Category: UK Adventures

Day 5 – Tuesday 14th May 2024- Bodmin Moor – Cornish Staycation.

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After a nice lazy start to the day we set off about 10.30 am for a day out exploring Bodmin Moor and surrounding area………it’s definitely the right time of the year to be in Cornwall, it’s quite quiet, with not too much traffic on the lanes. Driving the Cornwall lanes is not for the faint hearted…they are very narrow with passing places every 50/100 yards or so, steep sides, which although are very pretty, they don’t allow you any chance of seeing oncoming traffic. The locals know the lanes and travel at high speed looking surprised when tourists crawl towards them.

We set off towards Lostwithiel and then turned up left heading for Bodmin town. The hedgerows were really colourful …not just the wild bluebells, bright green ferns,campions, and cowslips but also some purple and pink rhododendrons, pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, and yellow bougainvilleas, pink and orange Azalea Japonicas and even a bottlebrush in flower… what a horticultural show.

It appeared that we were definitely on a ‘Jackson’s Mystery Tour’ , or as John called it today a ‘lost in the middle of nowhere tour’!!! It’s great when you come across small caring communities.

Arriving in Bodmin we went to the preserved railway station. We didn’t intend to go on a steam train today as we had done it the last time we were down…but we did intend to have a wander around the station but there was absolutely no where to park, so we gave it a pass

…..more about it at the end of the week when I’ll post a page of sights and things to do.. We drove up to the Keep which houses The Cornish Army Museum.

……..it looked interesting and we hadn’t been before but once again the parking defeated us and as it was just starting to drizzle we didn’t fancy the town car park and the quite long walk…so on we went….John routed us through more little lanes, small communities before we arrived up on the moors.

They were absolutely beautiful…the yellow gorse, lambs, sheep, highland cattle, calves, and a few ponies all wandering wild…what a picture.

We stopped at Colliford Lake for Coffee, before meandering on. A while later we returned to the lake for our picnic lunch.

With the gale force wind it was not the sort of day to find an big bush!!! so John very obligingly routed us via Jamaica Inn located high on Bodmin Moor by the A30 about midway between Launceston and Bodmin.

The Inn is a traditional inn which was built as a Coaching Inn in 1750, and has a historical association with smuggling. It has been made famous when it became the setting for Daphne Du Maurier’s 1936 novel  Jamaica Inn which is about the nocturnal activities of a smuggling ring. She evidently was inspired into writing it during her stay at the Inn in 1930. Many of her books were set in Cornwall She died from heart failure in her sleep on 19 April 1989, aged 81, at her home in Par, Cornwall.

Jamaica Inn is also referenced in “Jamaica Inn”, a song by Tori Amos…. she is said to have written it while she was driving along the cliffs in Cornwall, and was inspired by the legend she had heard of the inn. Today the Inn includes a gift shop, farm shop, hotel and restaurant…..it’s name has certainly made it into a very viable business. John treated me to a new Teddy to add to my collection…. We have called him Will, after the Duke of Cornwall !!!!

After leaving Jamaica Inn we headed back to Par, only managed to get lost once….again a lovely day out, seeing some new, old and unexpected sights and scenery. Another night in today…I’ve had to move ‘Stirfry Monday’ to Tuesday this week !!! And yes for once I did remember to bring the wok!!

Day 4 – Monday 13th 2024- Par to Exeter – Cornish Staycation

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After 3 magnificent days of dawn to dusk sunshine we got up today to find the weather forecast, for once, was correct…drat…. It was chilly and pouring it down with very heavy rain….. but it’s ok because our Entertainments Manager – John ( I am the planner, booker and driver and Dad is the navigator!!), had it all under control. He decided that today was a good day to take the train through to Exeter and back via a stop at Plymouth. It’s a great sightseeing trip even in the rain and it kept us warm and dry.
We took the car to Par station… lazy yes!, as it’s only 0.5 miles away from where we are staying. However it was definitely the dryer option. I dropped John and Dad at the station and went in search of somewhere to park…. Rather crazy most of the parking spaces are ‘Staff Only’ and the little carpark at the end of the road is also ‘Staff Only’ … that leaves a couple of disabled parking bays and 8 bays for rail users!!! (There are 3 times more than that for Staff!!). Every available bay was full except of course the staff and disabled bays which were totally empty …. Rant over!!!… so I drove out and parked behind another rail user in the road behind the pub, I then followed him down the footpath to the station… so I did manage not to drown !!! John had purchased the tickets at about £24 each and his was around £16 with a rail card … day returns were cheaper than Rover tickets on this occasion.
We took the slower stopping train to Plymouth. There were some lovely views albeit through the rain splattered window.

We were a few minutes late getting into Plymouth but the connecting train to Exeter was being held. So we dodged the rain and boarded it. The next part of our journey is fairly spectacular, even through the wet train windows. From Teignmouth along to Dawlish the train runs parallel to the sea front. We were fortunate that the tide was in and the spray was splashing over the sea wall … lovely sight.

On arriving in Exeter Dad and I bolted for Starbucks.. a coffee was required… pleased to say we both gave it a 8/10 … so very acceptable.

We stopped about an hour at St David’s Station, Exeter, before retracing our train rides back to Par. Somewhere around Lostwithiel it finally stopped raining, but most the beautiful scenery had been passed. It was nice to get off the train and all of us walk in the dry back up to the car. The good thing about renting a house is that tonight we are staying in. Supper will be lasagne with fresh spinach, followed by Ginger pudding, which was kindly given to us for our trip by a good friend in Dads village. We will probably play Rummikub, and try to get our own back on Dad who won both hands last night, and watch quizzes on the TV and look forward to more exciting adventures tomorrow.

Day 3 – Sunday 12th May 2024- Par, Cornish Staycation.

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Big shout out to Pendeen Holiday House….lovely comfy beds, windows which open to allow air in and heat out and a shower powerful enough to easily get shampoo out of hair!!!! The former and later are rarities in many holiday home rentals……so a great nights sleep and a slow leisurely breakfast. After which we drove around to Snowlands fishing lakes……we were walking down memory lane as John and I used to bring the motorhome/RV here. We had a nice walk around one of the lakes, seeing some Canadian goose goslings, late bluebells and lovely yellow irises.

We had already decided to have a slow day. So after our walk we dropped John at the Roselyn Bus garage so he could take some photos for his flicker transport site, and we nipped to the CoOp to get Dads paper and a small bag of sugar for his coffee, as I’d forgotten to order it. We drove on around to the St Blazey level crossing so John could take a photo of an unusual working….it was a little late but both Dad and John enjoyed seeing it.

Then it was time for the beach…..we parked up at Par beach and walked over the dunes onto the beach…it is always good seeing the sea and people enjoying the sand, sea, paddle boards etc makes you realise that Summer is well on its way…we’ve had 3 marvellous days of sun.

We stopped at the Cognitive Coffee bar in the beach car park……we all had Americano Coffees….unfortunately the warm brown water scored very lowly on our usual ‘how many out of 10’ coffee tasting….. Dad gave it a generous 4/10 and John gave it 1/10…I refused to be drawn because you can’t give a negative score !!!!! At £9.30 for 3 cups of dishwater we defiantly felt had!!
We had booked Sunday Lunch at The Welcome Inn in Par….it’s diagonally opposite to Pendeen House and we soon learnt that they are the owners of the Holiday Rental. I was delighted to see a whole array of ciders on tap…..I don’t usually drink but I occasionally have a nice cider and their Thatchers Gold Cider was delicious. We had a choice of 3 different roasts…Lamb, Turkey or Beef…we all opted for beef….Dad had what was called a small plate for £9.00 and John and I had Standard plates at £11.00……it was a real feast…I think I counted 10 different vegetables plus the meat, Yorkshire pudding and stuffing…..all beautifully cooked. Absolutely full to bursting we waddled back to the house for a lazy, sleepy afternoon and maybe a game of Rummikub later…if we can be bothered!!!

What a lovely relaxing day we have had ….more planned for tomorrow.

Day 2 – Saturday 11th 2024 – Arriving in Cornwall

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We woke up in The Premier Inn Frome after all of us having a hot and sweaty night……don’t start me off about the legislation which prevents hotels from having windows which open to let air in…..grrrrr….anyway at 8.30 John had walked to Gregg’s Bakery and purchased 3 ‘bacon butties’ and we were all sat in our room eating them and drinking coffee……we don’t go to restaurants for breakfasts when we have a long drive ahead of us…we prefer a light bite and off we go.

We decided to stick to the ‘A’ roads as much as possible and only use the M5 to scoot around the edge of Exeter. It was a very scenic drive…we took the road towards Glastonbury before branching of to Bruton, small town famous for its Private Schools. It has two longstanding secondary schools- Kings School founded in 1519 and Sexey’s School founded in 1889. The later was named after Hugh Sexey who was born locally and attended Bruton Grammar School and was Royal Auditor to both Queen Elisabeth I and King James I. We off course passed the usual crude jokes with regard to the name of the school !!!. On entering the town one is struck by the splendour of St Mary’s Church which dominates the centre of the town.

Following this town we joined the A303 into Devon, and went on the infamous Honiton bypass. We then detoured off the A30 ……Devon and Cornwall don’t have motorways traversing their counties but the A30 is of a motorway standard in all ways except name.

Our detour took us into the village of Ottery St. Mary. Here we visited the garden centre. It’s well know to Dad who often visits it when staying with my sister who lives in Devon. We had a nice coffee and stretched our legs, before carrying on.

As we left the village a long convoy of assorted cars in all shapes and sizes.

We continued on through some typically Cornish lanes….very narrow, with passing spaces and high banked sides…the banks at this time of years are filled with beautiful wild flowers……so a very picturesque trip.

We stopped in Liskeard to pick up a picnic lunch and sat at the station to eat it. The station is always a pleasant place to be….the mainline trains arrive on the two main platforms with the branch line train to Looe departing from platform 3 which is at right angles and across the road from the main lines.
After lunch we continued to Par. We picked up the keys of the house from a prearranged point and found it easily enough (might have been easier if I hadn’t mixed up my 6 & 9 !!!!). The house is very nice, it could easily sleep 6 …..it consists of a lounge, dinning room, well equipped Kitchen, 2 bedrooms with King Size beds and one with twin beds and two bathrooms, a conservatory and a garden. I booked it through http://www.sykescottages.co.uk. This is a company we have often used to book holiday accommodation . It was £800 for the week. The welcome pack was very nice. We had arranged for a Tesco food and household goods delivery an hour after our arrival. So we are now all set for a very comfortable week.

Cornwall Staycation…..Day 1 – The Journey!!

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We are off for a weeks holiday in Cornwall, the southwesterly tip of England. It is one of our favourite holiday destinations when we are staying in our home country. Before the pandemic we just called it a holiday now we call it by the rather grandiose name of a ‘Staycation’ !

We set off from home this morning and drove across to my 93 year old Dads house to pick him up. We had an extra companion today as dad has purchased ‘Little Betty’ ( a fold up, pull along one piece mobility scooter), and she sat proudly next to him on the back seat. How we fitted the usual amount of luggage in as well as Little Betty is beyond me…but with a fair amount of pushing and shoving and a few choice words we finally shut all the doors and set off at 10.00 am.

We made good progress with very few hold-ups, on a road much travelled by us. Heading straight through Bicester and on to the A34 then turning to Swindon on the A420. There is a delightful restaurant and Motel called Mollies, on this road. A room would cost you about £75.00 per night….but I am ashamed to say we only usually stop to use their very plush facilities!!!
On reaching Swindon we joined the M4 west towards Bristol exiting at junction 17. From here we took the A350 signposted to Poole, bi-passing Chippenham and through Melksham towards Westbury. Dad likes going this way as he had 6 weeks training in Melksham when he was drafted to the RAF for his National Service in 1955 until 1957. We are always interested when Dad talks about his past….his actual main posting was at RAF Upwood, near Ramsey. We’ve taken him to visit this now derelict shell, which has been vandalised and graffitied all over….Anyway I digress……..When we got close to Westbury we wound our way down a farm track and parked up near the railway line….this is a spot we know well and have spent many a relaxing day with John photographing trains and Dad and myself enjoying the beauty of the unspoiled countryside around us…….we were actually here when I read on my iPad, the up to date news, that Boris Johnson was putting the country in lockdown……we had to race back to our hotel and pack up and drive the 3.5 hours journey home….again I digress… today we sat and had coffee and our sandwiches, enjoying watching my dearest husbands jubilation at photographing a few trains he hasn’t already seen this year.

I also decided to book us into a rather quirky hotel on our return journey. John and I had stayed at The School House and Restaurant at Wootton Bassett a few years ago and decided Dad really ought to share the experience…..I won’t tell you all about it now but I will say it really is a good stop over, lovely rooms, great food and superb hosts and I include the dog in that!!!! I tried phoning to make the reservation but had to leave a message……more on this in a minute or two……

We continued our trip on to Westbury Station, John likes it there as there are usually freight locos stabled up. Today was no exception. We dropped him off and he said he’d phone when he was ready to be picked up.

Dad and I drove around to a small Youth Sailing lake and watched the boats and enjoyed seeing the very young goslings. On returning to the drop off area of the station the phone rang and thinking it was John I answered in my best Policeman Plod voice “Hello! Hello! Hello!”. I was absolutely flabbergasted when a female voice laughingly replied “Hello! Hello! Hello!”, ….oh dear … I felt obliged to explain that I thought she was my husband calling to be picked up…..Dad was laughing his socks off…..needless to say it was the owner of the School House Hotel. Yes! I think she thought I was totally mad….but she took our booking £76.60 per night for a double room bed and breakfast, she also booked us a table in the restaurant. We will look forward to this as the last night of our holiday.

I had just finished my conversation with her and John walked out of the station saw us and once again we were on our way. This time only a few miles to Frome where we are staying overnight in The Premier Inn. Again we’ve stayed here several times before, it’s comfortable and a convenient stopover as Cornwall is really too far for us to drive in one go, it also has a “Beefeater” next to it and at £75.00 a night per room -room only, you can’t really go far wrong. A bit of a tip about Premier Inns if you have a request like us :- two ground floor rooms next to each other, you need to phone them directly and request it with your booking number, because if you fill it in on the special request form when you book it goes no further than Central reservations….. the actual hotel can’t see your online special requests….anyway, there was a lift and the receptionist did manage to get the rooms just one room apart so we were grateful…we were also grateful that she told us why our request hadn’t been honoured…this isn’t the first time Premier Inn hasn’t honoured our requests so at least now we know why….Nice rooms but be warned..no air conditioning and the windows only opens a couple of inches…..

Tomorrow we go to the house, in Par, Cornwall, which we have hired for the week …