Monday 21st May 2001
| Location | Arrived | Duration | Departed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastbourne | 07:20 | ||
| Little Chef Fontwell | 08:31 | 45m | 09:16 |
| Winchester | 10:14 | 3h 6m | 13:20 |
| Beaulieu | 13:57 | 2h 16m | 16:13 |
| Lyme Regis | 18:17 |
I had nothing particularly planned for Winchester, just another city I could tick off my list. I visited the cathedral, the only place I was aware of (because of the song). Wandering around, I came across some other ruins.
The next stop was Beaulieu, in particular the Motor museum. It was nice to see some toy cars I remember from childhood.
Tuesday 22nd May 2001
| Location | Arrived | Duration | Departed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyme Regis | 09:06 | ||
| Butterfly & Otter museum | 10:13 | 2h 20m | 12:33 |
| Marble museum | 12:57 | 1h 11m | 14:08 |
| Becky falls | 14:24 | 1h 35m | 15:59 |
| Paignton | 17:17 |
Today’s first stop was the Butterfly and Otter museum in Buckfastleigh. I initially came here back in March 2000, only to find it closed for Winter. Today it was open. Looking back, I do not particularly remember the butterflies.
There was a moment when the British otters decided to go for a swim. This was back when it was unusual to see people taking pictures. I stood out with my large Canon Eos model, so the keeper called me across to witness the event. Unfortunately, that was the moment when my battery ran out.
The next stop was the marble museum. Looking back, once again, my memory is a bit lacking. I recall the factory could be viewed at a distance. There were also a couple of large marble runs, but I do not remember the museum or shop. I did buy a couple of jars of marbles though
I had intended to stop at a convenient parking place somewhere on Dartmoor. I ended up at a proper tourist site, Becky Falls. Not particularly memorable, but I believe this is when I saw my first ever dipper.
Finally, onto Paignton, where I probably had Fish & Chips before finding my B&B.
Wednesday 23rd May 2001
| Location | Arrived | Duration | Departed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paignton | 09:43 | ||
| Kents Caverns | 10:02 | 1h 17m | 11:19 |
| Compton Castle | 11:59 | 13m | 12:12 |
| Berry Pomeroy Castle | 12:30 | 1h 24m | 13:54 |
| Totnes Castle | 14:15 | 1h 44m | 15:59 |
| Little Chef Roche | 17:25 | 54m | 18:19 |
| GPS disabled | 18:21 |
Kent’s cavern is a cave system in Torquay, Devon, noted for its archaeological and geological features. I went on a guided tour. There was only a family of four and me doing the tour. The guide was quite amusing.
- The tour started with the lights out, and he only had a candle. Follow me, he said, as he quickly walked into the dark chasm.
- As he described the neolithic cave dwellers, he suddenly said we should all perform an impression of a troglodyte. He then made some ape-like impressions while the tour group just looked on. He then laughed at the family man, saying that was the funniest impression he had ever seen.
- At the end of the tour, he said, “If you enjoyed the tour, tell your friends and family about us – If you didn’t enjoy it, tell them you went to Wookey Hole”.
- He then made a hasty exit which made me realise he does that tour a few times a day, every day, with the same jokes. He must have been desperate to get back to his cup of tea.
My next destination was Compton Castle, which I discovered only opens a few days each week and Wednesday was a shut day in 2001.
Two more castles were on the list for that day, Berry Pomeroy and Totnes. Little Chef at Roche for dinner, after which my GPS unit ran out of memory and disabled itself.
Thursday 24th May 2001
| Location | Arrived | Duration | Departed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geevor | 16:10 | ||
| Launceston | 18:37 | 14m | 18:51 |
| Launceston Little Chef | 19:10 | 49m | 19:59 |
| Launceston | 20:20 |
I stayed at Trevispian Vean Farm at St Erme. If I remember rightly, the decorations were on a pig theme. The first stop for the day was the seal sanctuary at Gweek.
Next up was the Geevor tin mine, an old Cornish tin mine. All visitors are issued with hard hats as the buildings are dilapidated. Once again, I was the only tourist doing the guided tour, and during the tour, there was a big crash as something fell from the ceiling.
I was glad of my hard hat when we went into one of the old hand-cut mines, for I kept banging my head on the low ceiling.
Leaving Geevor, I discovered my GPS was disabled. It disabled itself when it filled up, but after wiping the memory during the evening, it remained disabled. How annoying is that?
The guest house was some form of entertainment venue with a large seating area. The receptionist felt they had to tell me it was empty as it was a bit early. The time was about 18:45.
Dinner was at the nearby Little Chef, a 20-minute drive away. I returned to the guest house at 20:20; it was still deserted. I never did find out if anyone else popped in that night.
Friday 25th May 2001
| Location | Arrived | Duration | Departed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launceston | 09:41 | ||
| Launceston Little Chef | 10:03 | 7m | 10:10 |
| Great Torrington | 11:00 | 3h 14m | 14:14 |
| River Yeo | 14:37 | 51m | 15:28 |
| M5 Services Tamworth | 16:37 | 24m | 17:01 |
| Chicklade Little Chef | 18:21 | 1h 14m | 19:35 |
| M27 Services Rownhams | 20:28 | 51m | 21:19 |
| Eastbourne | 23:10 |
The final day was spent wandering around the town of Torrington. I spent a while in the Torrington museum trying to find a reference to my ancestors but failed. Generally walking around the town, I stumbled upon the information signs for the Battle of Torrington – an important battle in the English Civil war.
For some reason, the year of the battle stuck in my head – 1646. Since that day, I have been able to say when the English civil war occurred.
The other thing I strongly remember after reading the information board was my decision to call my trip to an end and start heading towards home,