Coddiwomple Stardate 181217
Sunday after a slow morning from the cocktail party the previous night we made our way to Dover. When we picked up the hire car, we have always paid for the extra insurance to cover damage to the vehicle. They also have another insurance that covers you for tyre, windscreen, loss of keys & breakdown service. It is another $11 a day. I have never worried about it before. We were told if we damage a windscreen it would cost us $1900 to replace. Which is 3x the price in Australia. I decided to take out the extra cover. 30mins into our trip there is a loud bang as a stone bounces of the windscreen and leaves a nice divot on the drivers side.
We arrived in Dover about four hours after leaving Bournemouth. Not an exciting drive it was all on motorways. We parked out the front of the hotel which is right on Dover's main beach. Went inside to see if they had any free parking available which they did out the back and over the road behind buildings. We were given a parking permit for our next two days.
Monday, I left Sharon in the hotel and walked over the road to the beach, My first ever stone beach in the UK. The stones are mainly a brown shade and 30 - 40mm in size larger than I was expecting. You would want a good mat under you if you lied down on the beach. At least you don't have to worry about getting sand everywhere. From the beach you could see Dover Castle and the White Cliffs of Dover. There was a memorial to the evacuation of Dunkirk where the volunteer vessels had returned to Dover.
We walked to Dover Castle. I knew it was closed. It only opens on weekends now. I was hoping to at least walk around the castle wall. Unfortunately there is no path. After walking up hundreds of steps a guard who stopped us said all we could do was go to the white cliffs. We went back to the hotel and picked up the car.
After paying our entrance fee to the National Trust we parked the car and waited for the now heavy rain to pass. We had not prepared for the rain. The weather forecast was wrong again. When it finally lightened up we made our way to the top of the White Cliffs of Dover. There is a path that takes you along the top of the cliffs to a lighthouse then another one further away from the cliffs you can return on. The track started off in good condition and then quickly deteriorated into a quagmire. I never expected to be doing a Tough Mudder Course at the top of the White Cliffs of Dover. I thought with all the people who come here surely the infrastructure would be better than this. There were so many paths that people have made over time to avoid the mud that it just scars the whole area. I was disappointed in the cliffs. I have always seen pictures of pure white cliffs with nice grassy fields leading up to the cliff edges. Here we were faced with mud, weeds and dirty white cliffs. Further along on our way to the lighthouse there are steps shown on their map where you can walk down to a beach. Sharon didn't go down but I attempted them. There were no steps but it was a well worn path that was very slippery with a very rickety steel rail to hang onto parts of the way. I'm glad Sharon didn't attempt it. After all my cursing and extreme caution I finally layed eyes on the beach. I come across a sign that says path closed due to cliff collapse. I could see the pathway ahead, indeed it had collapsed. Why couldn't they have put the warning sign at the beginning of the path which would of saved all of my misery. After making it back up and through more mud we came across the old World War II tunnels built into the cliffs. You can arrange at the information centre to be taken through with volunteers. The entrances had been closed over in the 1970's. Up until 2012 all the area was privately owned. The National Trust now own this area and have dug out the tunnels and opened them up to the public. The National Trust has plans to re-grass the area and put in new pathways and open up more WWII history in the area. So given enough time the area will be a fantastic area to explore. Just not now. We then made our way to the Lighthouse and back on the other path. Although you cannot see the cliffs from this path it is bitumen part of the way back to the entrance then changes to a gravel path before back to mud and slush. It started pouring with rain then. By the time we made it back to the car we were soaked.
Tuesday we spent more time around Dover. First stop was St. Margaret's at Cliffe. This is just North of Dover past the main cliff area. It was a nice area where you can walk along the stone beach to the white cliffs. With signs warning you of imminent death was a bit off putting though. We then drove back into Dover and went for a walk in Russel Gardens. The gardens are opposite the old Kearnsey Abbey. There is not much of the Abbey left just a few stone walls. Russel gardens was designed by Edwardian Architect Thomas Mawson. There is a stream running through with nice walks. The gardens are very run down but have received a A$5,830,000 UK lottery grant that should bring it back to it's former glory.
As we were leaving Dover and headed south we drove through a tunnel and came out at Sapphire Hoe on the coast. I had no idea what this area was. It just showed as a park on my offline maps. It ended up being 75 acres of land that had been carefully sculptured by the tailing's being dug out for the Euro Tunnel. There has never been any planting of grasses but now everything is covered by grassland. There is a massive concrete sea wall that is 1.7km long that holds back the ocean and keeps the hoe from being washed back into the sea. It was a glorious day which we took advantage of as we walked through all the grazing cows & sheep on well maintained pathways through the paddocks and then back along the seawall.
As we made our way to Hastings for the night and directing Sharon through random roads we came across a Battle of Britain Memorial. It was a very well thought out area. There was lots of information to read. They had a full size replica of a Hurricane & Spitfire plane on display, a marble wall with all the people killed defending Britain during the battle of Britain and a central memorial with a propeller layed out in brick that needs to be viewed from the air. All the displays are outside and accesible from the payed parking area.
Our next random spot was Winchelsea Beach. Although it was only 3.00pm there already was a sunset. The beach is all stone but being low tide you can walk on what looks more like mud flats. There is remnants of old pylons everywhere and we just loved wandering around here.
We reached Hastings just after 4.00pm which is dark by then. We finally found a parking spot within close proximity to our accommodation that night. We fed the parking meter with what coins we had left from feeding all the other meters during the day. We found the accommodation and asked if they had parking available. They had underground parking for $3.50 which would cover us until 11.00am the next day. Or park in the street that had spaces available right out the front. We moved the car to the front of the hotel. Free parking started at 6.00pm to 9.00am in the morning. We only had enough coins to pay until 5.40pm. After settling in the hotel we went to the shops to buy some food and get more coins for the parking meter. After returning to pay for more parking the machine was broken. We had to walk back to where we had parked originally and pay 35c which gave us parking to 9.06am in the morning.
Wednesday we put all our luggage in the car and decided to leave it there and walk around Hastings. We needed to pay for more parking. I went around the corner this time for a payment machine and the parking was three times more expensive. I went back to the original machine and payed for three hours. There was $6 difference between streets.
We walked to Old Hastings Town then up the cliff to where the battle of Hastings was fought between the English and the Norman army controlled by William the Conqueror in 1066. Then back to the car and drove to Alexander Park for a walk before leaving Hastings and headed onto Brighton for the night.
Again driving random roads we stopped at Pevensey on the coast. We found another castle to check out. The walls were believed to be built originally for Roman defences in 290AD. William the Conqueror increased the existing defences inside the Roman walls in 1066 and is what you see today. The castle was closed during the week but you still could walk around inside the Roman walls and view the outside of the castle. We met a volunteer from the National Trust who gave us information about the castle and other things to do. We mentioned we were staying in Brighton that night. All she could say about Brighton was how congested and expensive the town was.
Our next random stop was Beachy Head. This land was set aside in 1920 to stop development along the coast. It is used for farming and many walk trails. We came across a lighthouse and asked Sharon to stop so we could walk up the cliff to get a view. Once again you have to pay for parking even though it is just a random muddy pull over bay on the side of the road. We used the parking ticket which we purchased in the town of Eastbourne where we had lunch. As we started to walk towards the lighthouse we looked back down the coast. Here were the very white cliffs and green grassland right up to the edge of the cliffs I had seen in photographs about Dover. I googled images of Dover and here were the cliffs we were looking at 120km away from Dover. We have seen so many well known sites in the world it still amazes me when you realise what gets used for advertising an area happens not to be near the area they are trying to promote. We gave up on the lighthouse and walked towards the cliffs. One fascinating thing about the lighthouse is that they built new foundations so they could drag the existing lighthouse 55ft away from the cliff edge due to erosion. Something they expect to do again in the future.
When we reached Brighton about 4.30pm it was dark and very wet. We managed to park on the road opposite our hotel for the night which once again was right on the beach. I got out of the car expecting only to pay until 6.00pm like everywhere else we had been. Brighton's free parking starts after 8.00pm. Parking was $5.25 an hour. Sharon walked over to the hotel to see if they had parking available. When she came back she wasn't very happy. They wanted to charge $31 for their car park. When she told them it was an exorbitant amount their reaction was very condescending. Welcome to Brighton. We decided to leave the car where it was and just pay for street parking. By now we only had to pay for 3 hours. Because we didn't have enough coins to pay the meter we had to use our credit card. You can only purchase time in 2 hour blocks. So street parking cost us $20.
With half an hour left in our parking spot on Thursday morning we just walked along Brighton Beach. There is plenty of things you could do on the foreshore if it was summer. I just could not imagine myself here at that time of the year. The traffic along the coast this time of the year in winter was horrific.
I have mentioned the use of Wikicamps throughout our trip. It is a user data base of camping, accommodation and points of interest. We have not found it useful in the UK. People have added camping areas but being Winter they now are mainly closed. Not many people have added points of interest. What I have noticed is people have added where free parking is and toilets. Most toilets we have found are also closed for winter. So a good data base of where toilets are and free parking is handy. I headed to one of the free parking areas a multistory car park in Brighton Marina Village. Free parking for four hours what a bonus. After parking the car we headed for the under the cliff walk. More chalk cliffs with a seawall to stop erosion. The walk is along the seawall with a heavy swell breaking over the wall. Sharon thought it was a good idea to stand near the edge of the wall to be soaked. After a few photos one extremely wet Sharon and one very wet Nikon we continued our walk.
After leaving Brighton we headed to Portsmouth where we stayed the night. After looking at the map I didn't realise Portsmouth is an island. It's connected by three road bridges. We arrived too early to check in for our accommodation and we headed to Southsea in Portsmouth. We filled in time by walking past the Pier and Southsea Castle. Southsea Castle was commissioned by Henry VIII in 1544 and is a artillery fort rather than a castle. it was built to protect against invasion by the French and the Holy Roman Empire. The closest the French managed was the Isle of Wight.
Friday and it was time to catch the ferry across to Isle of Wight. It should of only been a 15min journey to the ferry from our accommodation. Unfortunately England is like the US traffic congestion and people wherever you go. We found Scotland & Wales far less hectic which is why we probably enjoyed them more. Our 15min trip turned into a 30min trip which I allowed for and gave us enough time to catch the car ferry. It was a wet windy day but not enough to cancel the ferry's. It is only a 45min trip to the Isle of Wight and given how strong the wind was it was a smooth crossing.
When we drove off the ferry we decided to drive around the island in a clockwise direction and follow the coast. Our first thought of Isle of Wight is that it looks exactly like England and we never left the main land. Most places are closed for Winter including the toilets. We came across a small village that had all thatched roofs. There were tea houses, pubs and a Christmas shop. After finally finding somewhere to park we walked into the village. The Tea Room Sharon wanted to go to was shut for winter so she had to make do with the Christmas shop. It was too early for the pubs. From here I decided to head for our accommodation for the next two nights again following the coast.
Our accommodation was a small inn. After we had lunch there we left the car at the Inn and walked to The Needles. It was only a 3km walk. Reading the reviews most of the comments were complaining at how expensive the parking was if you were only there for a short visit.
The Needles are on the furthest western part of the island. They are a series of chalk pinnacles going out into the ocean. Before walking out to the peninsular there is a fun park area with a chairlift going down to the beach. The winds were that strong the lift wasn't working. Reading about the needles I expected the chair lift too allow you to get down to the beach and a short walk to reach the needles. Advertising shows the chair lift in the foreground with the needles in close proximity to being able to walk there. In reality the chairlift is a long way from the needles and impossible to walk there on the beach. We did walk out to the needles along the cliff top. At the end there is an old Victorian Fort that was closed but still gave you the closest look of the needles.
We timed our visit to Isle of Wight because Sharon wanted to go on a steam train ride. It only opens on weekends in winter. When we bought our tickets we realised it was all a Christmas themed event. Which only added to Sharon's enjoyment. When we arrived at Isle of Wight Steam Railway we realised it was going to be more than just the train ride. There is only 5 miles of remaining steam railway line that dates back to 1862. The whole lot would of disappeared when the line shut down in 1966 if not for three teenage friends in the late 1960's who wanted to keep steam alive. It now is a multi award winning heritage railway.
Being a special event they had a three piece brass band playing Christmas songs, there was Father Christmas who gave out great toys to all the children, muled wine and white wine with a fruit mince pie, rides, magic show and bird show all included with your train fare. There are also two museums and displays showing you the restoration process for carridges. We both had a great time here far more than we were expecting.
Sunday and time to get back on a ferry again. This time we caught the ferry to Lymington to make our way to Exeter for two nights. On the way we stopped at West Bay. This is where the TV series Broadchurch was filmed. We walked along the bottom of the cliffs which are often used as scenes for the show. Then a walk through the town picking out locations we could remember from the series. We are now watching the 3rd season of Broadchurch and love that a lot of the scenes they use we have been too!
Monday, Sharon has always wanted to go to Cornwall. We both thought Cornwall was a town. How wrong were we. Cornwall happens to be a county of south west England. It has its own language just like Scotland and Wales with a population of 561,300. I decided to drive to the NW coast of Cornwall. It seemed to be more of a rugged coast that looks out over the Celtic Sea. Our first stop was the village of Boscastle. It happened to be a very picturesque town on the coast which we enjoyed just strolling around and walking out to the cliffs. Next stop was the legendary birthplace of King Arthur on Tinagel Island.
Again the Island and castle ruins were closed due to some very major overhauls to the footbridge to the island. You can still walk down to the coast and enjoy the rugged coastline. There is one cave which is called Merlin's cave but again not accessible when the island is closed. We then walked back to the village of Tingel to try the world famous Cornish Pastie. There were that many shops selling pasties it was hard to choose one.
Tuesday and time to drive back to Bournemouth and return the hire car before starting our four week housesitt for Rex and Rocco.
We arrived in Dover about four hours after leaving Bournemouth. Not an exciting drive it was all on motorways. We parked out the front of the hotel which is right on Dover's main beach. Went inside to see if they had any free parking available which they did out the back and over the road behind buildings. We were given a parking permit for our next two days.
Monday, I left Sharon in the hotel and walked over the road to the beach, My first ever stone beach in the UK. The stones are mainly a brown shade and 30 - 40mm in size larger than I was expecting. You would want a good mat under you if you lied down on the beach. At least you don't have to worry about getting sand everywhere. From the beach you could see Dover Castle and the White Cliffs of Dover. There was a memorial to the evacuation of Dunkirk where the volunteer vessels had returned to Dover.
We walked to Dover Castle. I knew it was closed. It only opens on weekends now. I was hoping to at least walk around the castle wall. Unfortunately there is no path. After walking up hundreds of steps a guard who stopped us said all we could do was go to the white cliffs. We went back to the hotel and picked up the car.
After paying our entrance fee to the National Trust we parked the car and waited for the now heavy rain to pass. We had not prepared for the rain. The weather forecast was wrong again. When it finally lightened up we made our way to the top of the White Cliffs of Dover. There is a path that takes you along the top of the cliffs to a lighthouse then another one further away from the cliffs you can return on. The track started off in good condition and then quickly deteriorated into a quagmire. I never expected to be doing a Tough Mudder Course at the top of the White Cliffs of Dover. I thought with all the people who come here surely the infrastructure would be better than this. There were so many paths that people have made over time to avoid the mud that it just scars the whole area. I was disappointed in the cliffs. I have always seen pictures of pure white cliffs with nice grassy fields leading up to the cliff edges. Here we were faced with mud, weeds and dirty white cliffs. Further along on our way to the lighthouse there are steps shown on their map where you can walk down to a beach. Sharon didn't go down but I attempted them. There were no steps but it was a well worn path that was very slippery with a very rickety steel rail to hang onto parts of the way. I'm glad Sharon didn't attempt it. After all my cursing and extreme caution I finally layed eyes on the beach. I come across a sign that says path closed due to cliff collapse. I could see the pathway ahead, indeed it had collapsed. Why couldn't they have put the warning sign at the beginning of the path which would of saved all of my misery. After making it back up and through more mud we came across the old World War II tunnels built into the cliffs. You can arrange at the information centre to be taken through with volunteers. The entrances had been closed over in the 1970's. Up until 2012 all the area was privately owned. The National Trust now own this area and have dug out the tunnels and opened them up to the public. The National Trust has plans to re-grass the area and put in new pathways and open up more WWII history in the area. So given enough time the area will be a fantastic area to explore. Just not now. We then made our way to the Lighthouse and back on the other path. Although you cannot see the cliffs from this path it is bitumen part of the way back to the entrance then changes to a gravel path before back to mud and slush. It started pouring with rain then. By the time we made it back to the car we were soaked.
Tuesday we spent more time around Dover. First stop was St. Margaret's at Cliffe. This is just North of Dover past the main cliff area. It was a nice area where you can walk along the stone beach to the white cliffs. With signs warning you of imminent death was a bit off putting though. We then drove back into Dover and went for a walk in Russel Gardens. The gardens are opposite the old Kearnsey Abbey. There is not much of the Abbey left just a few stone walls. Russel gardens was designed by Edwardian Architect Thomas Mawson. There is a stream running through with nice walks. The gardens are very run down but have received a A$5,830,000 UK lottery grant that should bring it back to it's former glory.
As we were leaving Dover and headed south we drove through a tunnel and came out at Sapphire Hoe on the coast. I had no idea what this area was. It just showed as a park on my offline maps. It ended up being 75 acres of land that had been carefully sculptured by the tailing's being dug out for the Euro Tunnel. There has never been any planting of grasses but now everything is covered by grassland. There is a massive concrete sea wall that is 1.7km long that holds back the ocean and keeps the hoe from being washed back into the sea. It was a glorious day which we took advantage of as we walked through all the grazing cows & sheep on well maintained pathways through the paddocks and then back along the seawall.
As we made our way to Hastings for the night and directing Sharon through random roads we came across a Battle of Britain Memorial. It was a very well thought out area. There was lots of information to read. They had a full size replica of a Hurricane & Spitfire plane on display, a marble wall with all the people killed defending Britain during the battle of Britain and a central memorial with a propeller layed out in brick that needs to be viewed from the air. All the displays are outside and accesible from the payed parking area.
Our next random spot was Winchelsea Beach. Although it was only 3.00pm there already was a sunset. The beach is all stone but being low tide you can walk on what looks more like mud flats. There is remnants of old pylons everywhere and we just loved wandering around here.
We reached Hastings just after 4.00pm which is dark by then. We finally found a parking spot within close proximity to our accommodation that night. We fed the parking meter with what coins we had left from feeding all the other meters during the day. We found the accommodation and asked if they had parking available. They had underground parking for $3.50 which would cover us until 11.00am the next day. Or park in the street that had spaces available right out the front. We moved the car to the front of the hotel. Free parking started at 6.00pm to 9.00am in the morning. We only had enough coins to pay until 5.40pm. After settling in the hotel we went to the shops to buy some food and get more coins for the parking meter. After returning to pay for more parking the machine was broken. We had to walk back to where we had parked originally and pay 35c which gave us parking to 9.06am in the morning.
Wednesday we put all our luggage in the car and decided to leave it there and walk around Hastings. We needed to pay for more parking. I went around the corner this time for a payment machine and the parking was three times more expensive. I went back to the original machine and payed for three hours. There was $6 difference between streets.
We walked to Old Hastings Town then up the cliff to where the battle of Hastings was fought between the English and the Norman army controlled by William the Conqueror in 1066. Then back to the car and drove to Alexander Park for a walk before leaving Hastings and headed onto Brighton for the night.
Again driving random roads we stopped at Pevensey on the coast. We found another castle to check out. The walls were believed to be built originally for Roman defences in 290AD. William the Conqueror increased the existing defences inside the Roman walls in 1066 and is what you see today. The castle was closed during the week but you still could walk around inside the Roman walls and view the outside of the castle. We met a volunteer from the National Trust who gave us information about the castle and other things to do. We mentioned we were staying in Brighton that night. All she could say about Brighton was how congested and expensive the town was.
Our next random stop was Beachy Head. This land was set aside in 1920 to stop development along the coast. It is used for farming and many walk trails. We came across a lighthouse and asked Sharon to stop so we could walk up the cliff to get a view. Once again you have to pay for parking even though it is just a random muddy pull over bay on the side of the road. We used the parking ticket which we purchased in the town of Eastbourne where we had lunch. As we started to walk towards the lighthouse we looked back down the coast. Here were the very white cliffs and green grassland right up to the edge of the cliffs I had seen in photographs about Dover. I googled images of Dover and here were the cliffs we were looking at 120km away from Dover. We have seen so many well known sites in the world it still amazes me when you realise what gets used for advertising an area happens not to be near the area they are trying to promote. We gave up on the lighthouse and walked towards the cliffs. One fascinating thing about the lighthouse is that they built new foundations so they could drag the existing lighthouse 55ft away from the cliff edge due to erosion. Something they expect to do again in the future.
When we reached Brighton about 4.30pm it was dark and very wet. We managed to park on the road opposite our hotel for the night which once again was right on the beach. I got out of the car expecting only to pay until 6.00pm like everywhere else we had been. Brighton's free parking starts after 8.00pm. Parking was $5.25 an hour. Sharon walked over to the hotel to see if they had parking available. When she came back she wasn't very happy. They wanted to charge $31 for their car park. When she told them it was an exorbitant amount their reaction was very condescending. Welcome to Brighton. We decided to leave the car where it was and just pay for street parking. By now we only had to pay for 3 hours. Because we didn't have enough coins to pay the meter we had to use our credit card. You can only purchase time in 2 hour blocks. So street parking cost us $20.
With half an hour left in our parking spot on Thursday morning we just walked along Brighton Beach. There is plenty of things you could do on the foreshore if it was summer. I just could not imagine myself here at that time of the year. The traffic along the coast this time of the year in winter was horrific.
I have mentioned the use of Wikicamps throughout our trip. It is a user data base of camping, accommodation and points of interest. We have not found it useful in the UK. People have added camping areas but being Winter they now are mainly closed. Not many people have added points of interest. What I have noticed is people have added where free parking is and toilets. Most toilets we have found are also closed for winter. So a good data base of where toilets are and free parking is handy. I headed to one of the free parking areas a multistory car park in Brighton Marina Village. Free parking for four hours what a bonus. After parking the car we headed for the under the cliff walk. More chalk cliffs with a seawall to stop erosion. The walk is along the seawall with a heavy swell breaking over the wall. Sharon thought it was a good idea to stand near the edge of the wall to be soaked. After a few photos one extremely wet Sharon and one very wet Nikon we continued our walk.
After leaving Brighton we headed to Portsmouth where we stayed the night. After looking at the map I didn't realise Portsmouth is an island. It's connected by three road bridges. We arrived too early to check in for our accommodation and we headed to Southsea in Portsmouth. We filled in time by walking past the Pier and Southsea Castle. Southsea Castle was commissioned by Henry VIII in 1544 and is a artillery fort rather than a castle. it was built to protect against invasion by the French and the Holy Roman Empire. The closest the French managed was the Isle of Wight.
Friday and it was time to catch the ferry across to Isle of Wight. It should of only been a 15min journey to the ferry from our accommodation. Unfortunately England is like the US traffic congestion and people wherever you go. We found Scotland & Wales far less hectic which is why we probably enjoyed them more. Our 15min trip turned into a 30min trip which I allowed for and gave us enough time to catch the car ferry. It was a wet windy day but not enough to cancel the ferry's. It is only a 45min trip to the Isle of Wight and given how strong the wind was it was a smooth crossing.
When we drove off the ferry we decided to drive around the island in a clockwise direction and follow the coast. Our first thought of Isle of Wight is that it looks exactly like England and we never left the main land. Most places are closed for Winter including the toilets. We came across a small village that had all thatched roofs. There were tea houses, pubs and a Christmas shop. After finally finding somewhere to park we walked into the village. The Tea Room Sharon wanted to go to was shut for winter so she had to make do with the Christmas shop. It was too early for the pubs. From here I decided to head for our accommodation for the next two nights again following the coast.
Our accommodation was a small inn. After we had lunch there we left the car at the Inn and walked to The Needles. It was only a 3km walk. Reading the reviews most of the comments were complaining at how expensive the parking was if you were only there for a short visit.
The Needles are on the furthest western part of the island. They are a series of chalk pinnacles going out into the ocean. Before walking out to the peninsular there is a fun park area with a chairlift going down to the beach. The winds were that strong the lift wasn't working. Reading about the needles I expected the chair lift too allow you to get down to the beach and a short walk to reach the needles. Advertising shows the chair lift in the foreground with the needles in close proximity to being able to walk there. In reality the chairlift is a long way from the needles and impossible to walk there on the beach. We did walk out to the needles along the cliff top. At the end there is an old Victorian Fort that was closed but still gave you the closest look of the needles.
We timed our visit to Isle of Wight because Sharon wanted to go on a steam train ride. It only opens on weekends in winter. When we bought our tickets we realised it was all a Christmas themed event. Which only added to Sharon's enjoyment. When we arrived at Isle of Wight Steam Railway we realised it was going to be more than just the train ride. There is only 5 miles of remaining steam railway line that dates back to 1862. The whole lot would of disappeared when the line shut down in 1966 if not for three teenage friends in the late 1960's who wanted to keep steam alive. It now is a multi award winning heritage railway.
Being a special event they had a three piece brass band playing Christmas songs, there was Father Christmas who gave out great toys to all the children, muled wine and white wine with a fruit mince pie, rides, magic show and bird show all included with your train fare. There are also two museums and displays showing you the restoration process for carridges. We both had a great time here far more than we were expecting.
Sunday and time to get back on a ferry again. This time we caught the ferry to Lymington to make our way to Exeter for two nights. On the way we stopped at West Bay. This is where the TV series Broadchurch was filmed. We walked along the bottom of the cliffs which are often used as scenes for the show. Then a walk through the town picking out locations we could remember from the series. We are now watching the 3rd season of Broadchurch and love that a lot of the scenes they use we have been too!
Monday, Sharon has always wanted to go to Cornwall. We both thought Cornwall was a town. How wrong were we. Cornwall happens to be a county of south west England. It has its own language just like Scotland and Wales with a population of 561,300. I decided to drive to the NW coast of Cornwall. It seemed to be more of a rugged coast that looks out over the Celtic Sea. Our first stop was the village of Boscastle. It happened to be a very picturesque town on the coast which we enjoyed just strolling around and walking out to the cliffs. Next stop was the legendary birthplace of King Arthur on Tinagel Island.
Again the Island and castle ruins were closed due to some very major overhauls to the footbridge to the island. You can still walk down to the coast and enjoy the rugged coastline. There is one cave which is called Merlin's cave but again not accessible when the island is closed. We then walked back to the village of Tingel to try the world famous Cornish Pastie. There were that many shops selling pasties it was hard to choose one.
Tuesday and time to drive back to Bournemouth and return the hire car before starting our four week housesitt for Rex and Rocco.
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