From Dartmouth To The Queen of Crime Writers...

Well little bloggies, although I'm still writing about my tour with my American friend, I am actually writing this post in Green Bay, Wisconsin, as I am here on a visit for three weeks. I'm sure I will be writing about this visit at some time in the future! 

Anyway, for now, we are back in Devon. On this particular day, we woke up to sunshine and bright blue skies, so I decided to drive to Dartmouth.

Dartmouth is a pretty little town, in an area of outstanding beauty in the South Hams, and contains many Elizabethan buildings with narrow streets and stone stairways, as well as a good selection of individual shops to browse around. 

One of the most famous streets is The Butterwalk, which was built between 1635 - 1640. 

From the quayside, we took a boat trip up the beautiful River Dart, which would take us to Greenway, the Summer home of the crime writer, Agatha Christie, who created, amongst others, the unforgettable characters of Miss Marple, and Hercule Poirot!

Just as an aside here, the town of Dartmouth was a base for American servicemen during World War 11, and one of the departure points for Utah Beach in the D-Day landings. It's sister town is in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Here are some photos I took along the River Dart, on what out turned out to be just a perfect day for a boat trip. 

Here we are just sailing by the boat house at Greenway...

As soon as we alighted from the boat, we had a steep climb up to the property itself - well, we ARE in Devon! On the quayside, we were immediately taken back in time at the sight of the vintage bus. The sort of bus, incidentally, that I used to ride on all the time as a child. Eeeek!

The property is now owned and maintained by The National Trust, and I think they do an excellent job, because you really do get the impression that the family have just popped out for a walk and will be back at any minute!  We had a glimpse of the house as we were climbing up the path ....

I was really taken by this driftwood horse's head amongst the plant sales ....

Here is Miss Diane in front of the beautiful house, which looks right down over the River Dart....

You can see that it was pretty quiet on the day we were there, which made it all the more special and peaceful. 

Here we have the priceless collection of first editions of all Agatha's books, and the actual typewriter that the novels were written on. 

The gardens were also quite beautiful. The following shots were taken by The Orangery..the first one is of cherry blossom, with a carpet of bluebells beneath, and the second one is of the magnificent wisteria...

Well, I do hope that I have given you the feel of our day out. I think, for me, it was one of my favourite days.  Anyway, I hope to see you again soon.