Okehampton at Christmas

We set off quite early in the morning, diving around the M25 and then shooting down the A303 (mostly)...I actually slept for quite a bit of the journey down with my head resting on a pillow against the window, until the rising sun forced me to a wakeful state...

...(that's actually a picture of the sunset but you get the idea) we stopped off to buy some water (and ready-mixed Ribena drink for Flyingpops) at a service station about half way down and then woke up a very sleepy Dawn (who had been working at the nightclub in town until the early hours) at about 9am by calling her mobile just as we were pulling into town...I'd never been to Oakhampton before and was quite keen to look around the place, so we dragged our luggage up to her flat which is located in this charming shopping arcade, dragged Dawn out of bed, quickly exchanged Christmas gifts -

- and then headed straight out for breakfast -

- not opting for the amusing credit crunch breakfast we passed on the way, but to a favourite little cafe of Dawn's down a little alleyway filled with shops (this town was actually *full* of little independent places, the only chains that seemed to be in evidence were the supermarkets) which made a refreshing change -

- the food was very reasonable (£6 for a full English), and actually extremely tasty, even the sausage (which can be a bit of a minefield in the breakfast stakes) -

- funnily enough, it turns out that it had recently been visited (well, the upstairs Bistro part, anyway) by Gordon Ramsay for an upcoming episode of Kitchen Nightmares (which was quite exciting), so we were quite confident the fridges and storage areas were sparklingly clean (if nothing else)...can't wait to watch the show (just hope it wasn't too nasty beforehand)! ;) Anyway, when we had finished that somehow Flyingpops still had room left for a pasty, so we stopped at a small bakery (and she bought what was called a "cocktail" pasty, which turned out to be just an extra small example -

- I was absolutely stuffed so I contented myself with sniffing in the apetising aroma...the rest of the day saw us explore more of the town (although all the interesting stuff (museum/castle/Dartmoor steam railway) was closed thanks to the time of year) so we contented ourselves with a lunchtime pint in the local pub (which had some very interesting windows) -

- a spot of shopping in the supermarkets, and then I cooked us all up a tasty roast dinner, filling the evening with some quality Wii and Xbox 360 time in Dawns front room...a very pleasant stay...

The Countryman, North Petherwin, Devon - review

Right, forget September, whip yourselves back to August 29th (so little time for blogging in this busy world!)...after a succession of criminally overcooked steaks (elsewhere) we fell back on an old favorite...the *awesome* Countryman pub in North Petherwin (it's right near the Tamar Otter Sanctuary, follow the signs from Launceston and you'll pass it on the right)...a classic Devon sunset preceded the glorious feast...

- Flyingpops' was off seeing her old mate Sam (I'd spent the day playing "Field Commander" on the PSP, reclining on the bed making a start on "Inside Hitler's Bunker" in the caravan and not drinking *too* much ;) so I was companioned by her folks for *certainly* the finest meal of the break (and this includes Rick in Padstow) - (oh sorry, that sunset, the landscape *pulled* me across the road to take the shot) -

- now, I got a bit carried away when I saw the menu, I freely admit it, quite what possessed me I don't know, but I gleefully (and probably greedily) ordered the King Prawns with garlic...quite failing to consider the logistics of dealing with said dish being, as I was, in posession of a broken finger...

...suffice it to say, I left the fingerbowl and napkin quite exhausted by my inelegant ministrations...

...and now (drumroll please) the main course...

This was (and I don't know these guys from Adam) (and I have eaten many, many cuts of beef steak the *world* over) quite honestly the BEST STEAK I HAVE EVER EATEN, going straight in at number one (sorry Cologne T-Bone)!

Fillet Steak "a la Countryman" is a *dream*, a BIG FAT CUT (this stuff costs a fortune and the portion was extremely generous), lovingly cooked, the cut means the moisture stays firmly inside...this redefines "melt in the mouth"...my pallet sang along with the orchestra until the meat was all gone...I'd drive down there (5 hours from where I live) for another one...

Nuff said...

Well, alright one more comment - only problem? The veg was boiled into utter desolation...

The Old Inn, Halwell (A381, Devon) - Review

So for dinner on the Sunday night (it being the last night of the break) we decided to try the local pub to the site which was "The Old Inn", located on the A381 in Halwell, the pub has been in existence since at least 1850 (although records do state that it had to be rebuilt in 1874 after being destroyed by a fire, you can read more on their not exactly easy to find website)...we parked in the good sized car park out the back and walked in to find a very comfortable bar, populated only by what looked like 2 locals and one family of 4 busy eating (the place was almost empty)...

The portly barman greeted us politely enough but with a frown on his face, I put on my best friendly smile, ordered some drinks and enquired of him if we might order some food, to this he said "Well now, that all depends...'ave you booked?", slightly bemused I glanced around the empty pub clocking vacant table after vacant table, each and every one of which, it slowly became apparent, sporting a tiny "Reserved" sign that I had failed to notice before..."Urm, no"...I was forced to admit, "Well, I'll 'ave to check for yer" said he, shaking his head, and vanished from behind the bar...returning moments later he said "You're lucky, last table", so we opened a tab and retired where he directed, a small resturant style-extension out the back (where there were two tables without reserved signs)...

Shrugging the peculiarity of our welcome aside, the menu was excellent, I opted for "Exmoor reared serloin steak" (they are really good around here for using local produce, Surrey could learn a thing or two from Devon, it looks like a local council initiative), Al went for the Mixed Grill, Vodqueen the Roast Beef and Flyingpops decided to have stir fried vegetables with cashew nuts (the full menu is here, but it was certainly impressive in it's range! We found out later via campsite gossip that the wife (and head cook) is a Phillipino immigrant, which explains some of the more unusual menu options for a Devon pub!)...

The steak was *perfect*, wonderfully tasty and cooked to perfection, melt-in-the-mouth juicy goodness, chips were a bit undercooked, but I didn't have much room left after the steak and veg anyway... ;) Flyingpops was very pleased with her stir fry (until I tried a bit and told her I thought it was cooked with Oyster sauce), Al obviously enjoyed his Mixed Grill because he didn't say a single word until it had largely dissapeared, and Vodqueen expressed some displeasure at the roast's bland (standing around in the kitchen until needed) flavour and presentation...

I trotted off to the bar to get a second round of drinks for everyone at some stage during all this and stood in a queue behind a young couple (long haired surfer types) who were being told "I 'opes you don't want to eat, we're packed!" (at this he opened up the hatch to the kitchen and barked "We're really getting busy out 'ere now!" to no-one in particular) prompting a similar confused look to the one I gave (around the empty bar) from the surfers, who smiled, shrugged and left...I had to wonder quite why they couldn't manage to serve more than one meal per table per evening, most other places manage alright...but it's his pub, not mine, I guess... ;)

When I got to the front of the queue I ordered beer (fine) but you should have seen the scowl he gave me when I tried first to order a "Pimms", "No Pimms 'ere", and then a "Malibu and Lemonade" (the Malibu had run out)...one of the locals turned to me and whispered "Try as you might, you'll never manage to wipe the smile off that one's face" and winked...summed it up perfectly I think... ;)

Conclusion? Great grub (but order something freshly cooked), book your table and keep the drinks simple for the poor man (oh and he was apparently nice as pie to Flyingpops when she went up to settle the bill, so maybe send the girls to the bar... ;)

Devon Holiday - Day 3 (Dartmoor, Devonshire Cream Tea and Dartmeet)

So, on to day 3 - we cook up a nice breakfast and then (after the Grand Prix), headed off into Dartmoor -

...which is a serious climb uphill from Totnes, right the way to Becky Falls (which was closed thanks to an "accident")...

...so we reversed course past Hay Tor...

- climbing all the way until the 20 degree plunge to Widecombe-in-the-moor-

- where we stopped for traditional Devonshire Clotted Cream Tea (followed by ice cream with more clotted cream) -

- then, with the skies starting to threaten we took the tiny roads over to Princetown, the home of HM Prison Dartmoor -

- there were big signs saying "NO STOPPING - BY ORDER" and double yellow lines everywhere, so Al pulled up in the prison museum car park and we trotted down the road to get some shots of the imposing entrance...

- and I shot this one holding the camera over the wall -

- it was only when we got back that the owners of the campsite informed us that normally, if they see anyone taking a snap burley prison guards and police appear from nowhere and confiscate the camera equipment! Meep! Anyway, looks like we got away with it! Next stop was Dartmeet -

- which, because the weather wasn't great actually wasn't full of tourists for a change -

- so I hopped pretty much on my own over the rocks (carefully guarding my camera) which are normally heaving with screaming children -

- for supper we went to the pub just down from the campsite (but I'll talk about that in another post)...the evening was drinks in the awning as usual, punctuated only by another toilet trip, this time inturrupted by the (loud) shrieking of young girls from the shower block next door "'ere 'shell where are ya?", (mouth full of toothpaste) "mmm 'ooing my 'eeef", "Wot?", (louder) "mmm 'ooing my 'eeef!!!", "Why? You got crabs or summink?" (slight pause then sound of thrown object striking shower door) (crashing noise) (fading screams)...*fink raises his eyebrows and glances to heaven*...

Devon Holiday - Day 2 - (Caves and Cobwebs)

So, the weather looking pants (rain hitting the tent pretty hard overnight) we opted for some under-cover (well, as far as possible) activities - Kents Cavern was top of the list for the local attractions (the other blatantly indoor nearby attraction - Sorely Tunnel - upon investigation turned out to be a partially flooded, partially collapsed empty tunnel with attached kiddies play area) -

- Anyway, Kents Cavern is a (roughly) 2 million year old series of passages and chambers created by water erosion (at the time, of course it was somewhere rather different on the globe, but plate tectonics shifted it to Devon where hundreds of bears, hyenas and at least one famale human being (who was eaten by one of the other two types of resident) sought shelter in later years)...it was then, at some stage, largely filled with mud...

Many years later it seems that some Romans crept in, because at the foot of this striking calcite deposit (nicknamed "The Face" for fairly obvious reasons) archeologists found several piles of carefully stacked sestercii...(I think I probably would have taken one look at it in the flickering candle light and fled in terror rather than paying it some money, but anyway)...

Had a good chance to try out some low light settings on the camera, caught this shot (above) of falling drips forming a stalagmite (click it to zoom in) which I was quite pleased with -

- and this one of the "Wedding Cake" -

- and this is a 50,000 year old stalagmite (protected behind the glass shields on the right), to put it in context (as it only grows by the thickness of a human hair every year), this deposit is 5 times older than the English Channel... ;)

Anyway, back out into the rain for the quick dash to "Bygones" which is in a converted cinema, it's actually very impressive, the owners have mocked up a complete Victorian high street -

- complete with sweet shop, blacksmiths, bakery etc. -

- they also have some rather interesting curios from days gone by (in this case thank goodness!), we stopped for a cup of tea in the little cafe and then headed back to the camp site (via Totnes Morrisons to buy some steak for tea)...

Later on, after a few beers I went over to the ablusions and was rather suprised to find a queue of young lads waiting for the toilet (or so I thought), when (getting a little desperate) I impatiently muttered "What are they doing in there?", it quickly became apparent that this queue was not for the toilet at all, but for the use of the socket by the sinks to charge mobile phones/ipods/PSPs....!

There's a feature of modern life for you... ;)

Devon Holiday - Day 1 (Tomtom, Torcross and Tank)

So, set the wayback machine to last Friday (28th July), we set off from home (far too) early and for some reason this time I just couldn't sleep on any of the journey down there (despite my magic NY neck cushion), in fact, I think the reason was actually that we had borrowed Flyingpops' brother's Tomtom navigator for the break, and it makes the same noise as the USS Enterprise going to "Red Alert" whenever there is a speed camera coming up...the first part of the journey was along the M25, so it was rather noisy, as you can imagine... >;(

Anyway, ("In 800 yards bear left"'s and "As soon as possible turn around"'s aside) made it to the West Country in record time, the Tomtom was *awesome* only leading us astray when concentration was lacking (so I think we are going to buy one)...it dropped us off ("You have now arrived at your destination") literally 2 yards from the entrance to the camp site, sign right in front of us, and avoiding all those nasty motorways too...! Pulled on site leaving a plume of dust behind us and parked up to give Vodqueen and Al (who were to be our companions for the weekend, being here already on an extended break) a call from the mobile...tent was pitched, fridge was lit (in LPG mode), bed was pumped (although our pump had died, so Vodqueen had to come to the rescue)...and then into the 4x4 for our first trip out, to see Kingsbridge (name bit close to Kings Cross for my liking while on holiday though)... ;)

...which was beautiful, learned something new too -

- (click it if you like for a bigger version, but) - it read "WHITE BREAD CAN DAMAGE THE HEALTH OF BIRDS - Please do not feed the swans with white bread, as this can cause serious vitamin deficiences, especially in younger or older birds", passed this sign also -

- apparently calling me a pig, but luckily it's just a case of mistaken identity (see here)...anyway, we bought some lovely ribs and minty lamb chops from a local butcher, went to the supermarket and bought breakfast goods, spices, more ribs and beer, returned briefly to the camp site to stick said items in the fridges, then off, once more guided by Tomtom to Slapton Sands over "the longest four miles you'll ever experience" - tiny, tiny roads...

Wonderful view when we got there though, we had ice creams on the beach (looking out for the ticket guy, as our stop was brief), I asked for a "Lemon Lolly" and was told the only options were "Cherry Brandy" or "Orange", shuddering at the prospect of the former, I settled for the latter, and then spent ten minutes looking for a bin for the sticky wrapper and lolly stick...anyway, after a quick look at the monument erected by the US to thank all the locals for running off during WWII we hopped back in the car and zoomed up the coast road (which information signs informed us would have vanished years ago if not for human effort, swallowed by the sea)...

...look towards the top of the picture and you can see just how narrow the gap between freshwater lake on the left and ocean on the right really is...the other thing to note is quite how rapidly the ground drops away once the sea starts...apparently there is virtually zero difference on this beach between low and high tide, and take more than two steps out and it's a vertical drop!

This is also the home to a rare example of a(/n aquatic version of the Sherman) tank rescued from 85 feet of water by a local diving nut...you see, the US forces didn't occupy the area for no reason, they were training hard for the D-Day landings, one day a bunch of Nazi torpedo boats spotted them and came in to spoil the party, making a real mess of everything and thus changing the Allied landing tactics for the better (unbeknownst to the Germans ;), this tank wasn't involved, but was like a lot of those sunk in the attack...this one, according to the sign, was all kitted out to float, but one of the crew forgot to close the engine plates, and it sank...they managed to "abandon tank" just in time though... ;) Which this young girl was thrilled to not listen to her dad telling her, preferring to play with gravel and mope ;) -

We took a short walk up the cliffs past the pill boxes still evident, watched some small children being hounded by a ravening hoard of ducks and swans -

- and then returned to feast on the spoils of Kingsbridge (all locally reared produce apparently, some sort of local initiative) -


- lit some insect lights -

- drank a few beers/pimms/vods respectively, and then off to bed... ;)

Mounts Farm Touring Park, Devon - Camp site review

In a nutshell it's a beautifully (and lovingly) maintained, refreshingly simple camp site...it's quiet and full of polite, welcoming regulars...here simply to relax... ;)

Located in "The Mounts" (which is on the A381), it enjoys easy access to Dartmoor (and all the spectacular natural/otherwise wonders therein), nearby towns and attractions, but I'll leave those details to later posts (we had a rather visit-packed few days)...suffice it to say, it's on a comparitively good road, for the area... ;)

The site itself has a washing up/washing room, an amazingly well stocked shop (including camping essentials (from simple pegs to full tent electrical supply solutions), battery cells, folding chairs, food and drink) which (and we checked) has usually lower or comparable prices to the high street...an excellent toilet block (freshly painted, sweet smelling, well lit - bonus points for super hot power showers, flower arrangement and (not quite discouraged) trailed ivy growth inside along the ceiling - oh and a gold star for being easy to reach from most places on the site in an emergency ;)

There is no club house, and no booze is sold on site, adding much to it's charm, no groups of lads or lasses being rowdy...(although we did try our best ;) - those asking for such facilities may be directed to take a walk (cross country) to "The Old Inn" nearby, but more of that later... ;)

The greens are neatly, regularly clipped, the roadway sufficient (no mud, even with the serious amounts of rain we saw) and footpaths and buildings are strewn with bloom sufficient to make Alan Titchmarsh flicker a look of envy in their direction...pitches are well ordered and not made at will, you will be expected to pitch your tent dead centre on a clealy positioned post (in order to comply with the various safety legislation out there), but that's all for the good, and not as regimental as at some sites I could mention..."You just go and choose where you want m'dear, either of those two fields"... ;)

Best of all though, it's family run, and by a lovely group of ladies with a real eye for the detail, and as I mentioned before, a genuine care that everything is working, everyone is happy and that the place looks wonderful...(unfortunately, they can't fix the weather, but nobody's perfect... ;)

Lovely place - if you are looking for simple peace and quiet you really can't go wrong...how did they put it? "Unwind the quick way", I think... ;) Lads, you need to head to Newquay... ;)

On holiday...

...phone being silly, trying to moblog but problems, may be no posts till monday if this doesn't work...

Well, that's what I would have posted on Friday last week if the phone hadn't gone up the spout...Back home now, pics and stories to follow as soon as poss... ;)

Long Weekend ahead...(in the good sense)

Yes! Almost there, helped Flyingpops load the heavy bits into the car last night, we are off (very early) tomorrow to go camping just outside Totnes, with the aim of exploring a bit of Dartmoor (among other things)...Becky Falls and Spitchwick are on the list so far, any other suggestions welcome... ;) Got to find something indoor for Saturday by the looks of things, oo-er...!