Come For A Walk With Me ....

Time for another Blog Post, and it occurred to me that many of you might not know where I come from here in ye Merry olde England.  Actually, the name of my Blog is a bit of a give away - yes, I live in the South Hams, which is the most beautiful part of heavenly Devon (although others might tell you otherwise!).  Anyway, I’ll let the views speak for themselves. All of the images today were taken by me whilst out and about on my coastal walks.

The beautiful County of Devon is right down in the South West of the Country.  Next to Devon, you have Cornwall, which I’m sure many of you will have heard of, from various novels and TV dramas -  Doc Martin and Poldark, to name just two!  After leaving Cornwall, you just drop into the ocean! That’s one of the things I love about living here, the ocean is always around us.  

This next photo is one of my favourites and reminds me of why I love this area so much.  You can be walking along a narrow path, and then, there it is, the blue sea right in front of you.  Heaven!

These next four photos were taken at Hope Cove.  Walking from Thurlestone to Hope Cove is one of my very favourite coastal walks.

The photo above with the path leading to the sea, always reminds me of the poem by John Masefield, called Sea Fever .... “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by..... I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide,  is a wild call and a clear call, that may not be denied......”

We are surrounded by the sea, and I love nothing better than setting out on a coastal walk.  I used to walk for miles, but I have a problem with my legs at the moment, which has curtailed me somewhat over the past twelve months, but I do try to walk as often as I can.  I actually live right at the foot of Dartmoor, one of our National Parks, but, to be honest, it has to be beaches and the sea for me every time.  Devon is known for its hills and some of those hills  lead right down to the sea, and the lanes leading to the sea are narrow, with very high hedges, so that you can’t always see vehicles coming in the opposite direction!

This next beach has to be one of my very favourites....Bigbury on Sea.  Would you believe that I’ve been going there for over 73 years, as my mum and dad took me there from the time I was six months old, so it’s almost in my DNA.

This next photo was taken at Salcombe.  I really am so lucky to live in this wonderful spot, that I call heavenly Devon, as all these places are only 20 minutes from where I live. 

On a lovely Summer day, it’s one of the best places in the world.  Oh, okay, perhaps I AM slightly biased.  I was playing with a new Camera App with this last photo.  I have very fond memories of visiting Salcombe with a friend, a few years ago now.  It was a boiling hot day....too hot to do much serious walking, so we sat under the sun umbrella on the terrace of a lovely Hotel, which had gorgeous views all along the estuary, with brightly coloured boats bobbing up and down.  We started off with morning coffee and warm, buttered croissants, which drifted into lunch, accompanied by the obligatory glass of Rosè, and, believe it or not, we were still sat there at 4pm, so decided to have a Devon Cream Tea, complete with lashings of Devonshire Clotted Cream!

Well, I hope you’ve  enjoyed the little tour, and I’m sure I’ll be back again soon.  Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my Blog.  I really do appreciate it.

Visiting National Trust Properties.

  

Knightshayes Court, Devon. 

For those of you who have never heard of the National Trust, it is a  country-wide Organization, which looks after the upkeep of wonderful country houses and their magnificent gardens. I have been a member for a great number of years, as the annual subscriptions help to keep these properties in a good state. They also look after miles of coastline around the British Isles. 

 

Killerton House in Devon

The ladies from the local Art Society were going on their annual outing to Coleton Fishacre, one of the many National Trust properties in Devon.  Thirty ladies of varying shapes and sizes congregated in the local coach park waiting for the bus to arrive.  It was already fifteen minutes late, and a rumble of discontent spread along the line. Thank goodness it wasn't raining!  The temperature, even at 9 am was in the mid sixties, and the sun was shining down.

Suddenly the coach could be seen chugging up the steep hill, and the mood of the assembled throng immediately changed, as they started to chatter excitedly. Once everyone was safely on board, the driver headed off to their destination. Soon, he turned off the main road, onto the winding lanes of the Devon countryside. They drove through the pretty town of Dartmouth, travelling across the River Dart on an ancient little ferry, continuing along the narrow lanes to the little hamlet of Kingswear. 

 

The pretty little town of Dartmouth in South Devon.  

Suddenly the sea mist lifted and there was the house in all its glory.   Coleton Fishacre was built between the years of 1923-6 for Rupert D'Oyle Carte, whose father, Richard, had been the impressario behind the operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan.  Rupert had developed the business empire he had inherited, which included the very posh and upmarket Savoy and Claridges Hotels in London. 

 

Coleton Fishacre

Rupert D'Oyly Carte, and his wife, Dorothy, actually found the site for their new house from the sea, whilst sailing their yacht between the quaint small towns of Dartmouth and Brixham. The interior of the house really does invoke the modernity of the Jazz Age, and it would be just perfect for a weekend in the country. 

 

Interior shot, courtesy of The National Trust. 

All the ladies agreed that the house was absolutely perfect. The Architect who designed the property, Oswald Milne, was an assistant to the famous Sir Edwin Lutyens.  A particularly appealing feature of the property is that you have quite stunning views of the garden from every room in the house. Although the house does speak of elegance from a by-gone age, the ladies agreed that they could all imagine themselves living there and, on a beautiful Summer's evening, wafting out onto the terrace with a drink in hand. 

 

The garden itself is quite magical as, like several in the South West of England, it descends from open views around the house, down through increasingly jungle-like vegetation, until you get spectacular views of the sea beyond. 

 

The gazebo look-out  at Coleton. You can just see the steps leading down to the sea. 

 

How about this for a view ?!

I hope this has given you a little insight into the beautiful houses and gardens owned by The National Trust.  So then, another blog post hits the road. As I look out the window whilst writing this, I see that the rain is pouring down.  We have had three weeks of rain ☔️ now, with the odd spot of sunshine in between the very heavy showers.  Usually, October can be a very pleasant month, and I look forward to going out for walks, but I haven’t really been able to do much of that so far this month. Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and if the sun is shining where you are, please send it over here to heavenly Devon!

 

 

 

This is where I live, here in heavenly Devon

Today I thought I would give you a little tour of Ivybridge, here in the beautiful South Hams of Devon, where I have lived for 37 years.  I am proud to be a Devon maid born and bred, as I was born in Plymouth, about ten miles away, Britain’s Ocean City. The picture above is of the ancient bridge, from where Ivybridge gets its name. A bridge in this exact location was recorded as far back as 1250, which was known as the Ponte Ederosa, which translates to the bridge of ivy.  The bridge crosses the beautiful River Erme, which runs through the middle of the town. 

Ivybridge nestles at the foot of Dartmoor, one of England's glorious National Parks, and yet we have the sea and wonderful sandy beaches only fifteen minutes from here.  I guess Ivybridge is really a small town now, but to me, it will always be "the village!"  "Town" is that other place, just ten miles down the road, that is the seafaring City of Plymouth!

The above photo is of the river that I have mentioned previously in this Post.   As you can see, we have a lovely Memorial in the village dedicated to the brave men of the American Armed Forces, who were stationed here during WW11.

From the following photo of the Main Street,  you really can see how this small town is nestled at the foothills of Dartmoor.  

I can see the Western Beacon from my home, and these are the views when you have climbed to the top ...

Well, I hope you have a lovely Sunday, and that you’ve enjoyed this little tour.