A long drive South West

This morning we said goodbye to Martin and Karina from Pebble Villa, and Weymouth and were on our way to Portwrinkle, visiting a few sites along the way. Our first port of call was A la Ronde, a quaint 16-sided house built by two sisters, and based on a church in Europe. The strange building shape meant that there were some interestingly shaped rooms inside. The sisters obviously loved shells and had rooms full of them, in display cabinets and rooms decorated with them.

From A la Ronde we made our way from Exmouth back up to Exeter and then down to Powderham Castle. This is a living castle, with the Earl and his family still living in the building. As part of the entry we were able to take a guided tour of the building. The history and significance of each room were explained, making it really come to life. We only quickly looked around the gardens as it was raining, so not many photos.

After a quick lunch in the car (we had planned a picnic) we made our way to Dartmouth. The traffic was very slow, but we did eventually make it. The castle itself sits on the mouth of the Dart river, and provided defence for the town of Dartmouth. The castle itself was not that interesting, but the scenery was great and the roads “interesting”.

From here it was a short trip to Plymouth Hoe, where Sir Francis Drake was said to have been playing bowls before going out to battle, and win, against the Spanish Armada. It is a lovely area, with views over the sea, and is obviously very popular for the locals – there were lots of families out walking in the gardens, and swimming in the sea.

It was early evening when we made our way to The Bungalow in Portwrinkle, our accommodation for the next couple of nights. The Bungalow has a wonderful outlook, perched on top of the cliff, overlooking a paddock of cows and then out to the sea. We went for a wander into Portwrinkle itself – a very small village with only a few dozen houses, and of course, a golf course and pub. There were a few people in attempting to surf – crazy in the cold and rocky beach. Unfortunately the waves weren’t very big, and were breaking close to shore, so they weren’t having much luck!

A big drive tomorrow to try and get as south as we can – don’t know that we will make it to Lands End, might be a bit too far – but will try and make St Michaels Mount.