18th to 25th February – Devon

Having another week without any medical appointments, we decided to head off to Devon. We rented a mobile home at Harford Bridge on the edge of Dartmoor.  It was the third time as we have rented this particular place and so knew exactly what to expect! The weather was lovely for the journey down and we stopped at the National Trust property at Killerton for a walk and a picnic lunch. Sunday morning was also nice weather and we walked along the road to Peter Tavy and back. At just under 2.5 miles it set us up nicely for lunch with Annie’s sister, Pam and husband Neil at Holsworthy.

On Monday morning we headed off to do one of our favourite walks, Dr Blackall’s Drive.The weather was just right for walking on the edge of Dartmoor and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves particularly as we met not one other walker. We were also very pleased to accomplish the walk without problem as there are three steep and long inclines. The scenery was lovely and although we have shown pictures from the walk previously on the blog this one epitomises the peacefulness of the walk.

The next morning was windy, misty and damp as we set off to do another of our favourite walks at Brentor.  The Church of St. Michael de Rupe (St. Michael of the Rock) on top of the hill was shrouded in mist when we started but as we descended after visiting the church the cloud cleared and the wind dropped. We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the walk.

After a picnic lunch, including hot cup-a-soup, we drove across the moor to Chagford for a short walk down from the town and along the banks of the River Teign. Returning back to the campsite we decided we deserved a meal at the Mary Tavy Inn. Previously a great favourite of ours we were very disappointed with our supper as certain food was not available and what we had, lacked the special wow factor of previous visits. Wednesday saw us drive to Mevagissey for lunch with Dave and Pam Nelmes our Fairford friends who now live in Cornwall. We had a lovely time with them and enjoyed the drive both ways.

On Thursday we headed for Lerryn and another familiar walk to St Winnow. We started off by crossing the stepping stones and then walked through Ethy Woods and along the river bank to the church at St Winnow. The return leg took us across pasture land and over the hills. We are both amazed at the fact that the only place on the walk where we encountered mud (up to our ankles) was going through a gate at the top of a hill. After a picnic lunch at Lerryn, we drove to Fowey and walked along the narrow streets until we found a pasty shop!

On Friday we headed back into Cornwall to do a walk in the grounds of Lanhydrock  House.  We had done the walk a couple of times before but later in the year.  However, we were amazed by the flowers, rhododendron’s, camellias and gorse; the colours made us feel that Spring had arrived.

We were back at Harford Bridge by early afternoon so decided to walk to Mary Tavy over the hills and return via Peter Tavy. It was a lovely walk and our feeling that Spring has arrived was reinforced when we looked inside a lambing shed and saw lambs that were only a couple of hours old.

What a joyous end to a great week of walking.