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Posts Tagged ‘West Country 2016’

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Dawlish Warren across the Exe estuary

On my last day in Exeter I visited Exmouth. I went there by train along the Avocet Line, a slow, gentle dawdle of a train ride along the east shore of the Exe estuary. It takes about 30 minutes or so, and it’s a wonderful short journey, often with good views of the estuary. Away over the other side is another railway line, known locally as the Riviera line. This is the line down to Dawlish Warren and Teignmouth, so whereas the line I was on makes do with early-generation Sprinters (Class 150 for those who wish to know), I could frequently see GWR HST sets pounding alone on the line on the other side of the estuary.

But let’s talk about Exmouth. I found this to be a strange place. (more…)

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I sometimes feel this blog can be a bit “first I did this, then I went there, then I did that”. Well, as such it’s a true record, but not perhaps the most gripping of accounts. So here’s something a bit different – short accounts of encounters I had in Exeter and Topsham yesterday.

indiainajar_3945First up was the chap alongside – Collin Pereira. I met him in a small market area in Exeter. There were 8 or 9 temporary market stands set up, selling fresh produce of various sorts – fresh fish, newly-baked artisan bread, eggs straight from the farm (these included duck eggs and quail eggs), a butcher – you et the picture. Among them was Collin’s stand. His tag is “India in a Jar – with a Dash of Devon!” Basically, he’s selling jars of chutneys and pickles that he’s made (or, given the volume, had made to his recipes), incorporating local produce. He’s a chef. Previously he’s worked in a number of restaurants all over the country, having first come from (I think) Goa. He currently has his own restaurant (in Paignton, I think) but he’s also started this retail business, selling from markets and shows all over south Devon. He was a most charming and friendly man – very entertaining and enthusiastic. We had a couple of conversations. The first was early in the morning when I first saw his stand when I was on my out to do the Roman Walls walk. I promised I’d come back later after my walk and once I’d had the chance to talk to Val. So I went back at lunchtime and we continued our conversation; again, interesting and enthusiastic. I bought a couple of jars – Devon Venison, and Turmeric and Black Pepper. Here’s a link to his Facebook page. I enjoyed meeting him. If the chutneys are good, that’ll be a bonus!

During the morning I had coffee at The Coffee Cellar on Exeter Quay. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that two foreign tourists in succession proffered £50 notes for individual coffees, and the Barista took the notes. I had a short chat with him when I was being served. He was a young man, possibly a student, and he made me an excellent cappuccino. I’ve always seen it done with the chocolate being added at the end, but he didn’t do that. He sprinkled the chocolate on top of the espresso before the milk was added; then he gently poured the hot milk down the side of the cup, thus floating the chocolate on top. Then, by carefully and skilfully pouring the final bit of the milk into the middle of the cup, he made the patterns that we’re all familiar with. Quite the best cappuccino I’ve had, I think. I hope he didn’t get fired for taking the £50s. (more…)

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The River Exe from Topsham

Today was an excellent day. I’ve just about thrown off my cold, and was able to go out and do things today without worrying. And it was warm and mainly sunny – I’ve actually got a bit sun-burned.

This morning I did a guided walk around Exeter, the ‘Roman Walls’ walk. Exeter Information have published three such walks, the others being the Medieval walk and the Woollen walk. All three cover much the same territory – the centre of Exeter isn’t that big – but whereas the focus of the Medieval walk would be the buildings remaining from the middle ages, the Walls walk focused on the remains of the town’s walls. Each studiously ignores content from the other walks, even when they’re right next to each other!

I hadn’t realised that Exeter’s walls were so complete – about 70% of the circuit is still standing. They were Roman in origin, and were subsequently strengthened and re-used by, successively, the Saxons, the Normans, the rulers of medieval England, and were still in use into early modern times – they were still a factor in the defence of Exeter during the Civil War in the 17th century. It was only in the 19th century that objects such as the gates were removed as being no longer useful; indeed, they had become an impediment. One big difference between the Exeter walls and those of York (with which I’m very familiar) is that you can’t walk on the Exeter walls – they’re ruinous, although often very high (3 to 4 metres).

With diversions to see other things that grabbed my attention, this walk occupied me all morning, and was very enjoyable. One other interesting event occurred – I had a coffee in a cafe on the Quay and not just one but two foreign tourists in front of me paid for a coffee (costing a couple of quid) with a £50 note. I’ve never seen one in real life before, but today I saw in the space of two minutes. I mentioned this to the barista and he said the same. He was also worried whether he’d done the right thing – “will I still have a job tomorrow?”

In the afternoon I walked along the Exeter Ship Canal down to Topsham. This was an excellent walk, very peaceful and quiet – well, apart from the roar of traffic on the M5, which runs over the Exe valley on a viaduct. Never mind, the canal (and the river) were beautiful. I crossed the river via the Topsham ferry, which thankfully was still running to its summer timetable; if it hadn’t been it would have been a long walk back to a point where I could cross the river on foot. Then I had some refreshments in Topsham, including a glass of wine – my first drink on this trip. Did it go down well? Oh yes….

 

Then it was back to Exeter on the train. After showering and changing I ate at Café Rouge, and had an excellent Poulet Breton; and another glass of wine.

All in all, an excellent day.

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Exeter Cathedral

Today I travelled to Exeter. This took three hours, by train – they really do go slow through Cornwall. Surprisingly the train was pretty full – there were a lot of passengers getting on and off at all of the little stations.

So I got to Exeter St Davids at lunchtime and decided to walk to my hotel, The White Hart. This was a mistake – it was nearly a mile, with lots of hills, and i was pulling my big suitcase. When I leave on Friday I think I’ll get a taxi.

The White Hart, like the Longboat Inn at Penzance, appeared when I booked it to be a pub with rooms. In the case of the Longboat that was true. I haven’t really mentioned it much, but I wasn’t impressed. I was in a pretty small, poky room, and getting in and out of the bathroom took a fair amount of planning – throw the towels in first, then push the door fully open, step in, shut the door, and you can use the loo….. The White Hart, on the other hand, is both older and newer. Older because the front part of the hotel is a very old inn – allegedly 15th century in places. Newer, because there’s a brand-new accommodation block behind the old part that’s fully up-to-date. Much better – I have a standard, Premier Inn-style room this time.

What about Exeter? Well, I walked up to the Cathedral area (the Cathedral Close) and was suitably knocked out. The Cathedral sits in the middle of the Close so it can be appreciated fully. (This is in contrast to York Minster, say, which is very much hemmed-in by the surrounding buildings.) I took a few photos.

Later I went down to an area called The Quay. This is an area on the River Exe, at the edge of town, where quays were built for boats. Originally the boats came up the Exe but this was blocked by weirs downstream. The citizens of Exeter then built the first canal in England, the Exeter Ship Canal, alongside the river, and terminated it at – the Quay. Initially just handling barges, by the 18th century it was taking sea-going ships. It all fell into decline during the 19th and 20th centuries as ship sizes continued to increase, but in the last 20 or 30 years the whole area has been restored, re-purposed and generally smarted up. Cue brasseries and restaurants in old warehouses, lots of apartments, and general improvement of the area. It looks very good, I have to say, and I went back to one of the pubs for a meal this evening.

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St Ives Harbour

Today I visited St Michael’s Mount which is in Mount’s Bay, just a short distance offshore and about three miles from Penzance. It’s a ‘tidal island’ – that is, it’s only tidal at higher states of tide; at low tide it’s connected to land via a causeway. This is the second such tidal island I’ve visited this year, the other one being Cramond Island.

The weather today, as you’ll see from the images, wasn’t great – grey with slight rain most of the morning. There was a bit of sunshine at about noon, but it didn’t last. In fact the weather was why I had chosen this destination – it promised to be indoors.

I got to Marazion (the village opposite the Mount) by bus – I bought a 1 Day All-destinations ticket on First Kernow buses for £12. I don’t know if I got my money’s worth or not, but it saved some hassle.

Having arrived at Marazion the next task was to get over to the Mount, and this turned to be a bit tricky at that time. The tide was flowing and the causeway was about to become unusable – indeed, it was already awash but some brave (or foolish) souls were still walking across it. Once the causeway was flooded there were boats which, for a fee, would take visitors over. However, although the water was deep enough to cover the causeway it wasn’t yet deep enough to float these boats – or at least, not enough to get them over a sandbar near the mainland shore. The boat I was in hit it quite firmly, the boatman adjusted is controls and waggled the tiller, and we were quickly across. But that was after a delay of about 15 minutes when there were no boats getting across it. (more…)

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I’ve reached the end of my journey. I wasn’t impressed with GWR’s First Class service. When I did the trip to Inverness on Virgin East Coast last year I received plentiful tea and coffee, mineral water, food from a first-class only menu (on which there were some hot choices) and free drinks. And this service continued all the way to Inverness.

On GWR, on the other hand, it seemed that the refreshments were limited to what would have been available in the buffet car. Yes it was free but it didn’t feel special in any way. And no sign of any alcoholic drinks, either. Not that I would have been drinking with this stupid cold, but the offer would have been nice. The final straw was when the catering team de-trained at Plymouth. No at-seat service after that, which was actually another two hours.

I finally arrived at Penzance at 7:40, which was pretty much on time. It was already dark by then, so first impressions were fragmentary. But I liked the look of Penzance station – although small, it looked like the most westwards mail-line terminus in Britain. Three platforms and a simple arched wooden roof made it look distinguished enough. And there was a definite briny smell as soon as I got out of the train.

The hotel is a bit of a shock after years of Premier Inns – a small room over looking the main road. So a bit noisy, or would be be if I could open a window, which I can’t. So definitely hot and probably noisy. Ah well.

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I’ve been using St. Pancras station in Londond for over thirty years, and it used to be a horrible place – old, dark, dirty, and cluttered. When they finished the Channel Tunnel link, however, it became the terminus for trains from Paris and Brussels, and a wholesale refurbishment and restoration was done. Fortunately they kept the best features, e.g. the train shed itself and the hotel at the front. Since then they’ve added more detailed features – the champagne bar, for example – and some extra little touches. One of the best of these are the old pianos that anyone can play. This chap was skilful and I enjoyed his playing for a few minutes before moving on.

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So I’m on my way to Penzance for my trip to the West Country. I’m starting with a train to London after which I’ll savour the delights of Great Western’s first class  service from Paddington to Penzance. I’m going all the way, as they say…

Unfortunately I’m taking a heavy cold with me, which is not so good. And the weather doesn’t look great either – while Sheffield is forecast 25° tomorrow, Penzance will get 16° and heavy rain. And with a cold I won’t even  enjoy just sitting in the pub for the day; so tomorrow may turn out to be a bit of hard work.

Never mind. The weather should be better in Exeter  later in the week and I should be feeling better by then as well.

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