Today was much more beach weather. We walked to the town for another look around and to visit the St Ives Tate Gallery. The beaches definitely looked better, and the tide was in. The beaches at St Ives are actually pretty nice. There is plenty of sand even at high tide and they are quite […]
Day 32: July 22nd
Well we got the full British summer experience today. Unfortunately the excellent views out to sea from the dining room were wasted. However the breakfast is excellent with lots of variety and a great cooked meal selection. We decided to walk down to the town and donned raincoats and borrowed an umbrella from the hotel. […]
Day 31: July 21st
Check outs in the UK are often a very civilised 12 noon and such was the case at the Maltsters Arms. Nevertheless we opted for an early breakfast (they start at 8.30am) and again all enjoyed the scrambled eggs and salmon. Pauline had suggested we do the coastal walk from Looe to Polperro as she […]
Day 30: July 20th
Our second day in Devon with Pauline was a trip up into the Dartmoor National Park for some walking and a picnic. The weather was great for both activities. After a very nice breakfast at the Maltsters Arms (their scrambled eggs with salmon and a wedge of lemon was delicious) we headed first to Totnes […]
Day 29: July 19th
Breakfasts begin at 8.30 at the Maltsters Arms which is very civilised. We had the full English breakfasts (our first for the trip) and then set off with Pauline for a tour around coastal Devon. We were relying on Google maps for direction (as you do) and she directed us left up this road just […]
Day 28: July 18th
We didn’t have to check out until noon so got caught up with some admin and then set off for Devon via some more Cotswold villages. First we went to Upper Slaughter and then to Lower Slaughter but neither had anywhere obvious to park and both were rather more like something out of a film […]
Day 27: July 17th
We didn’t sleep that well but no fault of the room. Mike has a very heavy cold or sinus (definitely weak genes given he’s had an upset stomach, infected tooth, migraine and now cold/sinus in the last 10 days)!I was scared I’d fall down the bathroom steps given my recent bathroom disaster.We had a very […]
Day 26: July 16th
We had a noon check out from our hotel so the intention was to go to the mall when it opened and then set off for the Cotswolds. We headed over to the new mall across the road at 9.45 only to find it looked remarkably closed. That would be because it doesn’t open until […]
Days 10: June 30th; Manchester
Well it is not summery today. We definitely needed jackets when we departed Nottingham at 9am en route to Manchester. Steve and Fiona very kindly had offered to take us back to Manchester so that we can continue with our flight to Dublin. They are also coming to Dublin but will leave from East Midlands […]
Day 9: June 29th
Today we went cycling again in the morning. This time in Nottingham on Steve and Fiona’s non-e-bikes given it’s a pretty flat ride out along the River Trent as far as the water sports centre at a place called Holme Pierrepont. It’s a ride that Fiona does a couple of times a week and is […]
Day 8: June 28th; Rutland Water
Today we headed to England’s smallest county for a cycle trip around the lake. It was warmer but overcast so still great riding weather. This time our hire bikes were from a new range of the Specialised brand and in excellent condition. What a difference! We set off in an anticlockwise direction first of all […]
Day 7: June 27th – Chatsworth
Chatsworth is about a 10 minute drive from the Red Lion and totally deserves its own post. It remains the Duke Devonshire’s home ( well he has recently retired and downsized to a village called Ensor so his son lives there. Doubt the Duke is in a retirement village but you never know). The house […]