We started the day with breakfast at the River Cottage Kitchen – lovely farm fresh ingrediants. We felt we deserved our breakfast as it was a walk back up the hill to the carpark area where the kitchen is part of the “checkin” aea closer to the main road. So we were also able to walk off our breakfast back doen the hill to packup. This we did and after another Landcruiser pickup we loaded up the car and were on our way.
Day 1 – Our first stop today was Beer – no, not a “hair of the dog” but actually a town called Beer, so we had to stop of course. Unfortunately with a long drive ahead there was no opportunity to “Have a beer, in Beer, at the Barrell of Beer” this time but it was a nice littel town all the same.
We then had quite a long drive to our main stop for the day at Dartmouth. It is a tourist destination on a tidal estuary of the River Dart. It was a base for the US forces in WWII which setoff for Utah Beach on D-Day and much of the area was closed off from the general public during this time. We wandered around the streets which has many old buildings dating back centuries and is said to have been a sailing point for the Crusades in the 12th century as well as a stop off for the Pilgim Farthers in the Mayflower on its way to America. We had some lunch in a small cafe on the rivers edge near were the ferry docks.
We then had a fairly long drive further southwest to reach our destination for the day in Falmouth. Our drive included a few more sections along narrow roads between hedgerows and if I had a dollar for every “Geez” or “Shite” coming from Adrienne as we met oncoming cars I’d have paid for the holiday already ! It is all very matter of fact and you work out who needs to back off or tuck in closer so everyone can pass and you see each other off to the next one with a polite little wave.
We did have another stop on the way, to a little town called Torcross on the English Channel coast. It is the location of a training exercise just prior to the landings on D-Day which turned into a disaster for the US forces stationed there as the operation, “Exercise Tiger” was intercepted by German U-boats and resulted in a large number of deaths. It was designed to be a “dress rehearsal’ for the D-Day landings as the area at Slapton Sands was very similar to the beaches at Normandy. The unexpected assault by the U-boats caused chaos amongst the landing craft involved which further confused the escort ships which started firing at themselves. In 1984, a tank was raised from the ocean floor and now stands as a memorial of the event.
Even the traffic on the “main” roads close to Falmouth itself was pretty slow and it was after 5pm before we finally dropped Erin at her hotel. A road closure meant we had to negotiate a few more narrow streets aroound the town centre before we reached our hotel – The Greenbank Hotel. It was in a great spot on a little bay in the harbour. Erin was further along the harbour front – about a 15 minute walk and she came along to our hotel to have dinner in the pub below our hotel. After dinner we walked her back to her hotel through the streets near the harbour and checked a couple of dinner options for our next night, before making our way back to our hotel and bed.
Day 2 – Our plans for the day were to drive further into the southern “point” of Cornwall. First stop would be the town of St Ives on the western coast of the peninsula. It is another pretty seaside town and getting away early meant we were able to get a good parking spot fairly close to the main part of town. Erin had set herself a “pasty tasting” quest to try the famous Cornish Pasty and amongst the optioins of the oldest, original, best, world famous etc Cornish pasty, St Ives was the starting point. She tried two – and we were happy to help – and the delicate flackie pastry of the 2nd made it an early frontrunner.
Also in St Ives is the gallery of Barbara Hepworth, considered to be one of the leading modernist artists of the 20th century. She moved to St Ives in WWII where she lived until her death in 1975. The home is tucked in amongst the tiny, bust streets of the twon but has lovely gardens with a view of the sea which must have provided her with such inspiration for her work, including some quite amazing sculptures.
After making our way back to the car, with the crowds now ever increasing, we next stopped at the Leach Pottery. It was founded in the 1920’s by Bernard Leach and with others it developed into the centrepiece of “studio pottery” in the UK, still running today. The museum was very good, stepping through the stages of the early life of the studio.
We then headed back across the peninsula to visit the island of St Michaels Mount. Similar to Mont San Michel in France, the Mount is on a rocky island just off the coast with a causeway making it accessible at low tide. At the top of the island is a medieval church and castle. Other access is via small boast. We caught one of the boats across and had lunch on the island at a cafe – Cornish pasties of course ! We then climbed the cobblestone paths up to the castle – still lived in by ancestors of the original owners – the St Aubyn family – since 1650.
We made our way back down by which time the tide had dropped so we could walk back across the causeway.
Heading back to Falmouth, Erin did a little shopping along the harbour front while we had a drink at our hotel overlooking the bay. We met up again for dinner at a tiny restaurant along the harbourfront whihc had been recommended to Erin and was run by one of the local breweries – Verdant Brewing. We sampled a few brews and had some lovely share plates for our dinner. We headed back to our respective hotels in the evening sunshine – making the most of the fine weather as the forecasts ahead didn’t look great !