased popularity are “The Tunnels”: these 4 “Tunnels” were the inspiration of local entrepreneurs and hand-carved in the 1820’s by a team of Welsh miners cutting through the rock cliff to give access to the beaches below.  These being Victorian times, the three beaches were modified into 3-tidal segregated bathing pools: as was the law at that time, two for women and one for men.  This law apparently was repealed in 1901.

At the entrance to the tunnels stands the impressive “Bath House”, built in 1836, a small scale Greek Revival building providing hot and cold seawater baths for visitors.   Today it used for self catering holidays and along with the tunnels, used for weddings venues.

We parked the car and took a wander around the harbour which is over shadowed by a 66-ft tall sculpture of a pregnant women standing on a pile of books holding a sword aloft named “Verity”, created by Damien Hurst in 2012; not sure why it’s here!!!   We then headed into the old town before moving on to find the tunnels.   The other unusual building here is the Landmark “theatre”, it looks like power station cooling towers, very unusual.

The signpost pointing up to the tunnels was very clear, but driving up the road there was nothing!!!.  The sign wasn’t visible from the way we approached them , so drove past several times before we “twigged” it was at the side of the Bath House but no car park to help identify the place, street parking only, still the three circumnavigations looking for them gave us a good look insight to the town and surrounding area!   

Naturally we had an entrance fee to enter but well worth a visit if for no other reason it gave us a in-depth insight to holidaying in the Victorian era and the dogs enjoyed the walk even though they were not allowed on the stony beach.

OK back to Saunton Beach stopping at a pub on route for a light lunch as we’re out tonight.

Again the Saunton beach was as good as yesterday, the pooches went “nuts” and thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and we had the opportunity to enjoy the fresh sea air as there was a wind blowing in from the sea but the sky was full of rain clouds.  Once “they” had calmed down we were back to the car as the rain started, good timing!!!

Having booked the restaurant in the Kings Head for 1930hrs we needed to get moving but typically when camping, the time we trooped down to the shower block it was raining, fortunately not too hard.

When we booked yesterday the pub was nearly empty but walking in this evening, wow, people everywhere, the pub was heaving and the restaurant full; jolly glad we booked as nothing available!!!     We chose to sit in the bar, bigger table than the restaurant and more space for TT& R it sit under the table.   Having perused the menu yesterday we already knew what we wanted and we were not disappointed, the publican was right when he told us how good his chefs were; the food was excellent and no doubt when we return in a couple of weeks time with Mark and Paula, we will be back in the Kings Head restaurant.

This is our last night, we head back tomorrow after a really enjoyable camping holiday in Devon, can’t wait ‘till the next one

Tuesday 27th June 2023

We woke to a wet miserable and horrible looking day, first for a long time, so no need to rush but we did have one objective in mind, find a beach that allowed dogs, off the lead so they can go “mad”!!!    We had also been pondering the merits of a “motorhome versus a caravan” so not being a nice day decided to seek out a caravan dealership and have a look at what’s available.

Looking on the internet we found a dealership not too far away so headed out.   Arriving at the address given turned out to be a holiday village and campsite; very nice it looked but no sign of caravan sales other than holiday ones so did an about turn and headed into Combe Martin on the off chance the dealership may have been there.   Combe Martin was one long street running down a valley to a small cove with a token beach but parking wasn’t available so apart from a ‘photo opportunity, we carried on and headed back to the holiday park, this being the “only” possible place to find what we were looking for!!

This time we had a good look around, driving up the various connecting lanes on site when low and behold, tucked around a corner hidden by beautifully manicured hedges was a caravan and motorhome dealership!!!   We spent some time looking at the various layouts in caravans, gathering all the relevant facts etc., and discussed the pros and cons of both with the sales people and arriving at the same conclusion, we are no further advanced so we headed off for coffee.   I must say, nothing will be done this year anyway but by the time we had finished our coffee the rain had gone and the clouds were breaking up so time to search for that one beach that has to be about!!!

Yesterday as we were driving from Braunton to Croyde Christine spotted a sign pointing to a beach with a picture of a dog, so we had great hopes🤞🤞🤞.   But first; whilst walking to the lighthouse the other day, talking as you do to strangers with dogs, we were recommended by “two” different sets of people of an alternative campsites at “Damage Barton”, this site is set high overlooking the sea, every pitch has a view!!   Conclusion, too well organised and regimented for us so pleased “we are where we are”!!

After negotiating more of the narrow Devonshire lanes, we arrived at the entrance to the Saunton beach car park and headed down to the sandy beach.   We did double check, dogs were allowed and off the lead😄😄.   So once we cleared the busy part around the entrance, Tom-Tom and Rosie went  “bizzerk”, tearing up the beach for all they were worth, freedom at last!!   It was now time to hit the waters edge, after all isn’t that what Cocker Spaniels like???    Tom-Tom was straight in, no messing but Rosie was slightly more hesitant, most probably due to her shorter legs; they loved it and as we were paddling with them, they showed no respect for our clothes, soaked or what?

Saunton beach is 4-miles long, we probably made just over a mile before turning back which I was pleased about.   Solo wouldn’t have worked on the soft sand and I didn’t fancy staying in the car so just gripped my teeth, put my best foot forward and headed off; watching the dogs enjoying themselves so much dampened the pain.   This beach, like many others is a haven for wind surfers as well as long board surfers but the other thing about this beach is, it is used by the RAF for training their pilots to land and take off in their C-130K Hercules transport planes!!!!!

We eventually returned to the car with the dogs thoroughly exhausted, wet, and covered in sand but very happy.

En route we stopped at a the Kings Arms, a small “Free-house” pub in the local village (Georgeham) for a quick pint where both dogs immediately collapsed under the table!!    Though the pub was empty we liked it and after looking through their menu, booked a table for tomorrow night.   Chatting to the landlord (owner) his USP is the food they serve,in his own words, he has “excellent chefs”, we will know tomorrow!!

Back on site for dinner, I was due to bar-b-q  tonight as I had the right parts and I was ready to go but it was windy and I couldn’t keep the gas alight so another failure on my part👹👹 and it was down to Christine, again.   After an excellent dinner we played a hand of crib but being tired and nothing on TV, bed called.