Notes - click on the links to the right in 'blog archive' for our other 20+ blogs. We are writing this for our family & friends and to have a record of our trip but if it helps anyone plan their trip or bring back memories that's great too.
Wednesday 16th July 2014 to Sunday 27th South West England
This blog is lighter than normal for text and we have also been a bit slack taking photos too. We have had a great relaxing trip driving around SW England. Made even more relaxing driving on the LHS of the road after our 4 previous rental cars being on the RHS. The weather has been hot and around 26 degrees each day which has the English in their swimmers and sunburned bodies are everywhere.
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Cranky old codger
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We flew in from Croatia and picked up a Vauxhall Astra at Gatwick and stayed at the following towns with lots of English Heritage castles and sites, National Trust buildings, pubs, one lane roads, hedges, beaches, magnificent villages and beautiful farms.
Nights:-
Brighton 1
Salisbury 2
Torquay 1
Falmouth 3
Bude 2
Wiveliscombe 1
Bristol 1
We drive to Cardiff in Wales tomorrow for a few days then Ireland for 3 weeks, Scotland for a week, Northern England for a week before flying to Southern Spain for the next European leg.
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| Brighton Pier is pretty amazing - heaps of rides and lots of machines and games to play |
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| Brighton Pier - even has a water slide ride on it |
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| Brighton Pier seagull checking out the menu |
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| Brighton Beach |
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| Brighton fountain/park |
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| Brighton has heaps of great little alleys often pedestrian only full of restaurants and bars |
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| Brighton Beach Volleyball |
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| Porchester castle - Sandy listening to the exceptionally good audio guide. There are two characters a French prisoner and an English guard who tell the story over about an hour from each countries/persons perspective |
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| View from the top of Porchester Castle |
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| The main building with 'the keep' the tallest building (last defence if walls breached) |
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| Renovating the straw roof on a house in Salisbury |
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| Salisbury Cathedral - we did the 'Tower Tour' and climbed right up the top of the spire. |
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Our hotel in Salisbury the Rose and Crown built in the 1300s. The following day, the heavy potted plant above Sandy's head fell to the ground with a huge thud when the steel bracket gave way -
lucky escape by 24 hours. |
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| Stonehenge was super busy and very interesting |
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| Another audio guide - headphones are the best if you can remember them instead of holding the machine up to your ear for an hour |
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| Drawbridge and moat at Old Sarum Castle |
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| Stained glass Coats of Arms at Salisbury Castle |
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| In the roof of Salisbury Cathedral on the tower tour - note the wooden joint in the middle with two tapered wooden pins |
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| Salisbury Cathedral some later running repairs in steel to keep the tower solid - note how the steel work has not bolts but the same type of joins as you would find in wood work |
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| Salisbury Cathedral is the tallest in Britain and the tower tour was excellent |
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| The Salisbury Cathedral Tower wood work |
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| Salisbury Cathedral tour guide showing us the huge wheel that two guys worked to bring up a canvas bag of stone - plus there were two guys on the other side as the brake men - would take 1/2 hour to bring up the materials. |
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| View from top of Salisbury Cathedral |
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| Great fountain in the middle of Salisbury Cathedral |
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| Note the windows in Portland Castle to prevent canon fire etc. |
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| Portland Castle worked with another one across the river to protect the port |
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| Our summer holiday spot in Tassie since AR was 10 is at Bridport and where we have a block to build on one day so had to put in a photo of the English town |
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| Basil's Bar at Torquay. The Monty Python crew were kicked out of this hotel by its then 'unconventional' proprietor. John Cleese and his then wife Prunella Scales (Polly) returned to stay for inspiration to write the Fawlty Towers series. |
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| Torquay beach |
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| Love a good rust shot - Falmouth |
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| Sandy wants a horsey sculpture like this from Bridport driftwood |
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| St Michael's Mount - our English Heritage membership has been fantastic value but this one is National Trust so 8 quid entry |
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| St Michael's Mount castle - lots of tourists and a family still lives in one section |
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| Note the walkway on the RHS that is a path at a lower tide - we paid 2 quid each per trip on a boat to get to the island |
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| St Michael's Mount |
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| Sennen Cove beach |
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| Sennen Cove - nice little coastal town |
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| Lands End - we walked 40 minutes on the coastal path from Sennen Cove where parking was better |
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| Lands End photo spot - only 874 miles (1,407 km) to John o'Groats |
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| St Ives - note all the boats waiting for the tide |
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| Pendennis Castle - Falmouth |
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| Pendennis Castle - loud mock firing of a cannon - Falmouth |
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| Pendennis Castle view over some cannons |
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| Rick Stein's restaurant was superb - Falmouth |
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| The Doc Martin series was filmed in Port Isaac, here Sandy is outside the Doc's house |
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| More coastal path at Port Isaac |
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| The legend of King Arthur lives on - view down the coast from Tintagel Castle |
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| Merlin's cave - Tintagel |
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| Tintagel Castle |
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| Old Post Office - Tintagel |
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| Easy idea for a fountain |
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Couple of surfers with pooch - Bude sunset
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| English staple - interesting presentation using an enamel cup for the chips |
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| Table and chairs made from old tyres - love it |
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| Glastonbury Tribunal |
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| Nice old Glastonbury pub |
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| Glastonbury cafe with the smell of incense in the air and crystals shops, tarot readers and healing centres around every corner |
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| St Andrew's cathedral in Wells |
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