We took a break from the European continent and traveled to Southwest England, a place that has many connections for us through literature. We arrived at the town of Okehapmton at the edge of Dartmoor National Park on a Sunday and had a nice dinner that night at the White Hart Inn, "the only worthwhile eatery in town", according to Janie Ramsay, in whose house we have a lovely and large bedroom.
Janie is a potter and you can see her work at
https://theartonlinegallery.com/artist/janie-ramsay/ Beautiful stuff. We met her often in the kitchen over breakfast or some of our simple salad and pasties dinners. We also joined her at a rehearsal of the West Devon folk choir she is part of and ended up joining their practice session as their choir leader insisted anyone can sing. (
www.wrenmusic.co.uk) This folk choir is only one of the many production of Paul Wilson, a veritable whirlwind of activity, and the choir director.
This beauty of this town in Devon lies in its proximity to Dartmoor and the moors. But here, as in all of England, there are public footpaths in and out of the town and connecting towns to each other that are truly a joy for those of us who like to walk.
The paths that led us to the moors sometimes followed an abandoned railway path, led us to country that was refreshingly rough to us. The castle gardens can get a bit stifling for these two American oldsters. The footpaths go through fields where lambs, cows, and horses graze.
There is evidence of people populating the area of Dartmoor national park since around 3500 BC. Over the centuries, the land was heavily used for many things - agriculture as well as quarries- and eventually, the railways as well. There are some small villages still in existence in the actual park and we visited Princetown, which is dominated by its prison, which has an interesting history. (.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Dartmoor)
A bit of trivia:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Hounds of the Baskervilles at the Duchy Hotel in Princetown.
We spent one day riding around a local bus through the moors and 3 days on the footpaths. The weather in the moors is very changeable. We had wet weather only 1 afternoon despite the fact that this is the most common weather in these parts. One morning I watched a snow shower come down hard and quick and within minutes it was over and the sky cleared. The result was a beautiful sheen on the geraniums and other flowers that are still in bloom.
One beautifully sunny day we walked to the village of Belstone.
A small enclave of thatched roofed cottages with a great pub where we had some warm soup and cheese tart washed down with the local draft beer. It was lunch on a Thursday and the pub was populated by people our age and older. Two tables down was a group of women, probably in their eighties, were having a great time.
This walk was particularly fun as we had to climb over stiles between fields to follow the footpath to the village. At one stile we had to share the steps with a group for very determined Dartmoor ponies.
They can be seen everywhere in the moor and they are very small. They followed us for a while hoping we had something to add to their lunch.
We ended the week at Swanage, in the island of Purbeck, after an absolutely gorgeous bus ride from Exeter along the coast and its many towns. Wymouth, Lyme Regis and a village called Corfe Castle (
Images for village of corfe castle) were some of the most memorable ones.
Actually Purbeck is not an island but a peninsula, and it is quite a majestic place in this season. We are told by some natives that in the summer "it is crowded with folks covered in tattoos". But this weekend, it was just fine.
We walked on the South West Coastal Path which is, according to Wikepedia, England's longest marked long-distance footpath and stretches 630 miles from Poole Harbor in Dorset, near where we are, to Minehead in Somerset, a place we visited many years ago.
A castle, this one a rebuilt one at Durlston, complete with a cafe and an exhibition space featuring local artists. Beautiful work and amazing views of the Isle of Wight and other cliffs.
The sunny day and the views of the sea proofed to be what these travel-tired bones needed.
We ended the day with a trip to the Black Swan Pub. Great atmosphere, cozy fire, fine food and a fun dog. What else could one ask for.
We spent our last day here walking from Studland to Swanage. We wanted to see Old Harry, an outcrop of rocks that is worth walking for, I think you'll agree:
And then we had Cream Tea at a lovely Tea room.
We are winding down our trip. We travel to Paris and meet up with Miguel and Tama on Tuesday and then return to London for a couple of days before we go back to PA. We will be happy to leave our bags in the closet for a while, but I don't know for how long. Traveling is such a learning experience!