South Wales and South West England

Following on from our last blog, we had a few days in Chester catching up on some things like washing. We visited a number of places in North Wales like Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, the Marble Church and the Great Orme headland.

I celebrated my birthday, the first one in 45 years that I have spent with my parents. We went out to lunch at an old English pub with mum and dad, my sister Pauline and her husband, and two of my cousins and their respective spouses. Had a great time over 3.5 hours.

Then it was off on another excursion. We travelled south through mid Wales visiting Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay and then down through the Elan Valley and its many reservoirs and on to Cardiff where we stayed the night. We looked through Cardiff and visited Cardiff Castle

before travelling to the outskirts of Bath to meet a friend of Janice’s and her partner for lunch at a very quaint canal side pub called the George at Bathampton. Janice and Linda had lots to talk about and her partner Peter is a retired policeman so we had something in common to chat about.

It was then off to our overnight stay at Wadebridge in Cornwall, a 3.5 hour journey through some torrential rain. Visibility on the motorway was very poor with spray coming off large trucks and the lashing rain keeping our windscreen wipers on fast speed.  By the time we arrived at our destination it had almost cleared. The B & B was run by a very cheery man who was always laughing and we had a great time there.

The following morning it was off to Port Isaac (or Port Wenn as some of you may know it from the Doc Martin TV series). The day was overcast but not raining. From where we parked the car, it was a steep walk down to the village which is just as quaint as it appears on TV. We found Doc Martin’s house, the school, the shop the series used as the pharmacy and Large’s Restaurant (which is actually a private house). The walk back up to the car was quite an effort and we were exhausted by the time we got there.

(Doc Martin's house is second from right).

We then travelled along the coastal roads of north Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, stopping at the fishing village of Boscastle and having lunch at the picturesque town of Bude. The roads were very narrow with a number of harrowing experiences along the way. At one point we met a truck and had to reverse a considerable distance and fold in the door mirror so it could creep past with millimetres to spare. After travelling through the seaside resort of  Ilfracombe we arrived at the National Trust village of Selworthy with its thatched cottages and very old church. House at Selworthy.

It was then off to the medieval village of Dunster with its narrow streets and character buildings. We arrived at Dunster Castle just too late to see inside but had a look around the outside and gardens.

Then off to Bath where we stayed just outside the city at an old country pub called the Northey Arms. In spite of the age of the place, they had done a marvelous job of modernising the rooms with an enormous en suite bathroom. When we went down to dinner, the restaurant was almost full. We had an excellent meal with a very pleasant bottle of South African wine called “Very Sexy Shiraz”.

The following day it was off to explore bath. We parked the car and travelled into the city by bus. We then boarded the “hop on hop off” tourist bus around the city and surrounds and saw the various places of interest. On our walk around the city centre we visited the ancient Roman Baths (from where the city gained its name) which were very interesting although very crowded. View of River Avon at Bath.

On our way home we called in at Bradford-on-Avon where we had lunch in a 15^th Century teahouse. Photo below.

Being Friday evening the motorways were congested with long delays so we opted for the smaller roads which took longer but at least we kept moving.

Janice – going back to Bath, we walked around the shopping area which is lovely with some very unusual shops.  There was a retro shop which sold board games etc from the 50’s & 60’s, and an old fashioned sweet shop, plus the Sally Lunn house which is the oldest house in Bath.  In NZ we called a boston bun Sally Lunn, and this is where it originated.  We decided not to have lunch there though and opted for Bradford-on-Avon because I had heard it was really pretty and only 20 minutes away.  As Brian said the tea house was extremely old, and it was really quirky with nooks & crannies, plus all the staff had to wear period costumes, i.e. black with a lacy white pinafore over the top and a white cap. 

When we were at Port Isaac I had to pinch myself to make sure I was really there.  When you stand in a certain position and look at the house that was his surgery, and all the other buildings around, it was just amazing.  The sea was really blue and you could see to the bottom.  There were lots of dreadlock men at Port Isaac (fishermen I think).  As you would imagine with a tourist place all the trinkets and other items for sale were very expensive so we left with only our photos. 

Yesterday we went back to our friends in Stiperstones (near Shrewsbury) – I just love it there.  It looks, at first glance, that it only consists of a few houses, a church, a store and a pub, but it’s bigger than that.  Amanda & David live over the road from the pub as we have probably mentioned in a previous blog, and the food there is just sooooo good and cheap.  We had a lovely late, lazy lunch there and finally got home around 7.30pm. 

We are now preparing for our next venture which will be on Wednesday, and we don’t get back to Chester until about Saturday 21^st September, but we will have wi-fi so we’ll be able to continue blogging.