Sunny scenery

June arrived and the weather continued to remain sunny and warm with the odd torrential downpour just to remind us we are in Start Bay Devon and not St Tropez! Mostly the rain has been overnight so it hasn’t interrupted work or play too much.

Jubilee weekend the site was full to capacity for the first time this season with members taking advantage of the extended 4 day Bank holiday. Bunting was hung from every available structure and flapped away welcoming them to partake in bucks fizz and cream teas provided by the Club to mark the celebrations. Several of the surrounding villages were holding events over the four days and thankfully the threatened downpours held off for them to enjoy the celebrations in dry conditions.

Work on site has continued in earnest with the combination of warmth, sunshine and showers  encouraging everything to grow at an alarming rate. The days fly by juggling office paperwork, facility cleaning, site maintenance, grass cutting, departures, arrivals and pitch checking. Whatever the weather the same jobs need doing every day.

We needed to visit a major town to access banks and shops that are non existent in rural Devon so headed out to Plymouth for a spot of retail therapy. The city is just over an hours drive from Start Bay and there are 3 park and rides situated on the outskirts. We used one on the east side called Coypool which is motorhome friendly with no height barriers. The bus whisked us swiftly into the city and the first stop was right outside the large Drake Circus shopping centre. We got off here not knowing where else to and walked through the retail centre out onto the vast pedestrianised shopping streets. The bus does stop at several other locations in a big loop around the main shopping area so you can get off or on wherever it suits. After conducting our business at the banks and browsing the big brand shops that we have been denied of the past few months, we made our way to the Hoe. Plymouth Hoe is steeped in history and probably most famous for being where Sir Francis Drake had a game of bowls whilst waiting for the tide to turn before heading out to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588. On the wide green area overlooking Plymouth Sound stands the well known landmark of Smeatons Tower, an iconic red and white striped lighthouse. The lighthouse was originally built on Eddystone Reef in 1759 but was moved stone by stone in the early 1880’s when it was found that the rock it was standing on was crumbling away. It stands 72 feet high and offers views across the Sound and Drakes Island from the restored lantern room at the top.

Below the Hoe is the Tinside Lido an open air Art Deco swimming pool. It is a Grade II listed salt water swimming pool originally constructed in 1935. It closed due to neglect in 1992 but after a campaign and fund raising it was extensively refurbished and reopened again in 2005.

A short walk along the seafront takes you to the Barbican harbour and historic waterfront famed for being the departing point of the Pilgrim Fathers who set sail to discover The New World in 1620. The back streets boast the largest concentration of cobbled streets in Britain and contain 100 listed buildings. Plymouth Gin was founded here, originally the building being a merchants house dating from 1500, it was then a gaol before being remodelled and extended into a distillery in 1793.

Another day out was spent at nearby Buckfast Abbey. The Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine Monastry that was first built on the site in 1018. The site now includes extensive award winning gardens, a conference centre, restaurant, shop and exhibition centre. There is a very peaceful calming ambiance as you stroll around the immaculately kept grounds and the cooling interior of the Abbey itself was very welcome.

Moving on from the Abbey we arrived on Dartmoor, a National Park covering a vast area of central Devon and famous for myths, legends, Sherlock Holmes, a prison and wild roaming ponies. We stopped to admire the far reaching views and enjoy the eerie stillness of the moor and were suddenly surrounded by ponies joining us from all directions clearly interested in what we might be having for our picnic and not at all bothered by humans or their vehicles.

National Trust properties are always on my agenda to visit and so we went to Saltram House, Grade II listed Georgian mansion House near Plymouth. It was transferred to NT in 1951 and has since been used in many period dramas and films including Sense and Sensibility in 1995.

Another we visited nearby is Buckland Abbey. Originally built as a Cistercian Abbey in 1278 it was remodelled and converted into a house around 1576. It was then bought by Sir Francis Drake in 1581 and remained lived in by the Drake family until 1946 when it was bought by a local landowner and presented to the National Trust. There is a very interesting Drake interactive exhibition and a ‘lost’ Rembrandt painting on display.

That was our travels in June and there has been plenty more since, so join us in the next blog as the weather hots up in July and we continue to explore Devon.